Butterflies of the East Coast: An Observer's Guide

This book is excellent for butterfly identification. It uses great pictures as well as other useful data to aid in butterfly identification.

Not a book that is easily carried around in the field (though I just heard there is a softcover) this book provides much more in depth information on each species compared to other field guides. Great buy!

Although this book is coffee table sized and like a coffee table book has gorgeous large sized butterfly pictures throughout, I believe that any active observer or even collector of butterflies anywhere in the states of the east coast from Maine to Florida, the area covered by this book will want to have it with them in the field or at least nearby in the car. Of introductory pages which are found in many butterfly books the ones in this book are the best treatment I've ever read and would be of interest to anyone wanting to understand a little more about butterflies in general. These pages include where and when to find east coast butterflies, what to look for and how to look or photograph, information on conservation, life history, and hostplants (the plants the caterpillar eats). This book is somewhat unique in the coverage it gives to hostplants and only a few very recent books have given as much space to this important part of butterfly biology. Knowing the food plant is extremely helpful in knowing where and when to look for many species of butterflies. After the introductory material are the full page species accounts of each of the butterflies found in the east coast states. Here is where the book shines with excellent photographs of the butterflies including males and females, ventral and dorsal views, information on identification, habits and habitats, occurrence, broods, overwintering, and finally, in depth hostplant coverage including outstanding plant photographs which in many cases are better than those found in plant identification guides. And now all we need is for Rick and Guy to move to the west coast and do a similar treatment of the butterflies here. Fred Heath, author of "An Introduction to Southern California Butterflies"

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).