Copiously illustrated with maps, line drawings, and full-color photographs, this large format paperback book contains the essential information that backyard nature enthusiasts want and need -- to attract butterflies to their yards.

Butterflies are among the natural world's most colorful and intriguing creatures, so what could be more useful than a handy field guide with more than 1,000 photographs of all the butterflies of North America north of Mexico, including all true butterflies, the most common skippers, and many migrants and strays. The color plates are visually arranged by shape and color, and thumb-tab silhouettes provide a convenient index to identification of butterflies in the field. The species account for each butterfly provides measurements, descriptions of each stage of the life cycle, and information on coloring or distinguishing markings, flight period, habitat, and range.

Practical and beautiful, this book shows how to attract butterflies to a back yard garden--and turn it into a fluttering paradise. Marcus Schneck explains the life cycles, migration patterns, and mating behavior of these creatures, and offers invaluable information on everything from pesticide-free garden maintenance to the use of feeders.

Here is the first and only guide to a subject of great interest to gardeners, small children, and lepidopterists: caterpillars, the immature form of butterflies and moths. This guide describes 120 common species of these fuzzy creatures. All the caterpillars, their adult forms and many of their host plants are illustrated.

This new edition of the classic handbook describes how to attract butterflies and other beneficial and beautiful insects to your garden.
Butterfly Gardening presents everything the gardener needs to know to create intricate, small-scale ecosystems in an urban or suburban setting that can substitute for the rapidly vanishing habitats that are essential to the survival of butterflies. Contributors to this volume include Miriam Rothschild, an eminent entomologist, avid butterfly gardener, and expert in wildflower conservation, who describes the life cycle of butterflies, how and what they see, and how this relates to "gardening with butterflies." Landscape architect Mary Booth provides imaginative garden designs and easy-to-follow directions for designing and planting. Edward S. Ross, pioneer of close-up nature photography, discusses observing and photographing butterflies.
The book also includes a "Master Plant List" of species that attract butterflies, butterfly food plants listed by geographic region, seed and plant resources, a list of gardening and conservation organizations, and a bibliography of books and periodicals about butterflies.

This magnificent field guide greatly expands on Butterflies Through Binoculars: The Boston-New York-Washington Region—identified by Defenders of Wildlife Magazine as "the first to focus on netless butterflying" and called "a clear winner" by the Audubon Naturalist. Glassberg here shows us how to find, identify, and enjoy all of the butterflies native to the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada.
This guide combines the immediacy and vividness of actual photographs of living butterflies with the traditional field guide format.  It emphasizes conservation over collection, includes 630 color photographs, arranged on 72 color plates, of butterflies in the wild. Provides adjacent color maps that show where each species occurs in a given locality and for how much of the year. Supplies entirely new field marks for butterfly identification. Demonstrates how to identify subjects by way of the key characteristics butterflies are likely to display in their natural settings. Shows how species can be recognized both from above and below and explains how to differentiate between males and females.
For butterfly enthusiasts, for bird watchers who want to add a new dimension to their hobby, for anyone who is simply interested in exploring the wilds of their own back yard, this new field guide offers hours of delightful help and instruction.

This book can definitely help the Michigan collector find and identify butterflies. Pictures of both the front and back of the butterfly are show for each species, and interesting variations (differences in male and female, hybrids) are shown as well. In addition, a map of the state divided into counties accompanies each butterfly, so you can figure out where that butterfly can be found. Finally, notes are given about the rarity of the butterfly--some have been recorded in Michigan only once, and others are considered strays. The great details given in this book have helped us correctly identify many butterflies that a more general guide to butterflies couldn't help us with. This book sets a high standard for all regional books on butterflies!

The Family Butterfly Book: Discover the Joy of Attracting, Raising & Nurturing Butterflies
by Rick Mikula
Paperback, 176 pages
Storey Books
October 2000

Raise your own butterflies! - Create a butterfly habitat with 15 projects and activities - Close-ups of 40 favorite North American butterflies.  Everyone enjoys seeing butterflies flitting about on a warm summer day, but few people realize that many species are endangered. Without help, nine out of ten caterpillars won't survive long enough to become butterflies. The "grandfather of butterfly farming," Rick Mikula, wants to improve these odds. In The Family Butterfly Book, Rick shares his vast knowledge, contagious enthusiasm, and deep respect for these fascinating creatures. Though many of us know that caterpillars turn into butterflies, Rick explains the transformation from start to finish - egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly - and reveals where each stage can be found in the wilds of our own backyards. With stunning color photographs and detailed illustrations, Rick explains how to attract, safely catch and handle, and raise and support butterflies. He also discusses how to make irresistible habitats for butterflies and emphasizes the importance of basking sites, water sources, and shelter. Did you ever want to hand-feed a butterfly? Have a live-butterfly tree? Feature butterflies in special celebrations? Rick explains all that and more. Features many do-it-yourself projects that can be completed for under $10 and 2% of net profits will be donated to the a butterfly survival fund.

