Martin Warren

'If you thought butterflies were special, the clear intelligible science in this superb page-turner will make you realise they're ultra-special' - MATTHEW OATES This new addition to the British Wildlife Collection is a unique take on butterfly behaviour and ecology, written by the former Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation, Martin Warren. It explores the secret lives of our British species (also drawing on comparative examples from continental Europe), revealing how they have become adapted to survive in such a highly competitive natural world. Combining personal anecdote with the latest discoveries in the scientific literature, this book covers everything from why we love butterflies and their life-cycle from egg to adult, to their struggle for survival in a world of predators and parasites and the miracle of migration. The final chapters explore how butterflies are recorded, the change in their ranges and abundance during the 20th and 21st centuries, and the significance of managing habitats at a landscape scale, concluding with a passionate plea for why we must act now to reverse butterfly declines. Insightful, inspiring and a joy to read, Butterflies is the culmination of a lifetime of careful research into what makes these beautiful insects tick and how and why we must conserve them.

A Natural History

Butterflies

Alison Smith

Excluding the biological polymers proteins, lipids and nucleic acids, modified tetrapyrroles are the biological molecules that have had the greatest impact on the evolution of life over the past 4 billion years. They are involved in a wide variety of fundamental processes that underpin central primary metabolism in all kingdoms of life, from photosynthesis to methanogenesis. Moreover, they bring colour into the world and it is for this reason that these compounds have been appropriately dubbed the ‘pigments of life’. To understand how and why these molecules have been so universally integrated into the life processes one has to appreciate the chemical properties of the tetrapyrrole scaffold and, where appropriate, the chemical characteristics of the centrally chelated metal ion. This book addresses why these molecules are employed in Nature, how they are made and what happens to them after they have finished their usefulness.

Birth, Life and Death

Tetrapyrroles

Council of Europe

Chris van Swaay

Red Data Book of European Butterflies (Rhopalocera)

David Hunt

John C. G. Röhl

Genes, "madness" and the Royal Houses of Europe

Purple Secret

This new addition to the British Wildlife Collection is a unique take on butterfly behaviour and ecology, written by the former Chief Executive of Butterfly Conservation, Martin Warren. It explores the secret lives of our British species (also drawing on comparative examples from continental Europe), revealing how they have become adapted to survive in such a highly competitive natural world. Combining personal anecdote with the latest discoveries in the scientific literature, this book covers everything from why we love butterflies and their life-cycle from egg to adult, to their struggle for survival in a world of predators and parasites and the miracle of migration. The final chapters explore how butterflies are recorded, the change in their ranges and abundance during the 20th and 21st centuries, and the significance of managing habitats at a landscape scale, concluding with a passionate plea for why we must act now to reverse butterfly declines. Insightful, inspiring and a joy to read, Butterflies is the culmination of a lifetime of careful research into what makes these beautiful insects tick and how and why we must conserve them.

Martin Warren

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