Subject: Re:Picture Identification

From: [email-masked] (ahren005)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 21:18:12 GMT

> Can anyone recommend a good book to help me identify my many 
> butterfly pictures?  The pictures were taken around Chicago, at 
> Butterfly World outside of Ft. Lauderdale, and in the rainforests 
> along the Napo river in Ecuador. 
>  
> Given that a good book may be hard to find or very expensive, is 
> there someone or someplace in Chicago that can help me with this kind 
> of search? 
>  
> -- 
> Doug Bank                       Secure Design Center 
> [email-masked]          Motorola Communications 
> Sector 708-576-8207                    Schaumburg, Illinois 
>  

Hi Doug,
	I would be happy to help you identify the insects you describe.  I
live 
in Minneapolis and had taken hundreds of butterfly pictures in the
midwest.  I 
have been traveling to Ecuador (along the Napo and elsewhere) since
1980 and 
have losts of photos and specimens from that area.  The Butterfly World

species are pretty limited and should be easy - you can even call the
owner 
who knows them by heart.
	The necessary books are expensive if you choose to purchase them.  
Butterflies of the World by A. Seitz (1917-1924) Volume 5 is out of
print and 
costs about $2,500 when one becomes available.  Bernard D'Abrera has a 
multivolume series caled Butterflies of the World: Neotropical Region. 
There 
are about 7 volumes at $225 to $295 each.  Unfortunately he makes lots
of 
errors.  Check with your local University entomology department
library.  Most 
don't lend out the volumes, but they can be used in the department. 
For North 
America, start with the Audubon Field Guide to North American
Butterflies by 
Robert Pyle at about $20 or less.  There are dozens of other books but
this is 
the best.
	Let me know if I can help with your identifications.  You can upload 
gif or jpeg images if you have a scanner, or send me copies of the
photos.

	Good luck,   Dave   [email-masked]