Not too long ago in human history, people thought that caterpillars and butterflies were two entirely different critters. This book illustrates beautifully how different the pupual stage of the butterfly is from the adult! So many of us can identify a Monarch caterpillar, but how about a swallowtail or a sulphur? And, yeah, you know what a Gypsy Moth caterpillar looks like, and maybe even a Wooly Bear, but what do they TURN INTO?
The pictures in this book will tell you! I'll say that this book isn't for the rank beginner, they'd probably do better with "Caterpillars in the Field and Garden : A Field Guide to the Butterfly Caterpillars of North America". And neither is it a definitive guide to all the caterpillars (that book has yet to be written). But it fits the niche right in-between. The pictures of the caterpillars are great; true to life and color, although the adult pictures are small, taken from pinned, collected adults, which makes for sometimes faded specimens and could never be used as a field guide as most of the moths never fan their wings.
Moths are the primary reason to buy this book. If you've ever found a caterpillar in your garden and just don't know what it is, it's just as likely (if not sometimes more so) to be a moth as a butterfly. The beginner books don't include many moths, despite the fact that moth caterpillars can be just as colorful, and large!
The author gives a summary on each page of the more common species, what they look like, whether instars are different from stage to stage, range maps, and most importantly: WHAT THEY EAT. I'm not talking about whether you have to worry about finding these guys on your tomatoes, or in your cereal cabinet. Caterpillar species specialize on a certain type of food plant or plants. Sometimes the ONLY way to tell two species apart is to see what the caterpillar eats.
The tips in this book will help you on your way to raise caterpillars at home, find eggs on plants, even identify some common diseases and parasites.
Aspiring lepidopterists will find this book useful to move from novices to informed backyard naturalists.