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Butterflies of Illinois: A Field Guide
Butterflies of A Field Guide contains descriptions, field photos, and life-size specimen photos of all Illinois’ butterfly species. It also easy-to-use identification quick guides depicting the tops and undersides of all butterfly species, background information and photos on butterfly life cycles, habitats, and ecology, Illinois range maps and adult flight periods, key characteristics relevant to field identification, descriptions of species that only rarely are seen in Illinois or that reside in adjacent states that could occur in Illinois, and supplemental information on various species (collection records, rare sightings, and other information that may be of interest to the butterfly enthusiast).
- GenresField Guides
440 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2014
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 5, 2015
This should be the gold standard for regional field guides - it is that good.
Pros:
- The quick guide plates showing all Illinois species on one plate, above and below, are fantastic. More field guides should include these types of plates.
- Flight period shown as a simple figure rather than a text description, allowing easy comparison of when species occur through the year.
- Including both an in-situ field photo of each species, as well as standardized upper and undersides of the wings, is an excellent identification aid. Too many guides use either one or the other, and thus lose information.
- The similar species section, where all the similar species groups (fritillaries, hairstreaks, etc) are grouped together onto one page with more detailed notes on how to separate them, is another superb addition.
Cons:
- No skippers!
- Part 1, the introduction, contains a wealth of information and large numbers of absolutely gorgeous photos. However, at 100 pages, this takes up fully 25% of the book. For a field guide, this section could have been substantially shortened to make the book slimmer. Alternatively, the space could have been used to include skippers.
Pros:
- The quick guide plates showing all Illinois species on one plate, above and below, are fantastic. More field guides should include these types of plates.
- Flight period shown as a simple figure rather than a text description, allowing easy comparison of when species occur through the year.
- Including both an in-situ field photo of each species, as well as standardized upper and undersides of the wings, is an excellent identification aid. Too many guides use either one or the other, and thus lose information.
- The similar species section, where all the similar species groups (fritillaries, hairstreaks, etc) are grouped together onto one page with more detailed notes on how to separate them, is another superb addition.
Cons:
- No skippers!
- Part 1, the introduction, contains a wealth of information and large numbers of absolutely gorgeous photos. However, at 100 pages, this takes up fully 25% of the book. For a field guide, this section could have been substantially shortened to make the book slimmer. Alternatively, the space could have been used to include skippers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review