[SEMCO] Book Review - Butterflies Across Cape Cod

[Alison Robb]

Nature’s Circle
P.O. Box 186, Woods Hole, MA 02543
nature at cape.com
http://home.cape.com/nature



                                                        May 7, 2004

Editor:  Please publish this book review in your paper.  If you will not
be able to do so fairly soon, or would like a shorter version, please be
in touch with me.   Thank you.  Alison Robb


A Book Review by Alison Robb


Butterflies Across Cape Cod;  A Guide To Finding, Attracting and
Observing Butterflies On the Cape.   By Mark J. Mello and Tor Hansen.
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History & Lloyd Center for Environmental
Studies. John Hay Institute Publication No. 1.  January 2004.   114
pages.  Bibliohgraphy, Appendix of Latin names, index.

 The first butterfly guide for Cape Cod is truly a guide -- a guide to
the species and a guide to many sites.  There is a section on basic
understanding of the anatomy and life cycles of butterflies and their
host plants, as well as information and education on butterfly
conservation.   Thirteen fine line drawings by Tor Hansen illustrate
this section.

 The preface is by John Hay, noted naturalist, writer and first director
of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.

 Each of the 76 species known as residents or common immigrants to Cape
Cod is represented with its very carefully described appearance, its
habits, range, habitat, food plants and flight periods.  On  16  plates
are color photographs of live insects in the field, the majority of
which were taken by Tor Hansen, naturalist, photographer, illustrator.
There is a key to families and subfamilies of butterflies.

 Then follows a section about habitats -- wetlands, grasslands, old
fields, Scrub Oak barrens  -- illustrating the host and food plants
therein.   Unique to this guide is the section which lists and fully
describes particular sites on the Cape, the habitats within, and the
butterflies to be found there.  Explicit directions are given to each
site.  They are sited on a central map of Cape Cod.

 This is one section which sets this guide apart from others.  Should I
decide to visit Evans Field in Provincetown, I find a description of the
habitat -- a wet meadow with wild cranberry bog on the west side
nurturing the Bog Copper, wetland/woods edge where the Appalachian Brown
is found.  Other less common species are the Striped Hairstreak,
Silver-bordered Fritillary and Brown and Pine Elfins in season.

 Should I  be looking for a site in Barnstable, I might choose to visit
the Cape Cod Airport at Marstons Mills, which provides ideal grassland
habitat and woodland fringe for a wide range of butterflies.  "Over
thirty-five species have been seen by the authors at the this site, a
remarkably high number for a single site on Cape Cod."

 The index contains all references to butterfly and plant common and
latin names as well as site localities, morpological definitions, and
organizations.

 Author Mark J. Mello was attracted to moths at the age of six when he
observed the emergence of aCecropia from its cocoon..  His attention has
hardly strayed except to include butterflies in his studies. and coastal
ecology of Cape Cod.  He earned a Master's of Science in Zoology at the
University of Maryland.  In 1986 he was appointed Coordinator of
Research at the Lloyd Center for Environmental Studies; he was Director
of the Lloyd Center from 1990 -1999 and is currently its Director of
Research.

 Tor Hansen studied butterflies and moths at an equally early age and
all through his youth.  He majored in Zoology at the University of
Arizona and earned a Master  of Fine Arts from the City University of
New York.  This combination, plus endless hours of observation in the
field, enabled him to become an extraordinarily fine biology illustrator
and artist.  He lectures with his photographic slides on butterfly
ecology and evolutionary biology, leads field walks for several
organizations including the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, and
continues to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with school children.

 The importance of butterflies to the web of life as pollinators and as
a food source of most of our neotropical migrant birds is emphasized by
both authors.

 I find that this little book is just what I have been waiting for as a
Cape Cod guide to butterflies, and more.  It is readable, intriguing
with its site descriptions, well designed for carrying in the field,
(about 6" x 8") with a spiral binding.  The Cape Cod Museum of Natural
History plans a program of butterfly classes and field trips this coming
season, as does Nature's Circle in Falmouth, with this guide as a
welcome basis of study and information and with the authors in person
when possible.

Highly recommended.

Alison Robb,  nature at cape.com



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