Dragonflies of North America

Field / Identification Guide

Series: Princeton Field Guides Series

By: Ed Lam(Author)

446 pages, 1850+ colour & b/w illustrations, 340 colour distribution maps

Publisher: Princeton University Press

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ISBN: 9780691232874 Flexibound Nov 2024 In stock
£21.00 £30.00
#264477

Price: £21.00

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About this book

A comprehensive, fully illustrated guide to every dragonfly (and only dragonfly, not including damselfly) species found in North America

Dragonflies are large and beautiful insects, diverse in colour and pattern and often best found in daylight and good weather. This premier field guide provides all the information you need to identify every male and female dragonfly found in North America, whether in the field, in the hand, or under the microscope. The extensive illustrations are the heart of the book. Close-up colour portraits of each species, often several times life-size, show the best possible specimens for close examination. Each sex is depicted using multiple images, with postures and viewpoints consistently maintained to aid comparison. Dragonflies of North America is the ultimate guide to these extraordinary insects.

- Covers all 329 North American species, including distinctive subspecies and variations
- Features nearly 1,900 highly detailed paintings and drawings, providing clarity and consistency that photographs cannot match
- Illustrates each species with multiple views for easy identification and comparison
- Gives an invaluable introduction to dragonfly anatomy, behaviour, and life cycle
- Offers additional guidance for the most challenging species that defy field identification, highlighting anatomical characteristics to aid identification in the hand
- Includes a distribution map for every species

Customer Reviews (3)

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Be Warned
By John 6 Nov 2024 Written for Flexibound

I got this book on a visit to the States, where it is already available. This books title is distressingly accurate; when it says "Dragonflies" it means exactly that, the Dragonflies AND NOT the Damselflies.

In the modern world, where "dragonflies" gets used as a generic term for Odonata, compared to "true dragonflies", this can be misleading, though it is perfectly accurate.

Now I understand the species count. :)

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One of the most accurate and extensive book on Anisoptera ever made so far
By Andrea 18 Apr 2025 Written for Flexibound

I have been dreaming of a field guide of Western Palearctic odonata since long, with all possible subspecies, well shown and at a macro level morphological traits, for all sex/age etc. This book is the N American counterpart of my dreams. Truly an impressive work, with an amount of research and drawings which is breathtaking, an impressive masterpiece, a must for all Odonata researchers, lovers and enthusiasts. Absolutely amazing

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Must have guide to North American dragonfly species
By Lawrence 23 Jun 2025 Written for Flexibound

Wonderfully illustrated and, in terms of quality, reminiscent of Richard Lewington's style. A comprehensive guide and more recent than the Princeton Field Guides two volumes Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East; and ...the West. The latter two have the damselflies as well, this volume doesn't, but Lam is more up to date with nomenclature and all the species are in a single volume. I prefer hand-drawn illustrations to photographs as they tend to be better in practical use; the Princeton volumes are photographic.
It has helped me with the determination of species from the Netherlands Antilles and has many of the commoner species - but (not surprisingly) it is not comprehensive for the Caribbean (but then neither is Esquivel's Dragonflies and Damselflies of Middle America and the Caribbean).
In summary you will want this handguide 1) if you collect books on dragonflies - it is beautiful; 2) you want a comprehensive and useable guide to North American Species; 3) you are looking for a piece in the jigsaw puzzle that could help you in identifying species in adjacent countries.

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Biography

Ed Lam is a natural science illustrator and partner at the Schoolhouse Studio, where he teaches art to children. He is the author and illustrator of Damselflies of the Northeast: A Guide to the Species of Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States.

Field / Identification Guide

Series: Princeton Field Guides Series

By: Ed Lam(Author)

446 pages, 1850+ colour & b/w illustrations, 340 colour distribution maps

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Media reviews

"[...] Dragonflies of North America is an important and valuable new publication, illustrating some new species to the region and bringing much new distributional data and field identification experience to the fore."
– Adrian Parr, Atropos 75, 2025

"A terrific guide [...] Whatever your level of proficiency, you will benefit from this work, and perhaps even more important you will revel in the beauty of it all. Well done, Ed Lam!"
– David M. Gascoigne, Travels with Birds

"A MUST-HAVE for anyone with an interest in the dragonflies of the continental United States and Canada!"
– Ian Paulsen, The Birdbooker Report

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