Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Papilio rutulus - Western Tiger Swallowtail - Hodges#4177


Handbook for Butterfly Watchers
By Robert Michael Pyle and Sarah Hughes
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1992
Though older, still an excellent introduction to "butterfly watching". The first edition (hardback) was published in 1982.

The Connecticut Butterfly Atlas
By Jane E. O'Donnell, Lawrence F. Gall, and David L. Wagner
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 2007
Contains information on all butterflies found in Connecticut. Including descriptions of all life stages (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult) with many photos as well as hostplant, distribution, and flight season information.

Should be very useful for most of the northeast.

Available from CT DEP Store

The Lepidoptera of Florida: An Annotated Checklist.
By Charles P. Kimball
Florida Dept. of Ag. Gainesville, FL. v + 363 pp., 1965
Kimball, C.P. 1965. Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas, Vol. 1: Lepidoptera of Florida. Florida Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, FL. v + 363 pp.

This book is still available for just $5.00 !!!

Since updated by John. B. Heppner:

Heppner, J.B. 2003. Lepidoptera of Florida. Part 1. Introduction and Catalog. Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas, Vol. 17. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, FL. x + 670 pp.

Book Review - Metzler, 2006

Butterflies of the North Olympic Peninsula
By Kristi Murray Knowles
This is a useful pocket guide to the Butterflies of this region, with pen-and-ink drawings, from egg to larva, to chrysalis, to adult butterfly.
With a foreword by Robert Michael Pyle.

Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States
By Clifford D. Ferris and F. Martin Brown (eds)
University of Oklahoma Press, 1981
Since this book is probably out of print, and the amazon link below doesn't work, see here: Ferris & Brown .

The Butterflies of Southern California
By Thomas C. Emmel and John F. Emmel
Natural History Museum of Southern California, 1973

An Introduction to Southern California Butterflies
By Fred Heath
This book covers 89 species of Southern California. Excellent photos (by Herbert Clarke) with ID guidelines, help in field identification. The author has also included helpful information about preferred habitat, food plants, seasonality, and types of overwintering forms.

Butterflies and their Favorite Flowering Plants - Anza-Borrego Desert State Park & Environs
By Lynn & Gene Monroe
A useful field guide to Butterflies of the Anza Borrego Desert in Southern California. The book is well illustrated with photos of 134 species and subspecies, larval food plants, nectar plants, as well as photos of some immature stages.