The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History [Hardcover]

Philip J. Devries (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

DeVries has written an extremely important work, possibly the best field guide available for any group of Neotropical organisms. It sets a new standard for butterfly guides. (Journal of the New York Entomological Society )

A fascinating and scholarly field guide of great value to collectors, naturalists, and professional biologists. (American Scientist )

DeVries' The Butterflies of Costa Rica is the most important book on tropical American butterflies to appear in the last 30 years. It is a significant scientific accomplishment and is a beautifully designed and produced book. (Association for Tropical Biology ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 327 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr (August 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691084203
• ISBN-13: 978-0691084206
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,421,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book, November 14, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History, Vol. I: Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae (Paperback)

The diversity of life in the tropics is such that a tome like this covers just three of families of butterflies, not the whole lepidopteran fauna as other reviewers have pointed out. Nevertheless, these three are both important and conspicuous, including some of the most beautiful and sought after of tropical butterflies such as the Morphos, Owl Butterflies and Heliconiids. And, because of the paucity of literature for this region, this guide will prove useful well beyond the frontiers of Costa Rica where many of the same genera and even species occur - I use it all the time in Venezuela for example.

The photographic plates and illustrations are superb and the text is a delight with a host of information on natural history as well as identification.

Definitely a must for the entomologist and serious naturalist.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars butterly museum, January 30, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History (Hardcover)

This book along with the photo essay book "Costa Rica : The Last Country the Gods Made" should be owned by anyone who loves Costa Rica, even if they think they despise nature studies as dry and limited. Buy it just for the color plates. This book's spirit is undeniable.