Field Guide to NE Cerambycidae now available

[Doug Yanega]

For some time now, I'd been telling folks I had this work in preparation,
and I've just been informed that it has been printed and is ready for
distribution. Please note that for various reasons, the book is being sold
AT COST, so neither I nor the INHS is making any profit from sales, thus
this is not a commercial announcement (like our friend KingFishr at aol.com).
The field guide is hard cover, 184 pp., with 32 color plates containing
photos (actually high-resolution scanned images processed from slides) and
diagnostic features for all 350 species (well, there is one undescribed
species I couldn't get a photo of, but I think the photos of some holotypes
I include compensate for this) of Cerambycidae occurring or potentially
occurring in Northeastern North America, defined here as the entire area,
including eastern Canada, bounded by imaginary lines drawn up from the
western border of Missouri and eastwards from the southern border of
Missouri. There are very brief introductory chapters on things like
morphology, life history, taxonomy, and collecting techniques, but the focus
is entirely on species diagnoses; it was written primarily to enable
non-experts to identify any NE cerambycid to species without having to
struggle with dichotomous keys (or anything more sophisticated than a good
hand lens). For the taxonomically-inclined out there, the book does include
many synonymies in the index, and there is also a brief appendix revising a
few sticky matters in the genus Oberea. In some cases, prepare to be
surprised (for example, many collections supposedly containing Gaurotes
thoracica or Callidium schotti actually do not - even folks like Knull
sometimes made mistakes). Note also that the price is set at 15$ US
*including postage*, regardless of the source of the order, so foreign
orders are more than welcome, and do NOT cost extra. Service with a smile. ;-)

People who want to order the field guide should contact:

                Distribution Office
                Illinois Natural History Survey
                607 East Peabody Drive
                Champaign, Illinois  61820
                Ph (217) 333-6833
                Cost = $15 per copy (includes postage, to all countries)

Bear in mind that the Holiday season will soon be upon us, so I would expect
possibly slow delivery service this month (and no, I refuse to stoop to
calling my own book a "stocking-stuffer", despite a deeply-ingrained
temptation to ham it up - not many folks are likely to be excited by
receiving a beetle field guide in the first place, and obviously not
everyone *has* a Holiday season...'Tis the season for egregious
self-promotion? I think not. I'll stick to the facts). A personal aside, to
those of you - and you know who you are - who helped me in any way,
supplying specimens for photos, etc., you should expect a gratis copy in the
near future, with my thanks. For the rest of you, hey, 15 bucks is cheap for
a hardcover book with color plates.  ;-)

I might also request that if someone out there is on a "forest entomology"
type newsgroup, that they might forward this there (checking, of course,
that someone else hasn't already), as one of the intentions was to give
folks working with forest insects in the US and Canada a tool to help
identify a major taxon of interest to them.

So, spread the word, and if anyone has any significant complaints, errata,
or such regarding the text (after they have read the foreword, which may
answer some questions), feel free to let me know, just in case there is a
second printing.

Peace, everybody,

Dr. Douglas Yanega
Depto. Biologia Geral
Univ. Federal de Minas Gerais
Caixa Postal 486
30161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG, BRAZIL
(031)-448-1223