Insect and Spider Resources
Many people visit Monticello Park to look for birds, but there are also many arthropods in the park.
Insects and spiders can be difficult to identify. Sometimes they can be identified only to genus, not to species. The best online source for identification information about insects and spiders is BugGuide, operated by Iowa State University. You can use BugGuide to either find a photo that matches what you have seen at Monticello Park, or submit a photo of what you have seen for identification assistance by experts. Insect Identification is another website that provides aid in identifying arthropods.
- BugGuide
- Insect Identification for the casual observer
These websites focus on arachnids:
- Spiders.us for the casual observer
- Spiderz Rule common US spiders
- Arachtober photos of spiders and arachnids
- Pseudoscorpions of the World
These websites aid in identifying butterflies and moths:
- Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)
- North American Moth Photograpers Group at the Mississippi Entomological Museum
These books focus on identifying and understanding both insects and spiders:
- National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America
- Insects, Spiders, and Other Terrestrial Arthropods
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders
- Life in the Undergrowth
These books focus on identifying and understanding insects:
- Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America
- Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to the Insects of Eastern North America
- Stokes Guide to Observing Insect Lives
- A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico
- Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs
- The Insect World of J. Henri Fabre
These books focus on identifying and understanding spiders:
- Amazing Arachnids
- Spiders of the Eastern United States: A Photographic Guide
- Spiders and Their Kin
- The Private Life of Spiders
These books focus on identifying and understanding butterflies, moths, caterpillars, dragonflies, damselflies, and beetles:
- Northern Virginia Dragonflies and Damselflies: A Field Guide
- Butterflies of the Mid-Atlantic: A Field Guide
- A Guide to Eastern Butterflies
- Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Butterflies in the Boston-New York-Washington Region
- Butterflies and Moths
- Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
- Caterpillars of Eastern North America
- Beetles of North America