Roll out the welcome mat for butterflies and hummingbirds. Attracting Butterfles and Hummingbirds to Your Backyard reveals the secrets for creating irresistible gardens and a welcoming landscape, which will lure these amazing creatures up close and personal for your enjoyment and wonder.  Author Sally Roth knows the best plants, feeders, and water features that appeal to butterflies and hummingbirds, plus she offers an entertaining and insightful guide to butterfly and hummingbird behavior.

A Field Guide to Caterpillars
by Thomas J. Allen, Jim P. Brock, & Jeffery Glassberg
paperback, 240 pages
Oxford University Press, USA
June 2005

With over 900 color photos, this is the first authoritative guide to the butterfly caterpillars of North America.  Jeffrey Glassberg's acclaimed Butterflies through Binoculars guides have revolutionized the way we view butterflies. Now there's a field guide in the same practical format, and with the same emphasis on conservation, to identify caterpillars. Caterpillars are as varied, fascinating, and often as colorful as the adult butterflies they become. This is the most comprehensive guide to these creatures available. It contains all the information necessary to find and identify the caterpillars of North America--from Two-tailed Swallowtails, some of the largest butterfly caterpillars at just over two inches when fully grown, to tiny Western Pygmy-Blues. Caterpillar seekers will learn how to distinguish between butterfly caterpillars and moth caterpillars, where and how to find caterpillars, and the visual differences between young and older caterpillars. Each species section describes how to identify the caterpillar, complete with brilliant photos--many published here for the first time. To make for easy field use, each caterpillar's key physical features, abundance, habitat, and major hostplants are listed on the same page asits photo. The book also contains a special section on butterfly gardening, offering valuable information on how to set up a butterfly garden and raise healthy butterfly caterpillars, and provides a thorough list of the plants butterflies most like to feast on. From the concerned gardener who wishes not to kill caterpillars that may one day become beautiful butterflies to the serious butterflies wishing to take the hobby to the next level, this remarkable guide will provide all of the information necessary for an enriching caterpillar experience.

Butterflies of Michigan Field Guide
by Jaret Daniels
Paperback, 376 pages
Adventure Publications, Incorporated
June, 2005

Caterpillars of Eastern North America: A Guide to Identification and Natural History
by David L. Wagner
Paperback, 496 pages
Princeton University Press
July 2005

This lavishly illustrated guide will enable you to identify the caterpillars of nearly 700 butterflies and moths found east of the Mississippi. The more than 1,200 color photographs and two dozen line drawings include numerous exceptionally striking images. The giant silk moths, tiger moths, and many other species covered include forest pests, common garden guests, economically important species, and of course, the Mescal Worm and Mexican Jumping Bean caterpillars. Full-page species accounts cover almost 400 species, with up to six images per species including an image of the adult plus succinct text with information on distribution, seasonal activity, foodplants, and life history. These accounts are generously complemented with additional images of earlier instars, closely related species, noteworthy behaviors, and other intriguing aspects of caterpillar biology.
Many caterpillars are illustrated here for the first time. Dozens of new food plant records are presented and erroneous records are corrected. The book provides considerable information on the distribution, biology, and taxonomy of caterpillars beyond that available in other popular works on Eastern butterflies and moths. The introductory chapter covers caterpillar structure, life cycles, rearing, natural enemies, photography, and conservation. The section titled "Caterpillar Projects" will be of special interest to educators.
Given the dearth of accessible guides on the identification and natural history of caterpillars, Caterpillars of Eastern North America is a must for entomologists and museum curators, forest managers, conservation biologists and others who seek a compact, easy-to-use guide to the caterpillars of this vast region.

Butterflies of the Great Lakes Region
by Matthew M. Douglas
Paperback, 360 pages
University of Michigan Press / Regional
July 2005

The Butterflies of the Great Lakes is the first of its kind to present an overall picture of the biology of butterflies inhabiting the Great Lakes region. The straightforward approach and clear writing style make this book very understandable to the educated lay public as well as stimulating to professional biologists.
This book includes an introductory section about the important geographic features of the Great Lakes region. The climate factors that have affected the butterfly fauna and their distribution within the region since the retreat of the glaciers 10,000 years ago.  Descriptions of ancient environments and habitats of the Great Lakes.  Line drawings and award-winning color photographs of butterflies under natural field conditions.  The most recent information concerning each species' taxonomy, identification, adult food sources, adult habitat, behavior, and ecology.  A complete life history and description of typical larval host plants used by each species.  A section on the important practice of collecting, preserving, and conserving butterflies.  Extended reference section and glossary complete the book.

Want to have butterflies in your garden? Want to learn about the plants that will attract them? The book "Learn About Butterflies in the Garden" will help you find the plants you need to attract those winged beauties to your yard as well as learn about the fascinating life cycle of some of your favorite butterflies.  
It has 304 pages with over 240 color photos of eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises, butterflies, and plants.  
This book can be purchased at http://butterfliesinthegarden.com/PurchaseBook.aspx.