Reddit Reddit reviews Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects

We found 12 Reddit comments about Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Science & Math
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Biological Sciences
Biology of Animals
Biology of Insects & Spiders
Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
Cengage Learning
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12 Reddit comments about Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects:

u/BrowniePancake · 20 pointsr/Entomology

>What am I allowed to collect?


For the most part the vast majority of what you collect will not be treated or listed and you are totally allowed to collect them. Collections normally consist mostly of adult insects and since most insects have short lives so you are likely killing them after they have already reproduced and are near death anyways. It is all worth noting that insect population are also so large that when you are only take a small number for a collection you are not affecting the species very much at all. That being said there are only a few insects that are listed as endangered and you should avoid collecting. I assume you live in the US so you can look up endangered species here.


>Can I collect at a state park?


State parks are normally not ok to collect in but it depends where you are. A good rule of thumb is to collect on private property (your own or with permission), Bureau of Land Management land, and National Forests (not National Parks) link for more info and exceptions.


>Where's the best place to learn about preserving and mounting?


Short videos (scroll to the bottom of page for videos)
text
bugguide
more info on traps and advanced methods

I didn't notice this mentioned on the links but make sure to keep some sort of poison inside of the box you stope insects in. If you do not carpet beetles (dermestids) will eat your collection. My favorite method is to crush up a mothball (made with para-Dichlorobenzene not naphthalene) and sprinkle it in the box replacing when scent is gone. Also if you live someplace with high humidity consider putting in desiccant packs to keep things dry and help prevent mold.


>How's, uh, the odor of a mounting workbench?


I work on my collection in my bedroom and the smell is fine. Some big beetles can stink as they dry (insides rotting) and if you pin a stink bug or darkling beetle you will smell them but it isn't bad enough to warrant putting them in the garage and most things will have no smell at all. I would also encourage you not to store insects in the garage since it is best for pinned insects to stay dry and garages can be moist. The things that do smell, however, will be poison (ethyl acetate, acetone, and PDB) so store those in your garage.


>apparently a good starter's kit is ~120$


If you want to spend that much that's fine but you can really start a lot cheaper. You can start with only a few dollars by collecting things in jars then putting them in the freezer to die. I suggest that you buy directly from BioQuip, pretty much the only entomology supply company. I think this starter kit would be perfect for your needs and only costs $40. I believe you were looking at this which is nice and if you are wanting nicer quality things it works, I personally liked starting with the basic kit then upgrading piece by piece once I knew what I liked and wanted.

Identifying:

When IDing here are some good resources

  • bugguide.net

  • Peterson Guide for common families

  • the ultimate intro to entomology is Borrer and DeLong it has a lot of issues and some of the keys leave a lot to be desired but with it you can key out any North American insect or arachnid to family as well as get familiar with entomological terms and anatomy. The downside its it ranges from $200-$500

    If you can't ID something try:

  • /r/whatsthisbug
  • contact your local entomology museum or department
  • if you don't have a local one you can reach UC Davis' at [email protected] just attach a photo
  • or PM me :)

    Happy collecting!



u/maaarshall · 9 pointsr/Entomology

As far as I know, Borror & Delong's Introduction to the Study of Insects is the go-to ordinal key.
You'll need to seek out other resources to narrow it down further, though. There's a lot of bugs out there and they all look alike. Stephen Marshall's Insects is also an excellent one to have lying around. It's full of photos and that's a quick-n-dirty way to help you narrow your ID down (I'd advise against relying on its arachnids section, however).

u/Priapulid · 3 pointsr/Entomology

Borror, Delong, Triplehornes Intro to the Study of Insects is the standard text for systematic entomology classes... it is not a "guide book" but a series of keys. It will get you to the family level, but you need to be comfortable with keys.

Edit: if you want specific guides to certain orders or families... you're best bet is searching google for posted keys (usually region specific) or searching academic sources for keys.

u/parapants · 3 pointsr/Entomology

The go to text for most entomology intro courses. It has a key to the orders, and in the chapter on each order, a key to the families of that order.

u/Thernn · 1 pointr/Entomology

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0030968356?pc_redir=1411850440&robot_redir=1

Borrer and Delong might have larval keys to family but it has been so long since I looked at the book that I can't remember.

Why is your Prof requiring family identification for larvae. That is a bit cruel for a general ento class.

u/albopictus · 1 pointr/Entomology
u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/Entomology

It really is such a weird key. Borrer and DeLong also have a Insect book that has keys in each chapter about the families. I feel like those keys are a little bit more morphologically targeted, so harder to follow, but tend to lead you to the right family. That was always my last ditch effort.

u/EZE_it_is_42 · 1 pointr/Entomology

Go and pick up "Borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects" (https://www.amazon.com/Borror-DeLongs-Introduction-Study-Insects/dp/0030968356)

It is where all entomologist begin and this book is essential in the field (i.e. you will always use this book, need this book). Stay away from field guides at the beginning if you're serious about becoming an entomologist, they have pretty pictures and are good for outreach but honestly, kind of useless unless you only want to identify the charismatic taxa that you'll likely already know. Eventually you'll figure out that a field guide leads to more misidentification than accurate identification.

First thing you'll want to learn is the structure of taxonomy and the Insect Orders, that'll put you on the path to learning Latin. Get to a point that you can identify any insect to order almost immediately. Once there pick an order to focus on learning families, pick something you like. If you want a challenge go for Diptera.

So, get the book and learn the orders, go out and look at bugs and practice identifying to Order. Honestly you probably won't have any luck volunteering at a museum or research laboratory. It's just not worth a researchers time to train a volunteer, sorry but it's the truth.
Good luck!

u/koinobiont · 1 pointr/Entomology

Leptoglossus looks pretty close. It seems the standard introductory text that everyone uses is this book. I would recommend trying to find it used.

u/neverislupus · 1 pointr/Entomology

I recommend you purchase this book, read it, start a collection, and identify all of your specimens using the keys inside the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Borror-DeLongs-Introduction-Study-Insects/dp/0030968356