What would be the big deal about teaching your kid how to use these? Well it's a huge lesson in understanding cross referencing and visual identification based on minute details. This is an advanced version of a matching-memory game.
Now we of course, in our perverse need to torment ourselves, picked one of the hardest topics to tackle, which would be the Hymenoptera Order. That would be Bees, Ants, and Wasps--with an emphasis on Bees.
That's our favorite, but it doesn't have to be yours. There are field guides on anything you can imagine.
Insects
Birds
Amphibians
Reptiles
Trees
Mammals
Wildflowers
Fungus
Trees
Edible Wild Foods
Fish
Ocean Life
Clouds
Astronomy
Weather
You can even find guides that specialize in areas, or parks like The Grand Canyon.
In my case, ?I have guides on insects in general, but I also have guides that focus exclusively on particular orders of insects.
What's the difference? Well here are some examples:
There are about 250 different kinds of sweat bees in N. America. But in a general insect guide, that book will only show you the most commonly found species. If you spend a lot of time identifying bees, this can severely limit your capabilities to identify bees you find in the field using that particular book. All examples, or even most visual examples will be absent.
Too few examples/images to choose from can cause problems. On the other hand, too many choices that cover global distribution can also be a pain. So for people in the US--be sure your guides are for [fill in the blank] OF NORTH AMERICA--in the very least. That way you know you are looking at species on this continent.
There are about 250 species of the genus, Bombus [Bumble Bees] worldwide. 21 of those species occur East of the 100th meridian in the Northern Hemisphere, and 30 species are found West of the Rocky Mountains. You could buy a book on bumble bees of the world, but what you really want is something that helps you identify the species in your locale, or at least narrows it down to species on your continent.
If you want to know about all 250 bumble bees worldwide, that is one thing. But carrying a book like that around would be cumbersome. Having a quick simple guide or even single-page, laminated guide to carry in your pack is the best. It also simplifies things for the kids.
There are issues with these laminates too. Variations occur in species regarding sexual dimorphism and ?color and marking or size variations. Those single sheets won't have the room to cover all of that. But they can present the most commonly witnessed phenotypes you will encounter.
Bees are harder to identify than you think. The insect world is full of incredible, cross species mimicry, and slight variations that mean something big to an entymologist, but make no sense to the laity.
If you are just starting out, especially with children, then be sure and pick some easier goals to help build your confidence and theirs. If you are frightened of being stung as well, I think that the friendliest topic in the insect world would be Ladybugs.
In fact, Cornell University has a Citizen Science Project called The Lost Lady Bug Project. And they encourage children to participate.
The cool thing is that Cornell has built an extensive website, and has included printable guide sheets that can be laminated for use in the field. This in addition to various experiments and observation sheets that you and your child can use to observe and identify lady bugs.
I love the big Peterson and Kaufman and Audubon field guides. They are tough, and detailed collections of common species, with excellent pictures and descriptions to help in identification. But small children can still tear these books up something awful. This is very bad, because those big field guides are expensive--about 20 dollars a piece. Even if you purchase these larger guides used, you are looking at 7 to 10 dollars a pop.
But free printable color guides, and 1 or 2 dollars to laminate them at a local Office Depot or Kinkos, and you have a very durable, simple guide that even a toddler can play with or chew on. ?
This is important if you have a small child in the group. They want to be included, and will emulate you. A child that can match colors and shapes can use a field guide with some success. This encourages small children to focus their attention on details. They will surprise you with their accuracy and enthusiasm. So heavy, laminated, single-page guides are a way to let them explore independently without destroying the more expensive multi-page guides. [FYI they do make kid-binoculars and magnifying glasses]. These are handy for kids and keeps them off of your good binoculars.
In addition the free ones found online, there is also a brand called Pocket Nature Guides by Waterford Press.
These are going to be the most basic ID tools, but once again, these folding brochure style guides are perfect for small hands! These are going to cost between 6 and 8 dollars.
I will come back to the guides later and provide a list with hyperlinks.
When you are out observing nature, there are several ways you can do this. The cheapest of course is to just use your own eyes. And that is perfectly acceptable, it's fun and it's free.
The second cheapest is to take a sketch book. This is good practice for art and drawing, and it helps focus your attention, and nature sketchbooks can become a work of art in their own right.
These last two are neck and neck for cost. And that is to use a camera and/or binoculars. Prices run the gamut from very cheap, to very expensive. My observations regarding the purchase and use of this sort of equipment is that you get what you pay for.
