Overview

For most of us who think we know about the biology of butterflies, this book is an amazing revelation. Using the model species the African Queen, Danaus chrysippus, the author takes us on a fascinating tour of the life history, ecology, genetics, behaviour, including mimicry, migration patterns and phylogeography of this important butterfly species complex and its closely related species and forms. Not only is this tour one progressed in space - Africa and other tropical countries of the world, as well as North America and Australia - but is also very much a journey in time. From these pages we learn how the insect evolved in its African home and it and its relatives slowly spread around the globe, mainly in the equatorial regions. Meanwhile populations were affected by both long and short-term climatic events, some of which caused them to be separated before they joined up again, time enough for substantial genetic changes to have occurred. The text is richly illustrated with colour photographs, tables, graphs, boxes with special information and numerous diagrams of phylogenetic relatedness. Truly a work to be studied and appreciated, both by students of butterflies and insects in general, as well as all who are interested in the natural world and wish to delve into some of its mysteries and strangeness. As examples of the last, these include many new and exciting discoveries - such as the fact that the butterflies suffer from male-killing endobacteria which greatly bias population sex ratios, to female lekking and lesbianism, cannibalism, rape, fratricide and pederasty, to male butterflies scratching the leaves of certain poisonous plants and, as these 'bleed', supping up the toxins which makes them attractive to their mates, the poisonous gift being duly passed on during mating and having an adaptive function in making the female butterfly's eggs and larvae (caterpillars) more unpalatable to predators and parasitic flies and wasps.

Full Product Details

Author:   David A.S. Smith
Publisher:   Brambleby Books
Imprint:   Brambleby Books
ISBN:  

9781908241153

ISBN 10:   1908241152
Pages:   800
Publication Date:   10 November 2014
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Heavily shortened Table of Contents Prologue The Lepidopterist, poem by Hugh D. Loxdale Acknowledgements PART I: The Genus Danaus 1 1. Introduction 3 2. Lives of the Danaans 13 3. Who's Who among the Danaans? 119 PART II: African Queens and their mimics 185 4. Nature's tablet: the inheritance of wing colour pattern 187 5. Daughters of Danaus: all-female families 229 6. Sons of Aegyptus: male killing 277 7. He proposes, she disposes: mate choice 315 8. Illicit liaisons and the Wallace effect 349 9. The rank-scented many 387 10. Things are seldom what they seem 447 11. The Diadem: dupe or auxillary? 475 12. The Queen's Diadem 523 13. Allies and auxiliaries 563 14. Epilogue 593 Glossary 627 References 637 Appendices Abbreviations 749 Geographical Index 753 Subject Index 761 Taxonomic Index 787

Reviews

This is a vast book, in every sense...Every aspect of the biology, ecology, genetics, behaviour, distribution and evolution of this fascinating group is covered in depth...a volume of real substance...-- Guy Padfield, Dispar; 'David's book is a monumental work that compresses a lifetime of study into one volume. The book not only extensively reviews the biology of the African Queen itself but also deals with the parallel biology of its mimics, such as the Diadem. It's a must read for anyone interested in butterflies, mimicry or indeed genetics and it should act to bring African Queens up to iconic status of their American Monarch relatives.' -- Prof. Richard ffrench-Constant, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Univ. Exeter; 'A masterpiece of scholarship, an awesome and enlightening read.' -- Prof. Hugh Loxdale DPhil, MBE, past President of the Royal Entomological Society; '...A significant part of David's life lies between the covers of this fascinating and scholarly odyssey; its scope, depth and detail are humbling.' -- John Tennent, Entomologist's Gazette; Whoever expects a 'traditional' identification guide...is completely wrong. There is MUCH more. Indeed, the book presents a firework of fascinating observations and facts on evolution, showing that a simplistic understanding of evolution...does not reflect and explain everything. - The book is targeted at academics but will surely fascinate everybody who is deeply interested in the biology of butterflies. I can warmly recommend it. - Axel Hausmann, Basic and Applied Ecology; `...This is a beautiful and unique book as well as a fantastic resource ... Because of the detailed material, it may well appeal to a wide range of other academics, ecologists, entomologists and animal behaviourists, as well as anyone interested in African and Asian invertebrates.' -- Grace Upperdine, The Biologist; `His work is scholarly, authoritative and very extensive and this is an outstandingly interesting book. ... Perhaps it might seem that a book about butterflies should not have general relevance to ecologists but I guarantee that there is something for everyone. It might be that the precise detail is not of immediate application but most ecological fields will find much of importance here. This book can be well recommended and is a remarkable achievement. - Mark Young, British Ecological Society; `...Well written and produced, this is a long book with numerous plates, photographs, tables and diagrams. It is not a light read and written mainly for professional biologists. The author's hope is that amateur lepidopterists will also find something to enjoy. And indeed there are anecdotes and biographical sections that do just that. But full appreciation of the book's contribution requires more than just a passing familiarity with a number of disciplines including genetics, evolutionary biology, ecology and statistics. ... D. chrysippus ranks among the most abundant and best studied of all butterflies and David Smith's excellent book reveals even more reasons to continue studying this iconic superspecies. This is a fascinating book for all biologists. - Andrew Wakeham-Dawson, Entomologist's Monthly Magazine; `...I recommend this book to anybody interested in evolution ecology, genetics and butterflies ... Z. Faltynek Fric, European Journal of Entomology; `This is present-day natural history: chemical defence, camouflage, male-killing bacteria, hybrid zones and population genetics, all in one group of beautiful butterflies.' Prof. Walther Traut, University of Luebeck, Germany

A masterpiece of scholarship, an awesome and enlightening read. Hugh D. Loxdale, DPhil (Oxon.), FLS, FRES, FSB, MBE

Author Information

Dr. David A. S. Smith, FLS, FRES, a world expert on the biology of butterflies and the author of numerous scientific papers about them, was one-time Head of Biology and Curator of the Natural History Museum at Eton College, Berkshire, U.K. Before, during and since this time, he also spent extended periods in Africa, especially at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, where he studied the extraordinary biology of the African Queen butterfly complex, an iconic group of morphologically-similar, but genetically divergent species and sub-specific forms. The present work represents the accumulation of the fruits of his researches, painstakingly gathered over four decades. The work, much of it revolutionary - indeed astonishing - and described for the first time in print, also includes that of some of his expert collaborators in the field of Lepidoptery, many of them his personal friends.

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