Stokes Butterfly Book : The Complete Guide to Butterfly Gardening, Identification, and Behavior (Paperback)

by Donald Stokes (Author), Lillian (Author), Ernest Williams (Author) "One sunny day in late August, while we (Don and Lillian Stokes, that is) stood in our butterfly garden, twenty butterflies fluttered in the sunlight..." (more)
Key Phrases: alfalfa sulphur, western admiral, hackberry butterflies, Butterfly Gardening, West Coast, North America (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This popular guide to attracting, identifying, and enjoying all the common North American species of butterflies includes 149 full-color photos, 65 range maps, and two sample garden plans.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (October 17, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316817805
• ISBN-13: 978-0316817806
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,115 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Field Guides > Insects & Spiders
  #9 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Fauna > Butterflies
  #11 in	Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Invertebrates

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy guide, August 29, 2000

By	R. Spivey (Georgia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The two things I liked best about this book are the pages devoted to identifying butterflies by color (it groups them so that if you see one that is predominantly orange, you can look at the page of orange butterflies to find the one you're trying to identify), and the pages devoted to creating an attractive butterfly garden, with schemes showing how to arrange plants that attract butterflies. It's not a technical book, thereby making it a good guide for backyard butterfly enthusiasts.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bird lovers...become butterfly enthusiasts..., October 20, 2001

By	Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I've been enchanted with birds ever since I observed my parents whistling and mocking the mockingbirds who mocked them back. I've been a gardener forever, cursing those creepy caterpillers who devoured this and that. In the past few years I've taken a greater interest in butterflies, and lo what do I discover...the creepy caterpillers turn into the beautiful butterflies if the birds don't eat them first. I knew that of course because like lots of kids, I too brought home the cocoon found on some branch and kept it in a glass jar with holes punched in the top until it did not "hatch." Yes, I said did NOT. I never had any success with this effort so I forgot about caterpillers and cocoons--until I opened STOKES BUTTERFLY BOOK and there are those darn cocoons again.

This is a wonderful book for adolescent children who can read big words and like big type or older people with vision problems. The pictures are colorful and closeup and the type large enough that my aunt can see it under her "reading" machine" (she has diabetes and is sight impaired).

The book is filled with all sorts of interesting information about the behaviour of butterfiles (basking in the sun to warm up their wings, puddling to suck up nutients; courting and laying eggs --surprise there are two sexes, just like the birds). There are also lots of photos of their predecessors--the caterpillers who require a daily ration of greens to grow up into beautiful bugs.

Now I must admit it is about time that I realized that every orange and black butterfly I see is NOT a Monarch, but goodness there are so MANY orange and black butterfiles will I ever be able to tell them apart? Some are Crescents and Checkerspots (in my neck of the woods which is the East Coast) and there are Admirals. Goodness--Monarchs, Admirals, Viceroys--I had no idea there was an aristocracy of butterflies.

I intend to use this book with my granddaughters who love to walk in grandma's garden and learn the names of plants and bugs and birds. Now we'll learn the names of caterpillers and their reincarnations who form an intermediate link in the food chain.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy Butterflies In Your Yard Or On Your Patio, September 18, 2004

By	Marilyn Clark (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love the Stokes Nature Guides. I've owned The Butterfly Book for years. I found that when I followed the book's recommendations and put plants for both caterpillars and adult butterflies in my yard that my enjoyment of butterflies grew. I love all of the pictures of caterpillars and found the instructions for raising caterpillars helpful.
The butterfly book covers planting for both caterpillars and butterflies and butterfly behavior. In fact, planting for butterflies in containers is also a cinch. Butterfly gardens of all sizes, shapes, and types are being planted at home, in school yards, and at nursing homes.
I keep watching for adult Monarchs to come back to my yard each spring. I love watching their caterpillars gobble up leaves. A couple of years ago, I learned how to how to find and identify butterfly eggs and made a video on Butterfly Homes.
In the last section of the book, 63 of the most common butterflies, including the ones you are most likely to see in your yard, are described. They are grouped by family. I found the book's description of the appearance and behavior of butterflies in different families especially helpful. This book is an excellent choice for young and old alike.