If you buy nice gear for your kids, or know kids will be using it, pay extra for the insurance and replacement policies. Kids drop stuff. They scratch lenses, they fall down. End of story--and the camera or binoculars will be involved at some point. Don't bother with kiddie digital cameras. They break after about 2 weeks of use regardless of the care taken with them. That has been our experience. ?
If you plan to photograph insects, [use a lot of macro-photography] a wider aperture is better, with a macro function [ideally]. You can get a respectable cameras in the 250 $ and below range for outdoor photography. Cannon makes some affordable models that work quite well in terms of ease of use, size, weight and durability --coupled of course with function. And with digital photos, it's easier to participate in citizen science projects, or to get assistance online in identification.
If you plan to photograph animals that will not allow you to get close, like birds, or buffalo, or bears etc., you want a good zoom function on that camera. A crappy zoom function sucks the joy out of having the camera. Because unless you are practicing to become a ninja, you will have to not make any noise as you get within 5 to 10 feet of any animal in order to photograph it. ?So make sure if you purchase a camera, your zoom works well, so you can get images of the animals you want while maintaining a safe distance.
I often use my zoom function to photograph stinging insects. Sometimes there are so many bees and wasps on flowers in a field, it simply is not safe to enter these places without boots and a veil. So a zoom function allows me to document these critters without having to wear them in my hair.
In Oklahoma there are parks that contain free roaming buffalo, long horn cattle and what not--once again ZOOM FUNCTION! I want pictures, but I don't want to be trampled or impaled by pissed off megafauna. Same thing with snakes!
But now back to the guides.
I have my favorites. Some for the cost of ink and laminate, or ink and bindings, and others you buy at the book store.
Single Page Guides:
Pocket Naturalists folding laminated guides. I put the main page here because then you can peruse the entire list so you know exactly what is available. These can be ordered from Barnes and Noble, they can be found in the stores with the regular nature field guides, and they are available on Amazon as well. Durable, single page guides, double sided--a good choice for children--even toddlers. ?These fold like maps and will fit into deep coat pockets and small backpacks and purses.
Bumble Bees of Eastern and Western United States are available at this link. Just scroll down. You will need adobe acrobat to view these documents. Teachers ?or parents can order the higher quality posters if they wish to. Because I live in an area where Eastern and Western species overlap, I printed both pages up, put them back to back and laminated them as one sheet for use. You can print these posters up in different sizes. The 8 1/2 X 10 has very small lettering. Legal size might be better for people with eye sight issues.
I strongly recommend that interested parents check out the menu at the US Forestry, Range land and Botany Program site. There are lots of downloadable guides to be found, many dealing with specific regions and parks. Go to Celebrating Wildflowers and start there.
Multi-Page Guides:
Multi-page field guides are about 6x10 or 4x7 [thereabouts], so they will fit in a large pocket of a coat, or in a backpack or purse. But they are deceptively heavy. More than two and you will notice the additional weight.
Bumble Bees of the Eastern United States. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view this document. My recommendation, put this on a thumb drive and take it to a copy shop. Print only the insect guide illustrations and maps in color. And print the text pages in B/W to save money. Expect to pay about 32 dollars thereabouts after printing and binding. Well worth it if you are into this.
Bumble Bees of the Western United States ?Same instructions apply for this document as the Eastern version! But the diagrams and photographs are well worth it for both books. Since I live in the Central United States, I need both books. You may only need one or the other though, depending on your location. ?
These two bumble bee guides are larger. Like a regular book. They will fit into a full size backpack or book bag. I often leave these at home or in the car, and take only the one page guides into the field.
Remember, regardless of what you are observing, if you record your observations with a camera, you can save the ID process til you get home and upload the image.So you don't have to carry a heavy load of guides where ever you go, unless you want to.
And for these two free Bumble Bee Guides, I highly recommend a thumb drive and a trip to a copy shop. Otherwise be prepared to buy extra ink for your printer.
The Audubon Society Field Guide To North American Insects and Spiders. This guide has a vinyl cover and extra heavy pages that resist moisture and tearing. It is filled with detailed, close-up full color pictures of various insects. And the back section has more information, including range, habitat, reproduction, life cycle. You can type in Audubon Field Guides in an Amazon.com search, and find them focusing on a variety of topics, including weather.
Kaufman's Field Guide to North American Insects. This book has hand drawn illustrations. At first I thought it was not going to be up for the test. But I find this book to be the most useful out of all my insect guides. It includes more in depth information about the Hymenoptera order and their mimics. I find this one helps me at least get the Identification in the ball park. Like the Audubon field guide, this one has a heavy vinyl cover and heavy pages. The pictures are smaller though and they are illustrations, not photographs.
