From Kiribati, Tuvalu and Fiji in the west, to the far-flung Marquesas and Austral Islands in French Polynesia in the east, this book surveys (and discovers) the butterfly inhabitants of these tropical islands, including Hawaii.
Butterflies are not fragile flying insects; their distribution across a wild and expansive Pacific Ocean proves otherwise. Long ago they colonised by flight isolated and tiny atolls, and they continue to claim new territory. Others came by land bridges when sea levels were lower, to mark out their distribution and perhaps establish new species. More recently, people have made their way into the South Pacific region; the final chapter considers the impacts of human migration and population growth, and identifies conservation issues.
Brian Patrick is the co-author of several books on natural history and invertebrates and a frequent contributor to our quarterly BUTTERFLIES magazine.
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ISBN 978 1 877578 04 5, 2012 Hardback, 240 pages, colour throughout.