An illustrated obsession, a guidebook, a kaleidoscope of life on the wing.
Liam O'Brien has spent three decades chasing, learning about, protecting, occasionally catching, and always loving butterflies. Here, he shares his capacious knowledge of California butterflies through a treasure trove of stories and 700 gorgeous, hand-drawn illustrations—featuring both adult forms and caterpillars—of the 135 species that live in the greater Bay Area. This sumptuous book also shares practical tips for finding and identifying all the butterflies who call the Bay Area home. Learn which plants nurture Silver-spotted Skippers, which trail to hike to see Swallowtails flitting creek-side, and why so many butterflies cluster on hilltops. Share in the joy that O'Brien brings to the study of butterflies, and join the community scientists contributing to our understanding of Monarchs, Metalmarks, and Marbles—and what they need to survive and thrive in our busy Bay Area.
Introduction
What is a Butterfly?
The Parts of a Butterfly
The Scales Have It
On Metamorphosis
On Migration
A Moment for the Moths
On Nets and Collecting
On Common Names and Latin Names and the Big Bag of Crazy that That Is
On Butterfly Watching
The Structure of this Book
On Butterfly Counts
The Best Places to See Butterflies in the Greater Bay Area
The Skippers (Hesperiidae)
The Swallowtails (Papilionidae)
Essay: Tigers on Market Street
The Whites, Sulphurs, Marbles and Orangetips: (Pieridae)
Bilateral Gynandromorphism
The Brush-foots (Nymphalidae)
An Aberrant Form
Interview: Mia Monroe
On Silverspots, Lumpers and Splitters
The Gossamer-Winged: Blues, Coppers, Hairstreaks and Metalmarks (Lycaenidae)
Essay: The Green Hairstreak Project
Essay: In the Shadow of Xerces
Tableau #20 The Almost Indistinguishable, Barely Discernible Differences
Between an Acmon Blue vs. a Clemence’s Blue.
Essay: On a Mission
Essay: Xerces Rising
Appendix 1: Tableaux pages
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Bibliography
Organizations
Index
About the Author
A Note on Type
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