Book meme

Okay, I've decided to stick with the theme here and go with entomology books. It was a bit easier than I thought.

How many [entomology] books do I own?
Hmm, about 60. Not bad for an ornithologist.

Last [entomology] book purchased.
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States by John Abbott.

Last [entomology] book I read.
Well, they tend to be reference books, so I don't really read them cover to cover. Last one I referred to was Ed Lam's stunning Damselflies of the Northeast. I use this book so much in the field, it fell apart. I put the pages in sheet protectors and it's in a binder in my car. Another that got the same treatment is The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio, edited by Bob Glotzhober and Dave McShaffrey. They are easier to use than the big texts, Needham, Westfall, and May's Dragonflies of North America and Westfall and May's Damselflies of North America, both of which I also own. The last entomology reference book I actually read pretty thoroughly was Corbet's Dragonflies: Behavior and Ecology of Odonata. Yes! How geeky of me! I read it, highlighted it, and was duly inspired! The 1962 version is online. I do have a bunch of butterfly and moth books that I use regularly, too.

The five [entomology] books that influenced you the most.1. and 2. Grassroot Jungles and Near Horizons by Edwin Way Teale. I read all his books early in my writing career; these were wonderful essays on insects and the natural world close at hand. He was one of the last great popular natural history writers, and he greatly influenced that aspect of my writing.
3. and 4. The Golden Guide to Insects and The Golden Guide to Butterflies and Moths. What kid could do without them? The latter is still a great little reference to lepidoptera larvae, although now new field guides are finally coming on the scene.
5. Dragonflies through Binoculars by Sid Dunkle. The first field guide to dragonflies. There wasn't much point in trying to go out and identify them before this book, and look what he inspired!