About Wasps...

Thanks!

Thank you to all who attended my talk. It was a lot of fun for me to be able to share my amazement of this fascinating group.

Resources

Books

Scientific books, when new, can be expensive. A great way to build your library is at the semi-annual Friends of the Library book sale in Ithaca. Scientific knowledge and nomenclature does evolve over time, however, so be aware that you may have to do some research in your chosen area to determine what is the latest thinking.

Wasps

• Guide to the Siricid Woodwasps of North America (USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, FHTET-2006-15).
  N. M. Schiff, S. A. Valley, J. R. LaBonte and D. R. Smith. 2006. Many photos and keys to this family of primitive woodwasps.
• Studies on the Comparative Ethology of Digger Wasps of the genus Bembix (Cornell Studies in Entomology).
  Howard E. Evans. 1957. Out of print. Some of Evans’ earliest research on wasps.
• The Hunting Wasp.
  John Crompton. 1955. Out of print. Older, observation-based natural history book.
• The Natural History and Behavior of North American Beewolves.
  Howard E. Evans and K. M. O’Neill. 1988.
• The Wasps.
  Howard E. Evans and Mary Jane West Eberhard. 1970. Out of print. A wonderful synopsis of this group in paperback size.
• Wasp Farm.
  Howard E. Evans. 1973. Out of print. Another great paperback about wasps by the “other” Howard Evans from Cornell. He got his doctorate here and was a professor of entomology. This book is based on observations on his farm in the Ithaca area.
• Wasps.
  J. Philip Spradbery. 1973. Out of print. A scientific treatment of solitary and social wasps, primarily the latter, with an emphasis on British species. Much about yellowjackets and hornets.
• Yellowjackets of America North of Mexico (USDA Agriculture Handbook no. 552).
  R. D. Akre, A. Greene, J. F. MacDonald, P. J. Landolt and H. G. Davis. 1980. Recommended as the basic overview and identification guide to our species of yellowjackets. May still be available from the USDA.
• Solitary Wasps: Behavior and Natural History.
  Kevin O'Neill. 2001.
• The Social Biology of Wasps.
  Kenneth G. Ross Robert W. Matthews. 1991.

General

• Animal Architecture.
  Karl von Frisch. 1974. Out of print. About more than insects, it’s a survey of the structures made by animals from birds to termites, wasps and bees.
• Borne on the Wind: The Extraordinary World of Insects in Flight.
  Stephen Dalton. 1975. Out of print. Dalton is a pioneer in photographing insect flight.
• Evolution of the Insects.
  David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel. 2005. A large, well-illustrated book.
• Field Guide to the Insects (Peterson Field Guides).
  R. E. White and D. J. Borror. 1998. One of the best books to carry in the field when you don’t know what you might find or are looking for. Others that you may prefer are National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders (National Audubon Society Field Guides) and the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides).
• How to Follow the Adventures of Insects.
  Vinson Brown. 1968. Out of print. Brown wrote a series of small books about studying nature. See also The Amateur Naturalist’s Handbook, How to Make a Home Nature Museum and How to Make a Miniature Zoo.
• Insects (Peterson First Guides).
  Christopher Leahy. 1998. A simplifed field guide for younger naturalists. Small, cheap and many good ones in the series, including Caterpillars and Butterflies & Moths.
• Insects in Camera.
  Christopher O’Toole and Ken Preston-Mafham. 1985. Any book with photos by Ken or Rod Preston-Mafham is worth getting!
• Insects of the World.
  Walter Linsenmaier. 1972. A “gee-whiz” book about insects with some great illustrations. Out of print, but I see it occasionally at the book sale.
• Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th ed.
  N. F. Johnson and C. A. Triplehorn, 2004. This book is in its seventh edition and is now called Borror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects after the original authors. Its focus is identification with biological information by taxonomic group. A very good book to use when you want to step up from Petersen’s Field Guide to the Insects. Pricey when new, but luckily earlier editions are easily obtained at the book sale. Editions will be by some combination of Borror, DeLong, Triplehorn and Johnson.
• Sharing Nature with Children.
  Joseph Cornell. A parents’ and teachers’ nature awareness guidebook.
• Stokes Guide to Observing Insect Lives (Stokes Nature Guides).
  Donald Stokes. 1984. A field guide-sized book that takes you the next step after you identify your insect with Petersen’s.
• The Encyclopedia of Insects.
  Christopher O’Toole. 1995. A basic overview of insects with great illustrations.
• The Insect Societies.
  E. O. Wilson. 1974. A classic on the development of sociality in insects.
• The Insects: An Outline of Entomology.
  P.J. Gullan and P. S. Cranston, 2010. Now in its fourth edition, this seems to be a good comprehensive textbook focussed on insect biology (I recently started using it after “growing up” on Introduction to the Study of Insects). Note that it doesn’t have the extensive identification keys that the latter has.

Websites

• Discover Life: Hymenoptera
• The German yellowjacket (Vespula germanica): A very interesting introduced species and the one I studied for my Masters work.
• Wikimedia Commons: Hymenoptera: Photos of wasps, ants and bees.