Collins Butterfly Guide: The Most Complete Field Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe - Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington

UK, London, HarperCollins Publishers, 2008, 400 pp. in full color, 13,5 x 19,5 cm, soft cover, ISBN: 978-007279777, good condition

Since the first edition of A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe by L. G. Higgins and N. D. Riley in 1970, Europeans have witnessed many changes. Overall economic growth, reflected in greatly enhanced personal disposable income, increased leisure time, a vastly improved road network and, in most recent times, the very welcome removal of previously inhibiting travel restrictions in eastern Europe, have concerted in presenting the butterfly enthusiast with greater opportunities for travel within the subcontinent than perhaps might have been imagined or hoped for three decades ago. In direct consequence of one change, namely, the ever-growing interest in the butterflies of the Greek islands, those of the eastern Aegean region are covered by the Field Guide for the first time. These islands hold several species which are to be found nowhere else in the geo-political region of Europe. In the last decade or so, other additions to the list of Europe’s butterfly fauna have brought the total, recognized and described in this work, to 440.

The previous field guide was intended largely for use in the field for the purpose of butterfly identification. The present volume, whilst, hopefully, fulfilling this same basic need, endeavors to encourage wider and deeper interest in the butterflies themselves. As most people, including most children know, a butterfly arises from a chrysalis, which, in turn, comes from a caterpillar. That these three states of development equate to one and the same entity, argues convincingly that no knowledge of the adult butterfly, however extensive, can be complete without that of its life-history. Moreover, the benefits bestowed by a wider understanding of the biology, ecology and behavior of butterflies extends significantly beyond any theoretical consideration. In illustration of the practical benefit of wider knowledge, familiarity with habitat character, coupled with awareness of larval host-plants is a general and often considerable advantage in locating adult butterflies, especially those of very restricted or uncertain distribution. Again, for purely practical purposes, knowledge of the early stages of butterflies commends itself as a tool of potentially considerable convenience for searching out these insects even when they are not flying. As an activity far less susceptible to the vagaries of the weather, and one offering greater option in the use of time, searching for eggs or caterpillars can, through choice, be conducted in much more leisurely fashion. Of course, the concomitant advantage of almost inevitable, incidental discoveries of value to science is the greater source of gratification.

Within the constraints imposed by the size of this volume, every effort has been made to facilitate and encourage these potentially highly rewarding pursuits. A strong, personal commitment to the notion that no facet of butterfly science should suffer needless neglect, has provided more than sufficient stimulus for the task of extending the previous field guide. If this stimulates the reader to peer amongst leaves and flowers for butterfly eggs or caterpillars, or to pay closer attention to the activities of the adult insects, as well as the character of the habitat in which they reside, then the effort expended in preparing this work will have been justified.