The 2nd edition of this beautifully illustrated guide to the spiders of North America, north of Mexico, provides completely updated keys and information about this important part of North American fauna. This is an indispensable reference for anyone interested in spider diversity or identification. This updated edition provides more than 1,400 illustrations and keys to the genera in 71 spider families. Over 600 genera are included. Taxonomic changes since the publication of the 1st edition in 2005 are reflected in every chapter. The manual includes 76 chapters and a wealth of information including an introduction to spider morphology, natural history, collecting techniques and preservation methods; an overview of the current status and most recent developments in spider phylogeny and evolutionary history; a key to the families of spiders found in North America, north of Mexico; keys to the genera in each of these families; an etymological dictionary explaining the derivation of the names of spider genera and families; a well-illustrated glossary; a pronunciation guide to the names of common taxa; and a complete bibliography. This is the first completely revised version of the manual since its original publication in 2005. Note that this is not a photo-ID guide to spiders; it is intended to aid in accurate identification and to do this one must become familiar with some of the details of spider morphology/anatomy. To aid in this task, a guide to morphology used in classification is provided in the introduction. The information on spider biology and identification make this manual especially suitable for both amateur naturalists and professional arachnologists.

With contributions by: Darrell Ubick, Pierre Paquin, Paula Cushing, Nadine Duperre, Adalberto Santos, Bruce Cutler, Michael Draney, Daniel Mott, Matjaz Kuntner, Lara Lopardo, James Cokendolpher, H. Don Cameron, Ingi Agnarsson, Joseph Lapp, Stephen Lew, Vince Roth, Robert Kallal, Sarah Crews, Charles Griswold, Warren Savary, Bernhard Huber, Frederick Coyle, Patrick Craig, Gustavo Hormiga, Alan Brady, Charles Dondale, Herbert Levi, Martin Ramirez, Joel Ledford, G.B. Edwards, Marshal Hedin, Marisa Sripracha, Eric Parrish, Brent Hendrixson, Thomas Prentice, Jason Bond, Robert Bennett, Diana Silva Davila, Jonathan Coddington, Brent Opell, James Carico, David Richman.