Handbook for Butterfly Watchers

by Robert Michael Pyle, Sarah Anne Hughes (Illustrator)

This essential handbook covers where to find butterflies; how to observe and photograph them; their behavior, biology, ecology, and life histories; butterfly gardening; butterfly rearing; identification; and conservation.

Genres: Nature, Natural History, Nonfiction, Science

280 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 1992

About the author

Robert Michael Pyle is a lepidopterist and a professional writer who has published twelve books and hundreds of papers, essays, stories and poems. He has a Ph.D. from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He founded the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in 1974. His acclaimed 1987 book Wintergreen describing the devastation caused by unrestrained logging in Washington's Willapa Hills near his adopted home was the winner of the 1987 John Burroughs Medal for Distinguished Nature Writing. His 1995 book Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide was the subject of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to butterflies and butterfly watching. Pyle's writing is enjoyable and informative, neither too dense nor too chatty. The book introduces butterflies' life history and the various types of butterflies, discusses the merits of catch-and-release or collecting vs. simply watching, lists equipment for butterflying watching (not very much!) and photography, and suggests ways to conserve butterfly populations and attract them with a garden. Finally, Pyle suggests some places to look for butterflies in North America and around the world. The chapter on photography is a bit dated, since it was written well before photography's digital revolution. Otherwise the book holds up quite well.

It might be good to read it with a field guide nearby since a lot of the butterfly species Pyle mentions are not included among the book's black-and-white illustrations.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent