Abstract
WE do not recall ever having read any popular book on insects, of equally limited compass, so attractively written and so accurate and original in its facts as this little work by Dr. Eltringham. Its author is known among entomologists as an enthusiastic and skilful investigator of Lepidoptera, and in writing this popular manual he has brought into it that “freshness “and breadth of outlook that only comes as the result of first-hand inquiry. He treats of butterflies and moths as living organisms, and relates how they live in their different stages and maintain themselves in the struggle for existence. It is not easy to pick out one chapter as being better than another, but perhaps the most suggestive and original are those on the urticating hairs and secretions of caterpillars and on the sense organs of the perfect insects. The concluding chapter, it may be added, gives a very good summary of current views respecting the significance of coloration in butterflies. Almost all the illustrations are original, and many could only have been the product of one who is thoroughly familiar with biological technique. Dr. Eltringham's book deserves a wide circulation, and we hope the publishers will see their way to issue similar manuals on the other and less familiar orders of insects.
Butterfly Lore.
Dr.
H.
Eltringham
By. Pp. 180. (Oxford: Clarendon Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1923.) 4s. 6d. net.
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I., A. Butterfly Lore. Nature 113, 531 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/113531a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/113531a0