Written for nature enthusiasts of all ages, citizen scientists and the scientific community.
 This profusely illustrated book is the result of a field survey and natural history study of desert insects and other arthropods such as spiders, scorpions and centipedes. It was con-
ducted in the southern California desert of Anza–Borrego Desert State Park® and environs over a period of 20 years. 
 783 different insects—dragonflies, grass-hoppers, katydids, mantids, bugs, beetles, flies, moths, butterflies, wasps, bees and more.
 48 other arthropods & snails—scorpions, spiders, harvestmen, millipedes, centipedes, fairy shrimp, mites, desertsnails and more.
 1671 color photos—almost all taken in the wild in their native habitats along with field observations. 
 27 illustrations—diagrams, charts, maps.
 Geographic range—the Colorado Desert division of the Sonoran Desert in southern California into Arizona and Mexico. About 75% of named species also occur in Arizona and many occur in Mexico.
 Descriptions, classifications, natural histories and distributions for each animal.
 A section on basic insect and arthropod biology, sources and bibliographic references, a plant list of all plants mentioned in the text, an extensive index and a brief common name index are included.
 A concise summary of the survey results of 831 species in 573 genera, 172 families and 31 orders is given in a pie chart and table followed by a complete listing by order, family, genus and usually species of all animals surveyed. 
 The acknowledgment section recognizes the enormous contributions of dozens of scientific
specialists that helped identify these insects and kin.