Butterflies of the East Coast: An Observer's Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)This long-awaited book from the president and vice-president of the New York Butterfly Club, a decade in development, covers all regularly occurring butterfly species (about 250) in the eastern coastal plain and Appalachian region of the United States from Maine to Florida. Four introductory chapters cover where, when and how to look for butterflies. These chapter cover a broad range of topics: of life history, biology, mating, behavior, ecology, with an emphasis on host plants and feeding. These chapters include discussion of host generalists and specialists, and highlight the importance of recognizing the host plants in order to find specialist species. There is extensive coverage of habitats and phenology, flight, and diapause. The book is generally free of jargon, but the authors tackle some weighty biological issues both in the introductory chapters and the introduction to each family. Each species account includes beautiful photographs of the butterfly (often both male and female, usually both dorsal and ventral) as well as one or more host plants. The latter is a special emphasis on this book. Range maps are clear. Additional information covers the larval hosts, the species range, and a brief ecological account. Identification details are abbreviated, considering that this book is not a field guide. It is meant to be used in conjunction with field guides such as Jeff Glassberg's "Butterflies through Binoculars", which has both an Eastern and a Florida volume. The book is engagingly-written, well-edited, and beautifully illustrated. Reviewed by Michael Gochfeld, author "Butterflies of New Jersey" (Rutgers Press).

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