This beautiful and comprehensive guide, many years in the making, is a manual for identifying the butterflies of Iowa as well as 90 percent of the butterflies in the Plains states.
It begins by providing information on the natural communities of Iowa, paying special attention to butterfly habitat and distribution. Next come chapters on the history of lepidopteran research in Iowa and on creating butterfly gardens, followed by an intriguing series of questions and issues relevant to the study of butterflies in the state.
The second part contains accounts, organized by family, for the...

In "The Emerald Horizon," Cornelia Mutel combines lyrical writing with meticulous scientific research to portray the environmental past, present, and future of Iowa. In doing so, she ties all of Iowa's natural features into one comprehensive whole.
Since so much of the tallgrass state has been transformed into an agricultural landscape, Mutel focuses on understanding today s natural environment by understanding yesterday s changes. After summarizing the geological, archaeological, and ecological features that shaped Iowa s modern landscape, she recreates the once-wild native communities...

Who are the plain people, the men and women who till their fields with horse and plow, travel by horse and buggy, live without electricity and telephones, and practice help thy neighbor in daily life? Linda Egenes visited with her Old Order Amish neighbors in southeast Iowa for thirteen years before writing this informative and companionable introduction to their lifeways.
Drawn to their slower pace of life and their resistance to the lures of a consumer society, Egenes found a warm welcome among the Amish, and in return she has given us an equally warm perspective on Amish family life as...

Founded as a communal society in 1855 by German Pietists, the seven villages of Iowa's Amana Colonies make up a community whose crafts, architecture, and institutions reflect - and to an extent perpetuate - the German heritage of earlier residents. In this intriguing blend of sociolinguistic research and stories from Colonists both past and present, Philip Webber examines the rich cultural and linguistic traditions of the Amanas. Although the Colonies are open to the outside world, particularly after the Great Change of 1932, many distinctive vestiges of earlier lifeways survive, including...

Many different Indian tribes have lived in Iowa, each existing as an independent nation with its own history, culture, language, and traditions. Some were residents before recorded time; some lived in Iowa for relatively short periods but played memorable roles in the state's history; others visited Iowa mostly during hunting trips or times of war. Stimulating and informative, Lance Foster's The Indians of Iowa is the only book for the general reader that covers the archaeology, history, and culture of all the different native nations that have called Iowa home from prehistory to the...

Now available for the first time in paperback, "Farm House" tells the story of the first structure built on the Iowa State University campus. Mary Atherly provides a comprehensive history of the Farm House from its founding days in 1860 to its role as the center of activity for the new college to its second life as a National Historic Landmark and welcoming museum visited by thousands each year. New photographs add to the first edition's rich array of images and a foreword by Gregory Geoffroy, ISU's president since 2001, adds to its historical content. The history of Iowa's only land-grant...