A Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies

Peterson Field Guides #4

by Paul A. Opler, Vichai Malikul (Illustrator)

This newly designed field guide features descriptions of 524 species of butterflies. One hundred color photographs as well as 348 color range maps accompany the species descriptions. The 541 exquisite color paintings clearly show even the most minute field marks. Introductory chapters include information on butterfly gardening, habitats, and conservation.

Genres: Biology, Science, Field Guides, Reference, Nonfiction, Nature, Wildlife

512 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

Reviews

[Neil Pasricha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never really noticed butterflies until this year. I could identify a Monarch. That’s it! Just that one. I knew Monarchs were striking and elegant and wondrous and I’d seen a nature show talking about how they migrate to this sacred forest in Mexico (The Monarchs overwintering in Mexico are actually the great-great-grandchildren (!) of the Monarchs we might see flying south.) So I borrowed this field guide from my grandparents-in-law and have just picked up 'The ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario' (2014) and now I’m suddenly noticing butterflies everywhere. When this guide was published in 1992 there were 522 known species of butterflies “east of the 100th meridian” (which in North America runs from around Winnipeg to Wichita to Mexico City) and on Page 4 Opler says he answers the question about what a butterfly even is by saying “Butterflies fly in the day, are brightly coloured, and have clubbed antenna.” Easy enough! Also helps differentiate from moths. He goes on to tell us if we’re in a “middle east” latitude (Toronto, New York, Chicago, Philly, Atlanta, etc) then “In early spring, as buds are just beginning to open, you can find Falcate Orangetips, the first whites, Spring Azures, Silvery Blues, elfins, duskywings, overwintered adults of Mourning Cloaks, tortoiseshells, and anglewings. Most swallowtails, brushfoots, and true skippers don’t begin their flights until late spring or early summer, while mid- to late summer is a time when you should expect hairstreaks, fritillaries, some skippers, and immigrants from further south.” Hairstreaks? Skippers? Duskywings? I love their names. I love their lives! As always: The more you look the more you see. They fly away quickly so I’m often stuck thinking “it was dark blue, with white spots on the edge of the wings…” before I can look it up. But starting somewhere!

[Hayley Laporte]

This is a peterson field guide for young naturalists. This gives you tons of information about different kinds of butterflies. It talks about all the different parts of butterflies. It also tells you what kinds of butterflies each caterpillar turns in to. It tells you about how the butterflies live and what types of food it eats.
This book is great for kids especially if they are doing research for a project. It has a table of contents in the front so kids can easily find the information they are looking for. It has text boxes with extra information to look at. There is quite a bit of text so these books are geared more towards slightly older readers. The picture are very descriptive and labeled very well. You can learn a lot from this book. The pictures are real pictures or they are very realistic so children can get a realistic image of these creatures. I would highly recommend this book for children.

[Andria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not every butterfly has a picture which makes it hard to identify them.