Natural History

A Field Guide to Harlequins

Field Guide Harlequins cover

I think ladybirds (or as my Nan called them in the her American vernacular – ladybugs) were the very first family of insects I learned to identify as a child. Perhaps bees or ants might have been ever-so-slightly earlier, but ladybirds were close behind them if so. Of course, at that young age I assumed that all ladybirds were alike, having no idea of the variation to be found throughout the world among the Family Coccinellidae – or that there was such a thing as the Coccinellidae, or taxonomic families, or taxonomy for that matter.

Wild and Wilful

Wild Wilful cover

To say I was excited to see a copy of Neha Sinha’s recently published “Wild and Wilful, Tales of 15 Iconic Indian Species” arrive on my desk from HarperCollins India would be an understatement. I have followed Ms. Sinha’s social media postings about India’s natural history for some time and I have learned a remarkable amount from her about both India’s wildlife and the conservation efforts undertaken on the behalf of it.

Much Ado About Mothing

Much Ado Mothing cover

In a little known early draft of “Much Ado About Nothing,” Shakespeare depicted Beatrice as an avid amateur lepidopterist with a particular interest in moths. Consequently, she would have well known “of old” the intricately camouflaged Jade Hawkmoth (Daphnis hypothous) which can quickly disappear to the observer the moment it lands upon a patch of foliage.

National Audubon Society Trees of North America

Trees North America cover

While the National Audubon Society has a long and justly respected name in the world of natural history books, the history of these books themselves has been a bit – shall we say – “up and down.” Those sufficiently long in the tooth (such as myself) may well remember the well-crafted volumes by such authoritative authors as Richard Pough, with their well-wrought and thorough yet never prolix text, finely detailed black & white illustrations, and in later editions even central color plate sections. Then of course, there was that later series…

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