Is there a very good book on amphibians and water bugs so that I could
> identify what I have in my pond? (I live in Eastern Washington about five
> miles north of Yakima.)
>
> Maia Kelly
> Selah, WA


Amphibians: The Seattle Audubon Society has published "Amphibians of
Washington and Oregon", which I think is great. It has multiple photos of
each species; relatively extensive (for a field guide) descriptions of
morphology, habitats and habits; distribution maps; introductory material
on the natural history of different groups, including breeding and
development, taxonomy and references.
If it isn't in your local bookstore you can get it by writing to the
Seattle Audobon Society at:

Seattle Audubon Society
8028 35th Avenue NE
Seattle, WA 98115

or call them at 206-523-4483. Cost is $9.95! A great deal!

Water bugs: This is more difficult. According to Rod Crawford of the Burke
Museum and editor of the Scarabogram, the newsletter of Seattle Scarabs,
the Peterson Field Guide to Insects is the best of the general field
guides to insects. He has also heard good things about the Simon and
Schuster insect guide, but recommends against the Audubon "North American
Insects and Spiders", which he says has numerous errors. (He says their
butterfly book is OK.) The Golden Nature guides are more elementary and
cheaper. Any of these will help you identify to family, which is often
enough for the non-expert. There are more specialized books specifically
on aquatic insects and whatnot, but I'm not familiar with them. Insects
are so numerous and diverse that to get to the species level generally
requires consulting an expert and/or searching specialized scientific
literature. For a good entomology textbook with keys, get Borror and
DeLong's "Introduction to the Study of Insects". Rod recommends the 3rd
editon over later editions for the accuracy of the keys.

Hope this helps.

Paul Talbert
Seattle WA
paul at sparky.fhcrc.org