Butterflies of Britain & Europe (Collins Field Guide) [Hardcover]

Tom Tolman (Author), Richard Lewington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1999 | Series: Collins Field Guide

Covers all 440 species. Text covers all taxonomic nomenclature, distribution, flight period, variation, habitat, behavior, life cycle, food plants and conservation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Pub Ltd; illustrated edition edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002199920
• ISBN-13: 978-0002199926
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,324,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully crafted - essential for identifying European butterflies, September 28, 2006

By 

Christopher J. Sharpe "Chris Sharpe" (Caracas, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Butterflies of Britain and Europe (Collins Field Guides) (Hardcover)

This is the best field guide to European butterflies and not just by default. Although there is currently no other decent European field guide to butterflies, this has undoubtedly set the standard for many years to come.

All 440 species of Europe and North Africa are fully described and illustrated with male and females depicted and - where there is significant variation - subspecies.

The text itself is accurate, concise and oriented at the field observer. A monochrome thumbnail map accompanies the detailed range / distribution section. Under "Description", it is heartening to see comparative comments rather than a re-hashing of what can be seen on the plates - something that used to occur often in field guides. Habitat is described in great detail. Life history includes a list of larval food plants.

The 104 plates do not accompany the text, but are found together in the centre of the book. They are, of course, superb. Extremely lifelike, wonderfully helpful for identification and pleasing to the eye, they are everything we have come to expect from Richard Lewington's brush.

This is a "must have" for anyone travelling to Europe and no British naturalist will want to be without it either. In 1970, Higgins & Riley were the pioneers. This book is the worthy successor to that groundbreaking first guide, taking the art of identification to even higher levels.

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done book, June 18, 2006

By 

romunov (Slovenia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Butterflies of Britain and Europe (Collins Field Guides) (Hardcover)

This book has over 500 pages, about half of it is drawn pictures of butterflies (Rhopalocera). Each plate has a load full of butterflies, drawn in ground and side plan. Along with species there are possible forms or subspecies. The families are organized from Papilionidae to Hisperiidae. Quality paper, hard cover which is useful, due to common use out in the field. Along with a picture there is a portion of text for each species. The author gives information on range, distribution, variations, flight-period, habitat, life-history, conservation, behaviour, food plants... A map of Europe marked with distribution. Useful to hobbyist or a professional alike. Highly recommended.