A Backyard Book of
Spiders in Maine



by Dana Wilde
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“I love this book. The personal anecdotes in A Backyard Book of Spiders in Maine make them real, and they show how Dana Wilde is passionate about them, making it fun to follow as he opens a new world, not just to those spiders of Maine but through them to the rest almost anywhere, and to anyone. There is so much fascinating to see in nature, as this book shows.”
             —Bernd Heinrich, author of A Naturalist at Large, Summer World, Winter                    World, and others


​“Dana Wilde’s perceptive and delightful Backyard Book of Spiders in Maine will provide any curious observer of spiders in Maine with insights into their biology, ecology, behavior, and natural history. Of particular note are his extensive and knowledgeable explorations into the fascinating etymology of spider names. This book belongs in the library of anyone with even a passing interest in the engrossing world of arthropods and the myriad ways they intersect with human society. Very warmly recommended.”
              —Dr. Kefyn Catley, Professor of Biology and Science Education, Western                     Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C.


"A Backyard Book of Spiders in Maine is a wonderful contribution to a sorely misunderstood subject. Dana Wilde gives a well-rounded description of the variety of these little beings along with fascinating facts about the names we’ve bestowed upon them.”
               —Maine Master Naturalist Donne Sinderson


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“This outstanding work will undoubtedly serve as a standard introduction to Maine's spider fauna for years to come.”
               —Robert E. Nelson, Editor, The Maine Entomologist;
                    retired Professor of Geology, Colby College, Waterville, Maine
A Backyard Book of Spiders in Maine covers the fascinating facts of the spider families found in Maine and the Northeast, and is richly illustrated with photos, drawings, and graphics. Amateur and professional naturalists alike will find here a wealth of information on individual spiders and special topics such as webs and silk, communication and mating, spiders in winter, spider bites, spider names, and more. A great addition to your summer shelf of nature books!
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Watch Newscenter Maine's 207 program featuring Dana Wilde. 
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Click here to view the Bangor Daily News story on the book.
    Dana Wilde lives in Troy, Maine, and writes the Backyard Naturalist column which appears regularly in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel and occasionally in the Sun Journal newspapers, and originated in years past as the award-winning Amateur Naturalist column in the Bangor Daily News. He has been a college professor, editor, Fulbright scholar, and NEH fellow. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University
of Southern Maine and doctoral and master’s degrees from Binghamton University, where his doctoral dissertation was recognized as the Distinguished Dissertation in the Humanities and Fine Arts for 1995, in part for its efforts to bridge the “two cultures” of science and the humanities. His writings have appeared in The Maine Entomologist and many popular, literary, and scholarly publications; his books include Summer to Fall: Notes and Numina from the Maine Woods and Nebulae: A Backyard Cosmography. He is a member of the Maine Entomological Society, the International Society of Arachnology, and the National Book Critics Circle.