What is a good book to held me QUICKLY identify British butterflies?

[ship69]

Hello

I am looking for a book to help me QUICKLY identify British Butterflies.

I have just bought:
A) a second hand "Collins Butterfly Guide - The most complete guide to the butterflies of Britain and Europe" by Tom Tolman and Richard Lewington published in 2008. It's well illustrated and very comprehensive, but it's hard to find MOST LIKELY butterflies. [Although it now appears to have been stole from some library so I may have to return it!]

B) I also have bought "The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland" by Jeremy Thomas and Richard Lewington (again) published in 1991 by The National Trust / Dorling Kindersley. It as a wonderful book - the works of an entire lifetime! - which goes into enormous detail about each species. But it's hard to quickly flick between the different species. ALSO being 1991 it is nearly 30 years out-of-date, and I fear that the list of official species of Britain & Ireland may have changed a little since 1991.

What would you recommend as an up-to-date guide that shows all the butterflies that one might conceivably find in the UK... both male and female forms and any known colour variants?

With thanks

J

[Padfield]

The two books you have are very good. The 1991 edition is, as you say, a little out of date - and it has been updated with new editions since - but it remains excellent and worth having. I shouldn't worry about a library stamp in the Tolman if you bought it from somewhere like Abe Books. They often sell legitimate ex-library stock.

If you want something more up-to-date, portable and easy to use for quick IDs, you might consider this:

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Pocket-Butte ... 472967178/

It's also illustrated by Lewington. I don't have a copy myself, but I do have the ladybird guide in the same series (that is, the guide about ladybirds - nothing to do with Ladybird Books!) and it is excellent. Like the ladybird guide, the butterfly guide includes an 'at-a-glance' section where all the species are set side by side and diagnostic characters pointed out.

The book comes in Kindle format as well as paperback, so you could get that to use on your phone in the field and keep the heavy books at home.

Others will have other suggestions, I'm sure.

Guy

[bugboy]

When I read the OP the first book that sprung to mind was the same as Guy's suggestion. However one (very minor) complaint I would say is that the illustrations, whilst excellent and probably unsurpassed in detail and accuracy, are mostly in the unnatural 'set' position that can make field identification tricky.

This book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britains-Butte ... oks&sr=1-6 uses photographs of living butterflies in natural settings and as you can see is very up to date so also comes highly recommended.

[jasonsargerson]

Excellent suggestions already - I have a further 2 suggestions.

Green Guide: Butterflies of Britain and Europe by Robert and Rosemary Goodden - an illustrated guide.
Very well illustrated with life size portraits of male/female and underside.

A Naturalist's Guide to Butterflies of Britain and Northern Europe by Ted Benton - a photographic guide.
Excellent photographs, with smaller butterflies illustrated larger than life.

These are both inexpensive guides - try Amazon for second hand.

Jason

[ship69]

When I read the OP the first book that sprung to mind was the same as Guy's suggestion. However one (very minor) complaint I would say is that the illustrations, whilst excellent and probably unsurpassed in detail and accuracy, are mostly in the unnatural 'set' position that can make field identification tricky.

This book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britains-Butte ... oks&sr=1-6 uses photographs of living butterflies in natural settings and as you can see is very up to date so also comes highly recommended.

Sounds promising BUT it's not released until 3 Nov 2020(!) and I'd quite like to use it this season. Also if it's not released yet how do you know if it's any good?

The other suggestions look promising. I shall probably buy both!

Many thanks

J

[bugboy]

When I read the OP the first book that sprung to mind was the same as Guy's suggestion. However one (very minor) complaint I would say is that the illustrations, whilst excellent and probably unsurpassed in detail and accuracy, are mostly in the unnatural 'set' position that can make field identification tricky.

This book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britains-Butte ... oks&sr=1-6 uses photographs of living butterflies in natural settings and as you can see is very up to date so also comes highly recommended.

Sounds promising BUT it's not released until 3 Nov 2020(!) and I'd quite like to use it this season. Also if it's not released yet how do you know if it's any good?

The other suggestions look promising. I shall probably buy both!

Many thanks

J

Sorry, I just looked at the year not the month. It's the newest edition, I have the last (third) edition which was released in 2015 so I can say it does come highly recommended. You could probably pick up a cheap old copy on ebay or amazon but in all honesty, since the season is nearly over now (we might get another 12 weeks if the weather behaves) I'd wait and get this one. Another thing with Guys suggestion is that it is basically an abridged version of "The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland" by Jeremy Thomas and Richard Lewington which you already have so...

[Matsukaze]

Not a book, but the Field Studies Council do a chart you can take with you in the field, that covers the British species.