While I’ve read many books about moths over the years, I am quite looking forward to delving into the pages of this new one in order to discover not only information new to me on the subject but also to learn how the authors have approached their overview of the less commonly understood but very large portion of the Order Lepidoptera.
For those seeking a reference guide that is both affordable as well as portable, Cornell University Press has now published the eminently useful and informative “Pocket Guide to the Insects of Costa Rica” as the most recent addition to their Zona Tropical Publications / Antlion Media series of their Comstock imprint.
Have you been noticing fewer insects about recently? Perhaps not as quite as many butterflies as you once recall there having been? A perceptible decrease in how many bees seem to be buzzing about? If you have, you’re not wrong, but unfortunately you’re also in the minority. Insects aren’t the sort of creatures most people tend to notice – unless one is buzzing about their head or making a tiny hematologic withdrawal from their circulatory system.
The first visit I made to England was for the 2005 BirdFair. Having landed at Birmingham Airport, I drove a right-side steering car (the first time ever!) to Uppingham – becoming briefly bewildered on the Leicester ring road along the way – where I found my lodgings and kipped for the night. The next morning I rose, consumed a breakfast sufficient to satiate three farmhands, and strolled down the high street, where I was stopped dead in my tracks by the most exquisite butterfly I had up until that point in my life ever seen – a Peacock (Aglais io).