| The Lives of Moths – A Natural History of Our Planet’s Moth Life | Andrei Sourakov & Rachel Warren Chadd | Princeton University Press | 2022 | Hardback | 288 Pages | Colour Photos | ISBN: 9780691228563 | £24.99p |
The Publisher’s View:
Moths are among the most under-appreciated insects on the planet, yet they make up the majority of some 180,000 known species of Lepidoptera. Filled with striking images, The Lives of Moths looks at the remarkable world of these amazing and beautiful creatures.
While butterflies may get more press than moths, Andrei Sourakov and Rachel Warren Chadd reveal that the lopsided attention is unjust. Moths evolved long before butterflies, and their importance cannot be overestimated. From the tiniest leaf miners to exotic hawk moths that are two hundred to three hundred times larger, these creatures are often crucial pollinators of flowers, including many that bloom at night or in the twilight. The authors show that moths and their larvae are the main food source for thousands of animal species, and interact with other insect, plant, and vertebrate communities in ecosystems around the world, from tropical forests and alpine meadows to deserts and wetlands. The authors also explore such topics as evolution, life cycles, methods of communication, and links to humans.
A feast of remarkable facts and details, The Lives of Moths will appeal to insect lovers everywhere.
The Authors: Andrei Sourakov is the collections coordinator for the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the Florida Museum of Natural History. He has been studying moths for more than forty years. Rachel Warren Chadd is a writer and editor. Her books include Birds: Myth, Lore, and Legend. Together, they previously worked on The Book of Caterpillars as contributor and editor, respectively.
Fatbirder View:
Like moths to a flame the illustrations suck you into the world of moths… and I do mean world as example of habitat mean that we are taken around the world to study these silent denizens of the night, well mostly the night. And so we are educated about this family through the delight of visual images and the clear but super informed text.
Like the companion volume on Fungi the facts will amaze you and the images gather you into an awe-inspiring world that we seldom even think about.
Princeton prides itself in excellence and its publishing arm lives up to the high bar.
Many of us birders branch out into other taxa when ‘things are quiet’. My local bird observatory reflects this with mothing ever on the agenda. Personally a couple of years back I wandered the autumn woods seeing fungi as if for the first time. What I had overlooked for decades suddenly fascinated. The world of fungi is full of surprises, indeed recent understandings show how extraordinary they are, and how vital to all living things.
Fatbirder
Also in this series: The Lives of Fungi: A Natural History of Our Planet’s Decomposers by Britt Bunyard