Butterflies of Britain and Western Europe and Their Caterpillars

I still fondly recall, and hope I shall never forget, my first natural history foray in England. I was walking down a lovely countryside path, trying to sort out all the unfamiliar bird songs that reached my ears, when suddenly I came upon an old Gatekeeper. After spending a few minutes with this hoary ancient, I passed on and after some five more minutes walking I found myself unexpectedly confronted with a Wall. As I stood contemplating this Wall, a Peacock flew over my left shoulder, soared high above the Wall, and continued down the path.

I so love the names of Britain’s butterflies!

For those who also harbor aurelian tendencies toward the lepidoptera of the Scepter’d Isle as well as the western portion of the European mainland, the Canaries, the Azores, Madeira, and Cyprus, Jean-Pierre Moussus’ Butterflies of Britain and Western Europe and Their Caterpillars: An Identification Guide, one of the most recent additions to the Princeton University Press WILDGuides series, was published in the United kingdom this past December, and as expected was duly greeted with great joy. Now, this comprehensive, and as such decidedly hefty, field guide presenting not only lovely identifying photos of the 472 adults of the species recorded in this aforementioned region but most of their caterpillars and eggs as well, with all the supporting maps and textual information one would expect, is also available to those in the United States who dream of the joys of far off shores as well.