As biologically fascinating as they are beautiful, butterflies are a pleasure to watch and an important group of invertebrates to study. This second edition of the award-winning book The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia is a fully updated guide to all butterfly species on Australia's mainland and remote islands.
Written by one of Australia's leading lepidopterists, The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia is stunningly illustrated with colour photographs, many of which are new, of each of the 435 currently recognised species. There is also a distribution map and flight chart for each species on the Australian mainland, together with information on similar species, variation, behaviour, habitat, status and larval food plants.
The introduction to The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia covers adult structure, higher classification, distribution and habitats, as well as life cycle and behaviour. A new chapter on collecting and preserving butterflies is included. There is also an updated checklist of all species, a glossary, a bibliography and indexes of common and scientific names.
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction
Adult structure
Higher classification
Distribution and habitats
Life cycle and behaviour
How to use this book
How to identify Australian butterflies
Collecting and preserving butterflies
Swallowtails Family Papilionidae
Skippers Family Hesperiidae
Whites and Yellows Family Pieridae
Nymphs Family Nymphalidae
Metalmarks Family Riodinidae
Blues Family Lycaenidae
Remote island species
Checklist of Australian butterflies
Glossary
Bibliography
Index to Common Names
Index to Scientific Names
Further information
Dr Michael Braby has been collecting and studying Australian butterflies for more than 35 years. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and Chief Editor of Austral Entomology. He is particularly interested in the conservation, systematics, taxonomy, biogeography, biology and ecology of diurnal Lepidoptera and has published extensively in the field.
"A must for planting a butterfly garden."
– Ally Jackson, Gardening Australia Magazine, May 2016, pp. 11