Kaufman Field Guide To Butterflies Of North America

I have long been a supporter of accurate paintings/drawings as illustrations for natural history field guides and still think that the illustrations in many of the volumes in the Peterson field guide series are generally better than their photographic counterparts. However, as a casual observer of butterflies in the field, I have not been happy with the illustrations in A Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies by Paul Opler, illustrated by Vichai Malikul, in the Peterson series. For example, in the Opler & Malikul book the illustrations for distinguishing apart in dorsal view the Painted Lady Vanessa cardui and the American Lady Vanessa virginiensis are quite inadequate (Opler & Malikul Plate 23). So I was looking for an alternative and the comments by other reviewers of the Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America by Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman encouraged me to purchase this book. I have used the book only for a short time but I too have found the digitally edited photographs perfect for the purpose of illustrating a butterfly field guide. The range of illustrations is excellent and the depiction of the butterflies as they are seen in nature (rather than as pinned and spread museum specimens) is very helpful and appropriate. Of course I will continue to check Opler's text and Malikul's illustrations in the Peterson guide but my "go to" book of choice for butterfly identification will now be the Brock & Kaufman volume. A really well-organized, well-written and well-illustrated field guide that gets the job done!

As a beginner, I found the grouped photo summaries in the beginning of the book, helpful in zeroing in on which butterfly I was watching. Photos and illustrations of actual size of each butterfly are well done and helpful.

I'm an entomologist. This is the best quick visual reference on the market.

Excellent Butterfly book! Exceeds expectations!

Easy to use, with great pictures and maps.

There is one big problem with all Kaufman Focus Guides - they don't make a broad enough line of them! If I were able to have only 1 book on a given subject (birds, butterflies, mammals, etc.) I would always choose the Kaufman Focus Guide. I find their excellent pictures far superior to the illustrations that most books use, for one thing.I shoot a lot of nature pictures and wanted to identify the butterfly and moth shots I was getting. I have several other guides - National Audubon Field Guide to Insects & Spiders - Golden Guide to Butterflies & Moths, Peterson First Guide to Butterflies & Moths. But the Kaufman book makes it easy to find and identify a species and to find the very subtle differences between very similar butterflies.The pictorial table of contents makes it easy to understand various groupings of butterflies. I saw one review critical for the taxonomic system the book uses... the relevant thing for me, as an amateur, was to be able to quickly and easily make an identification and to have accurate information to distinguish between many different butterflies that look very much alike. This book definitely fills the bill. As another reviewer mentioned, it would certainly have been nice to have caterpillars included - but few things are perfect.If you just want to identify butterflies - this is the book to get!

This book encompasses close to everything you need to know to identify butterflies. A must have for everybody from beginners to experts. I have several copies of this book and the previous edition as well. I keep one in my truck, my desk at home, my office, my camera bag, at the ranch and have given several to friends and relatives. Great pics with Identification markings, range, seasons, host plants and so much more!All the top ratings this book has received prove it is the best investment you'll ever make. This edition includes rarities from my area of south Texas that everyone north of me can only drool or should I say dream about. Anyone who comes to south Texas will get to see several hundred butterflies identified in this book. Durable indeed and it fits into the back pocket of your jeans too!Now if we could only convince the authors to publish one that includes photos of each butterfly species egg, caterpillar stages, chrysalis and larval host plants! I'd need a wheelbarrow to haul it around no doubt but I'd surely never need to buy any other butterfly or caterpillar book!

It took me two years to understand the value of this great guide to North American butterfly ID, but I finally read the introduction ;-)I've been(seriously) trying to photograph butterflies for the past 6 years. It isn't easy. The frantic behavior of these beautiful insects during mating and the seeming fact that they don't ever land during migration, makes them difficult at best. But even after shooting, identifying them is a daunting task. In lieu of a good butterfly app (that doesn't exist), I can take Kaufman's Field Guide and usually find what I'm looking for. The PICTORIAL Table of Contents - as simple a concept as can be - is fantastic! It helps you get an idea as to the grouping of species.It took a couple of years, but just tonight, I noticed that I had mislabeled a Lorquin's Admiral AND a Red Admiral (on the cover)and totally missed a California Sister! Just finding a butterfly named the California Sister (and why) is enough to put this book over the top.There are few really good guides out there, but this is one of them.

I have not had very much time, as yet, to study the book, and it is obviously something to refer to from time to time, rather than read through fully. However, it appears to be all I need in order to compare butterflies of Europe with the butterflies of the US. I communicate with several American friends in a forum and we share an interest in wildlife.

Excellent well made pocket book. Great once you get used to the format.

Excellent product, the best field guide for butterflies that I could find, and I tried many.It is structured perfectly, with descriptive text and range maps adjacent to the colour plates, so no need to flip pages from plates to text as required by the National Audubon Society Field Guide (my other favourite). When a plate image looks similar to specimen sighted, a quick glance at the range map immediately allows for rejecting the way-out-of-range butterflies as a possible id.Great detail on Male & Female butterfly identification where different colouration and patterns exist, as well as on variations within the species, geographical and otherwise.Very comprehensive, with more species shown than any other guide I use.The vinyl cover, can take a beating. Great print and paper quality. A real handy tool and a winner.Thank you Jim & Kenn for a product that reflects your passion for bringing butterfly observation and identification out of the realm of entomology specialists.

I bought this fir my husband he really likes it and it organized by butterfly colour which makes it quick to find and identify differences

Bought it for my daughter. However not that suitable for children. Expect to have more photos, and more attractive to children.