Product Description

This photographic guide to butterflies represents a completely new approach to field guides. It is aimed at those who wish to find and identify butterflies encountered in the field quickly and easily while promoting their conservation. Full colour throughout the book allows the text to arranged alongside the illustrations of the butterflies and a map to show the distribution of the butterflies in Europe. The text itself deliberately focuses on features that complement the photographs and facilitate identification. All the photographs of living butterflies photographed in the positions in which they will be found in nature - if a butterfly only perches with its wings outspread, that is how it appears in the book; if a butterfly may perch either with its wings spread or folded, both views are shown. Stress is laid on the importance of exploiting all available information for locating and identifying butterflies - if two butterfly species look so similar that they cannot be identified without handling or dissection, the two species are distinguished by behavioural, geographical, or seasonal features in the text. This maximises the number of photographs available to illustrate different positions, regional variations, and sex differences. This is the only guide that covers the whole of Europe, including the Canaries, Azores, Madeira, and all the Aegean islands. It contains numerous unique photographs of species, subspecies, and forms and information about their biology that has never been published before. By providing information about the ecology and conservation status of the butterflies, readers will be encouraged to observe carefully and understand the importance of protecting habitats for the sake f the butterflies, and other organisms, that live within them.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #577005 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 326 pages

Science, Sept 2001
"... photographs, detailed maps, and succinct text that will help observers quickly and accurately identify butterflies they encounter in the field."

Review
... photographs, detailed maps, and succinct text that will help observers quickly and accurately identify butterflies they encounter in the field. (Science, Sept 2001 )

About the Author
Dr Tom Tolman developed an interest in botany and natural history in the '70's, and quite by chance developed a passion for butterflies. He took early retirement from his career as an industrial research chemist to become an author and illustrator. He has done extensive research on their habitats, and between 1987 and 1996, the writer and his wife would spend between 4-6 months each year, camping in very remote mountainous locations for the sole purpose of acquiring new
information. Dr Tolman has a superb collection of butterfly photographs from all over Europe, including many species whose photographs have never been published. He is the author of the text of Collins Field Guide to Butterflies of Britain and Europe.

Customer Reviews

Photographic Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe
Why this book title specifies Britain in the title I don't know because virtually none of the photographs are taken in Britain. Most photographs were taken in Greece or other southern european countries so the photographs may not represent exactly what you're likely to see in Britain anyway.

One of the features of this book is supposed to be that the pictures, text and maps are all together for easy reference but in fact some species are carried over to the next page so the pictures may not actually be visible with the text. Could have been so much better if a little more thought had been given to the layout. One butterfly per page would have been much better.

I suppose it's difficult to show all the variations but the photographs are too incomplete to be a full guide. The butterflies are not shown with open and closed wings for both sexes nor are variations at different times of the year shown.

All in all it's not a book I would recommend for anyone who wants a single book to identify British butterflies from but it could be useful to complement a guide on British butterflies or if you want a guide for holidays in southern europe.

I wouldn't have been very pleased if I'd paid full price for this book but at a discounted price it's okay.