The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History, Vol. II: Riodinidae

Devries, Philip J.

ISBN 10: 0691028893 / ISBN 13: 9780691028897

Published by Princeton Univ Pr, 1997

About this Item

The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.

Seller Inventory # BVV.0691028893.A

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural History, Vol. II: Riodinidae
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691028893
• ISBN 13: 9780691028897
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

With habitats ranging from sea level to over 3,800 meters, the small Neotropical country of Costa Rica encompasses more than fifteen distinct life zones and contains a large percentage of all the butterfly species known from Central America. In this field guide, a sequel to the volume on Papilionidae, Pieridae, and Nymphalidae, Philip DeVries provides the first detailed treatment of over 250 species of Costa Rican butterflies in the family Riodinidae. Drawing from his extensive fieldwork, museum research, and surveys of scientific literature, DeVries presents the means to identify riodinid butterflies to the species level and gives an overview of their natural history. This guide illustrates nearly all of the Costa Rican species in color and provides a large sample of detailed line drawings and scanning electron micrographs of riodinid early stages for the first time ever. The book's coverage makes it useful for identifying riodinids throughout Mexico, Central America, and substantial portions of South America.The introductory chapter brings together a large body of material that applies directly to understanding riodinid butterflies in general. The taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of each taxon is discussed in detail. The author also provides sections on ecology, evolution, behavior, symbioses with ants, caterpillar acoustical calls, systematics, collecting and preserving, hostplant relationships, and the comparative diversity of riodinid butterfly faunas. A section on butterfly biologists of the last century provides a historical perspective to the basis of our understanding of Neotropical butterflies.

About the Author

Philip J. DeVries, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Oregon, has devoted most of his time to the study of tropical biodiversity. He has been a MacArthur Foundation and a Guggenheim Foundation fellow.