Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and Their Host Plants (Paperback)

by MARC C. MINNO (Author), JERRY F. BUTLER (Author), DONALD W. HALL (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This unique guide helps bring the whole cycle into focus..." -- Palatka Daily News, May, 7, 2005

An authoritative guide...Provides all the background information one needs to create a caterpillar-friendly landscape. -- Bellaonline.com, October 2005

An excellent book for anyone interested in encouraging butterflies in their landscape. -- St. Augustine Record, 6/18/05

If you are a butterfly fancier, this book is a must-have resource. -- Palm Beach Post, 8/14/2005

Many books focus on butterflies in Florida, but now the state’s caterpillars are also in the spotlight. -- South Dade News Leader, 8/26/2005

The first book of its kind. -- Marco Island Sun Times, 7/21/05

The quality of these photos ranges from excellent to outstanding. -- Lakeland Ledger, June 17, 2005

Product Description

Everything the butterfly gardener or naturalist needs to know about the relationship between caterpillars and the plants that help them turn into butterflies.

 

This book will become the classic guide to southern butterfly caterpillars and their host plants.

With hundreds of color photographs and concise information in a format that can easily be carried into the field, it offers an unprecedented tool for all butterfly gardeners, teachers, naturalists, students, and scientists in the southern United States.

No other book offers such a comprehensive discussion of Florida butterfly caterpillars and their host plants. It covers caterpillar anatomy, biology, ecology, habitat, behavior, and defense, as well as how to find, identify, and raise caterpillars. The book contains sharply detailed photos of 167 species of caterpillars, 185 plants, 18 life cycles, and 19 habitats. It includes 169 maps. Photos of the egg, larva, pupa, and adult of representatives of 18 butterfly families and subfamilies provide life cycle comparisons that have never been illustrated before in such an accessible reference.

 Because of Florida's mild climate and diversity of plants, caterpillars thrive in abundance in the state. Florida's butterfly fauna consist of temperate species from eastern North America, tropical species from the Caribbean region (including 11 species of exotics that have become established over the last 100 years), and unique races that are found nowhere else.

For everyone who has wondered what to do about the caterpillars they find munching on a beloved plant, the authors offer this advice: "Watch them." Their value in the ecosystem is immense, as they provide vital links in food webs and help to naturally prune their hosts. And they reveal the miracle of metamorphosis, as the worm-like larvae transform into beautiful winged adults.

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (April 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813027896
• ISBN-13: 978-0813027890
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #297,631 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and their host plants, December 19, 2005

By	A. Poli (Central Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent book. My back yard garden is devoted to butterfly nectar and host plants and have found this book invaluable when I needed to identify a caterpillar that I had not seen before. Photographs of the caterpillar are opposite a sketch of the Florida peninsula that show the habitat range of that butterfly. Also photographs of host plants, their habitat and the larvae that eat them. This is an excellent companion book to have alongside "Butterflies Through Binoculars - Florida," by Jeffrey Glassburg.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Florida Butterfly Caterpillars and Their Host Plants, July 26, 2008

By	M. Perry "into bugs" (Brandon MS) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I use this book extensively, even though written specifically on butterflies of Florida. It is an all-encompassing study of butterflies, larvae, and host plants, most of which are also found throughout nearby states. The introduction contains caterpillar anatomy, biology and more. There is section for butterfly host plants, and it includes good color images fo the plants. An informative book for those who live in the Southeast.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, January 9, 2007

By	Victoria N. Parsons "vnparsons" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you watch butterflies in Florida, you need this book. You get lots more butterflies if you plant the right larval food, and this connects butterfly with caterpillar with caterpillar food!