The Dragonflies and Damselflies of California
By Tim Manolis – (2003)
201 pages; matt art paper, with 40 colour plates, 12 monochrome plates & 2 main maps.
Hard Cover: 19cm x 12cm.
ISBN: 9 780520 235663
University of California Press, USA.
For anyone interested in the odonates of North America and in particular California, this handy little book should be in your possession. At least 108 species are known to this region and all have been well researched and very informatively presented here.
The opening pages include an introduction to the ancient fossil history of odonates and what physical features categorize them as distinctly different from other insect orders. The differences and anatomy of damselflies and dragonflies are explained and illustrated in easy to understand terminology with detail of their life cycle ecology with rather informative notes on the larvae. Adult behavior is also well defined and includes thermoregulation, mating, territoriality, antipredator behavior, migration and dispersal.
Habitat detail of the five main provinces of California are provided along with the odonate species one can expect to find there and also discussion of the limits of the distribution of species due to California’s divers topography, natural barriers and weather are included.
The species are presented in their genera starting with the damselflies. Each genus has its common name and scientific name followed by a brief description of the genus with broad notes on global distribution and species numbers locally. Each species has its common name followed by its scientific name, then a description of the adult odonates male and female including measurements in both inches and centimeters. The notes on distribution are both local and global including habitat, elevation, flight periods and behavioral patterns. The author’s colour illustrations are presented in natural setting as you find in some bird books and it is rather effective. This is enhanced with enlarged physical features of the species such as wing tips, anal appendages etc. to aid identification.
This is a good little book bringing to the reader’s attention not just an account of California’s odonate fauna but its light weight and small size makes it very useful for carrying in the field. The observations of the gradual migration of alien odonate species from other North American states and regions in recent decades as a result of massively altered ecosystems through human activities provides further evidence of odonates excellence as bio indicators and this book should be in every naturalist, environmental scientist and “politicians” library.
Rod Rice
Principal Reviewer
Nature & Travel Books