Subject: Tropical butterflies

From: Stuart Warrington <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 16:34:14 +0000

Dear Leps,
Can anyone help me.
An expedition to Guyana in South America would like to know if there is a
guidebook to butterflies of Guyana or the south american rainforests.
Also help is requested on how to monitor, catch or attract tropical butterflies.

The students will be looking at gaps in the canopy for vegetation &
butterfly diversity.

Many thanks,

Dr Stuart Warrington
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Hertfordshire,
Hatfield.  AL10 9AB
United Kingdom.
Fax  01707 284514
Tel  01707 284137

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From: [email-masked] (Chris Raper)
Date: Mon, 01 Jul 1996 21:54:10 GMT

>The students will be looking at gaps in the canopy for vegetation &

Hi Stuart,

It all really depends on how accurate your identifications have to be
and how much you are willing to pay. 

The 'butterflies of the world' books are usually too vague for all but
the most cursory identifications. They will allow you to get to id
_some_ species but most will come down to only Family or Genus.

The small D'Abrerra book is better as it focuses on only SA but is
still too vague for someone who is _really_ serious. For more detail
D'Abrerra has written a series called 'Butterflies of the Neotropical
Region' whic at the moment covers about 7 volumes but they are rather
expensive.

If all else fails - try setting the specimens, making an appointment
at the BMNH and going through their collections yourself! I found it
fascinating but hard work as the staff are usually too busy to
actually help out.

I went to French Guyana a few years back and found it pretty good even
though the locals were complaining about the unusual weather
conditions they had had that year.

You didn't mention what academic level the students were at. I hope
they can climb if they want to get to the canopy!  :-)   You should be
able to catch quite a diverse sample from ground level as long as you
have a good supply of nets with 2-3m long net poles - the longer the
better for Morphos and Heliconiids. Saying that, remember to take
smaller nets for the ground-hugging stuff like Riodinids and Satyrids
and the things that fly in amongst the undergrowth like Ithomiids.

Hope this helps
Chris R.

--
All views are my own and are not necessarily those of my employer.