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Watching wildlife with Scarborough Field Naturalists' Society
The Butterflies of Yorkshire The Butterflies of Yorkshire (edited by Howard Frost) has now been published by Butterfly
Conservation Yorkshire. Details of how to order directly can be seen here,
or there is an entry
for it on Amazon if you prefer. There are also some details available
on the Yorkshire
Moths website.From the back cover - 'This book maps and describes today's butterfly distribution in Yorkshire and compares it to what has happened over the last 200+ years. The contents have been written and prepared by a team of volunteer enthusiasts who have spent ten years putting together the most comprehensive assessment of Yorkshire butterflies ever produced.' __________________________________ ReviewThe first thing to strike me about this book was the excellent production quality, closely followed by how substantial a volume it has turned out to be. It might just have been me, but I was expecting some sort of semi-professional regional pamphlet rather than the full-colour, completely professional book that eventually arrived. There are more than 300 pages, and they are full of photos, illustrations, diagrams and charts which are all of excellent quality. Even our very own society logo came out rather nicely on page 2! Section 1 of the book covers background information and includes several very readable articles on various aspects of the history, recording and status of butterflies in the region (see the 'Contents' section below for details). Section 2 covers the 35 regular breeding species in Yorkshire (again, see the 'Contents' section below for a full list). Each species seems to get around 5 pages to itself (from a quick random sample, I haven't actually checked each one), and covers the Yorkshire status 1995-2003, the world status, ID notes, conservation issues, life story, habitat and an historical review. There is also a Yorkshire Tetrad distribution map and a Yorkshire phenogram along with numerous photos and an illustration. The photos are not all of the type used for ID, with many showing different variations within a species, worn specimens as well as those in pristine condition, or being used simply because they are interesting. Note that this book is not intended as a stand-alone butterfly ID guide, but the photos and illustrations are generally good enough to use for visual identification of those species which can be readily identified by sight alone. Where this book really excels though, is as a supplement to the standard ID guides - the 'ID Notes' are used to point out particular features to look for and ways of differentiating similar species. Particular examples of this include the 'wing-tip ID guide for whites' (on page 84) which compares the wings of the large, small and green-veined whites along with that of a female orange-tip in a single, easy to use diagram. The brown argus and northern brown argus are given a particularly detailed set of ID notes (see page 129) to help differentiate between the two, as well as being compared to a female common blue. Skippers benefit from a diagram comparing both the wings and the antennae of the large, small and Essex skippers (page 66). This 'extra' ID information is genuinely useful, and well worth looking into for those of us who are still not completely proficient at identifying every butterfly that crosses our path. Section 3 covers rare, extinct and exotic species (see the 'Contents' section below for a full list). These get much shorter coverage than those species covered in the previous section, but it's good to know that it is there for the day when you come across a butterfly that is definitely not in section 2! The final section has brief details on some of the people involved in producing the book and covers things like joining Butterfly Conservation. It also has a few important website links (see page 307), and this is where we come across the most serious failing of the book - it does not mention www.sfns.org.uk at all! In summary, this really is an excellent book and anyone with an interest in butterflies, and who is ever likely to be looking at them in Yorkshire, should definitely make sure that they get a copy. If you are outside the region, then the book is obviously somewhat less useful but it is still, in my view at least, worth having in your collection if the extra ID notes would be useful to you. Lee Westmoreland The Butterflies of Yorkshire Published by Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire: ISBN 0-9548249-0-3. This is the first-ever book dedicated solely to Yorkshire's butterflies, their distribution and lifestyle. It is a report on an eight-year distribution study intended to provide baseline information against which future assessments of the state of our butterflies can be made. The writers have tried to summarise our current knowledge, bringing together a mass of information previously scattered through 200+ years of entomological literature and reports. We are aiming to produce an attractive and very colourful book packed with unusual photographs and containing specially designed distribution maps which will put Yorkshire butterflies into a national and regional context. The book will be an important reference volume for anyone interested in our butterflies. It has also been designed to be of use to those working in the conservation field and to people involved in writing BAPs and other conservation management plans. Contents will be divided into: Background Articles; Current Species; Rare and Extinct Species. Although not intended as an ID book, a brief ID section will be included for all current species as a guide to the inexperienced. Features 62 past and present species covered in depth! ____________________________________
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