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1986 IUCN red list of threatened animals
234
Book reviews
The Natural History of Butterflies. By John Feltwell. Croom Helm, London. 1986. 133 pp. ISBN 0 7099 1059 2 (hardback), 0 7099 4905 7 (paperback). Price: £12.95 (hardback), £7.95 (paperback). In his preface the author says that his book, which describes the biology, behaviour and ecology of butterflies, should be considered as a companion to the well-known monographs on identification. I found his accounts most interesting and I am sure that other people who, like myself, are not specialists in butterflies will have the same experience. The author opens with an historical account describing the development of butterfly collecting and study and follows this with structure and function, life cycles, food plants, coloration and camouflage, habitats and chapters on populations, territories, migration and finally conservation. He draws examples from the butterflies of Europe, including American colonists such as the monarch in the Canary Islands. The last chapter deals with habitat loss, collecting and introductions. It includes the surprising information that the large copper butterfly survived in Britain until about 1918, but is mistaken that its rutilus subspecies was introduced to Woodwalton Fen in 1926, when it was in fact the batavus subspecies from Holland. 1986 I U C N Red List of Threatened Animals. Prepared by the I U C N Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge. 1986. IUCN, Gland. 105 pp. ISBN 2 88032 605 2. A very interesting list containing 3117 animal taxa, of which 385 are mammals, 428 birds, 143 reptiles, 46 amphibians, 286 fishes and 1829 various invertebrate groups. Many of the threatened birds and mammals are well known but the invertebrates will be less familiar to most conservationists. It is rather sad to see such large numbers of butterfly and dragonfly species listed, two groups which are immensely popular amongst naturalists. Inevitably some of the information may not be quite as accurate as appears from the list, for instance, the spider Eresus niger, listed as indeterminate (meaning that its status is not known), is in fact widely distributed in Europe, particularly in the south, and in no way can be said to be vulnerable or threatened except in the north of its range, which includes Britain. Similarly the spider Dolomedesplantarius, which is recorded as vulnerable, is not well known in Europe but is certainly widely distributed, it may, however, be at risk because it is only found in marshy areas where there is open water which are themselves threatened. Again, it is very rare on the northern limits of its range in Europe. This is a very useful addition to the Red Data Book publications by IUCN.
Book reviews
The Natural History of Butterflies. By John Feltwell. Croom Helm, London. 1986. 133 pp. ISBN 0 7099 1059 2 (hardback), 0 7099 4905 7 (paperback). Price: £12.95 (hardback), £7.95 (paperback). In his preface the author says that his book, which describes the biology, behaviour and ecology of butterflies, should be considered as a companion to the well-known monographs on identification. I found his accounts most interesting and I am sure that other people who, like myself, are not specialists in butterflies will have the same experience. The author opens with an historical account describing the development of butterfly collecting and study and follows this with structure and function, life cycles, food plants, coloration and camouflage, habitats and chapters on populations, territories, migration and finally conservation. He draws examples from the butterflies of Europe, including American colonists such as the monarch in the Canary Islands. The last chapter deals with habitat loss, collecting and introductions. It includes the surprising information that the large copper butterfly survived in Britain until about 1918, but is mistaken that its rutilus subspecies was introduced to Woodwalton Fen in 1926, when it was in fact the batavus subspecies from Holland. 1986 I U C N Red List of Threatened Animals. Prepared by the I U C N Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge. 1986. IUCN, Gland. 105 pp. ISBN 2 88032 605 2. A very interesting list containing 3117 animal taxa, of which 385 are mammals, 428 birds, 143 reptiles, 46 amphibians, 286 fishes and 1829 various invertebrate groups. Many of the threatened birds and mammals are well known but the invertebrates will be less familiar to most conservationists. It is rather sad to see such large numbers of butterfly and dragonfly species listed, two groups which are immensely popular amongst naturalists. Inevitably some of the information may not be quite as accurate as appears from the list, for instance, the spider Eresus niger, listed as indeterminate (meaning that its status is not known), is in fact widely distributed in Europe, particularly in the south, and in no way can be said to be vulnerable or threatened except in the north of its range, which includes Britain. Similarly the spider Dolomedesplantarius, which is recorded as vulnerable, is not well known in Europe but is certainly widely distributed, it may, however, be at risk because it is only found in marshy areas where there is open water which are themselves threatened. Again, it is very rare on the northern limits of its range in Europe. This is a very useful addition to the Red Data Book publications by IUCN.