Be sure and peruse the Peterson line of Field Guides too. They make a line of "First Guides" for beginners and children, that focus on topics like identifying Caterpillars. These are much smaller than the standard guides, more like a thick pamphlet. But because they are lighter, they are great for a child's backpack, especially a child that has advanced beyond the folding laminate guides, but not quite ready for the bigger, heavy books like Audubon and Kaufman. ?The Caterpillar guide is really nice, it includes the larvae of both butterflies and moths, and makes a nice counterpoint to other guides that do not include as many references to the larvae of the lepidoptera Order.
We also have the Peterson's First Guide to birds. For our youngest child who is only 6, these smaller guides give her the benefit of learning how to use the index and other reference sources inside a book, but without having to do it in the context of a 1000 page manual.
Another guide book I recommend: Dragonflies through Binoclulars, A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America by Sidney W. Dunkle. I bought this used for about 7 bucks and it's been very useful. There are a lot more dragonflies and damselflies in the world, than a basic field guide can cover. If you are into the Odonata Order, then this book is for you. ?Also--Dragonflies do not sting!
But remember, if you plan to photograph odonata--you need a good zoom function, because they are flighty and not likely to let you get close for a good macro-photography session.
Online Resources:
Bugguide.net. This is an extensive site. You can join if you want to and become part of this community. Or you can use it as a resource for insect identification. If you can get close to identification of a species using a field guide, the Bug Guide works best when you can enter the Latin Name of the insect. Real Entymologists work on this site along with passionate, informed citizen scientists. This site is filled with great photographs and descriptions.
Butterflies and Moths of North America. One of my favorite sites. You can use either checklists and images, or you can utilize an amazing interactive map for species identification.
Dragonflies and Damselflies [Odonata] of the United States, by the United States Geological Service {USGS} Includes an interactive map!
Wikipedia. If all you have is a common name, Wikipedia can be a useful resource in getting a more specific identification nailed down. The pages that wikipedia do provide regarding species identification in any kingdom tend to be fairly detailed and often include very useful full color photographs. Just type in : http://www.wikipedia.org
Google Image Search. I am not crazy about google for a lot of different reasons. But their image search capabilities for wildlife identification cannot be matched. Type in the common name or scientific nomenclature in the search box. When the initial results pop up, click on Images on the left hand menu and the page will fill up with photographs. It's an easy way to start matching physical characteristics. If you can match an image on google image search, with sites like bug guide or some other credible scientific site, then you just might be on to something. FYI, if you do not have a filter for children on your computer, be aware that some images that might be pulled up, could possibly be inappropriate for viewing by children. Internet searches can be fun, but it is not without it's visual hazards.
Youtube.com. Now then youtube also carries visual hazards [for those of you with children], so be aware. But it also has an impressive collection of wildlife footage, including bird calls, and amphibian calls. You can enter either the scientific nomenclature or the common name and often find professional and amateur footage of animals in their habitat making their unique calls. ?Take your child on a nature walk at dusk or at night and then go back in and enter known amphibians or insects in your area and see if you can identify what is out calling in your area at night.
A quick search on any engine for bird, insect or amphibian calls will pull up personal and university websites devoted to cataloging and identifying these animals by sight and sound. For example--I found these on youtube--all from different sources, and all very entertaining and useful. ?
If you have a camera that shoots footage and sound, you could conceivably make your own wildlife recordings some day. Just be safe.
I hope this helps you get on your way to wildlife identification. And who knows perhaps, some day you might decide to participate in a citizen science project. If you are interested in those, Scientific American keeps an active list of projects you can join.
After a while you will notice that you will begin to retain this data in your head and may not need the guides for much. That is very exciting and you will soon be babbling in a foreign language that no one will understand, whenever you see an animal or plant outside. Then you can be like me and boor the shit out of people at parties with gobs of what many consider useless information. And if you indoctrinate your kids into this world, you may be able to negatively affect their dating prospects as teens. This could be a likely companion therapy to building a moat and filling it with man eating reptiles.
Remember, you still have time to contribute a report to the Drought Monitor, if you are being affected by the drought. And if you buy food--you are being affected.
And you can still submit your protest of the use of NeoNicotinoids in North America due to this pesticide being the underlying cause of Colony Collapse Disorder.
Source: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/11/1118812/-Wildlife-ID-guides
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