Powered By Blogger

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Book Reviewed: Butterflies by Ron Ornstein

The illustrated world encyclopedia of Butterflies

This book is full of magnificent images of butterflies and caterpillars in color, and the text is scholarly and very educational for both school children and also adults. The photographs offer a close-up view of these remarkable creatures adored for their beauty and variety. The authors explain the latest scientific discoveries on a variety of topics that include the impact of the global warming on their population; widespread use of insecticides and pesticides on butterfly and caterpillar habitat; annual migration; the evolution of beautiful patterns of butterfly wings; why male and not female suck mineral from the soil; biological features that help them navigate across continents; and how to care for the butterfly population around the globe. While stressing the biological importance, we also learn some fascinating features about them; they have eyes that can look in all directions; taste with their feet, and can migrate as much as 3,000 miles every year.

This book is discussed in several chapters and one chapter is devoted each of the six families of butterflies; the swallowtails, skippers, whites and yellows, metal-marks, brush-footed butterflies, and gossamer-winged butterflies. Other chapters deal with anatomy and biology of butterfly wings, their life history, their food, the habitats of butterflies, and the ecology of moths. The book is not technical but is written for all readers interested in the biology and ecology of butterflies.

No comments:

Post a Comment