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Books > Sport & Leisure > Natural history, country life & pets > Wild animals > Insects & spiders
Flutterbye, the Butterfly's daughter looks around the area where
she lives and learns that there are more creatures that fly than
just her And all of them have the same challenges that she does -
what to eat and how NOT to be eaten Almost all of the flying
creatures in Flutterbye's habitat are examined and analyzed in this
second book in the "Flutterbye, the Butterfly" series about Monarch
butterflies. Included are discussions on Food Chains, Circles of
Life and Laws of Nature, surrounded by DOZENS of colorful
photographs and drawings that help depict the lives of the animals
in Flutterbye's area. Explains "life" while having fun Reading
level is high-Fourth Grade and up, but group reading by teachers
and parents is recommended for inclusion of question and answer
sessions. Excellent book for "spring of the year" activities on new
birth, restoration, and growth. As with the first book in the
series, there are NUMEROUS notes to Teachers and Parents for
suggested lesson plans and/or enrichment activities, along with a
glossary of words uncommon to the Fourth Grade-and-up lexicon.
This practical pocket field guide, published in association with
the Wildlife Trusts, includes 150 butterfly and moth species from
Britain and the near Continent. Each species account contains
accurate artworks that show details to help readers differentiate
between male and female butterflies, moths and caterpillars of
varying species. A concise written account outlines further
essential information, such as size, description, habitat, flight
times, distribution, foodplants and habits. The easy-to-follow
layouts and illustrations aid quick identification, and make this
book an indispensable reference in the field as well as at home. It
is compact enough to fit in the pocket, yet filled with essential
information for nature enthusiasts.
An ecologist's investigation of the social lives of butterflies
Throughout his career, Henry Horn took a unique approach to the
study of butterflies. This book brings together his findings with
recent advances in behavioral ecology to provide an incomparable
look at the social lives of butterflies, illuminating for the first
time the marvelously diverse range of butterfly behaviors across
several species. Social Butterflies features in-depth studies of
five sympatric species-the Plain Ringlet, the Eyed Brown, the Great
Spangled Fritillary, the Viceroy, and the Pearly Eye-showing how
their social interactions span much of the range of behaviors
observed in vertebrates. Drawing on decades of his own keen
observations in the field, Horn describes the natural history and
behavioral peculiarities of each species and develops models to
explain characteristic aspects of their behaviors. He then
emphasizes key departures from these models to challenge the notion
that butterflies are simply preconditioned to react to stimuli,
showing how some make decisions by observing how other butterflies
interact with the landscape and each other. Along the way, he sheds
light on butterfly territoriality, mating tactics, vagrancy,
feeding strategies, and more. Charting new directions for future
research, Social Butterflies poses intriguing questions about the
complex and sometimes mystifying social behaviors of these
marvelous creatures, making it essential reading for
lepidopterists, ecologists, and anyone interested in the social
behaviors of invertebrate species.
#1 Kindle Best Seller the first weekend of its publication. "This
is a very important book and one that belongs in the hands of
everyone who cares about ecology and the preservation of the bee
population, and that in turn means the preservation of life as we
know it on this planet." - Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame
Reviewer. Albert Einstein said, "If the bee disappears from the
earth, man would have no more than four years to live." This
beautifully illustrated edition is meant to educate the reader
about the potential extinction of the bees as an indicator of a
mass extinction, the last one of which was 65 million years ago. It
explains what pollination is, who does it, why its essential to us,
what things are threatening our pollinators and what we, as
individuals, can do about it. They have been in existence for over
100 million years, but it has taken us less than 30 years to kill
almost all of them off. Honey bees are responsible for pollinating
60% of the world's food supply. Without them, the human race would
face starvation. A worldwide epidemic, it has been called the bee
apocalypse by Russia's president, but it is worse in the United
States than any other country. Since 1972, feral honey bees in the
United States have declined 80% to near extinction, and domestic
bees in the United States are down to 60%. Since 2006, the epidemic
has been referred to as colony collapse disorder, describing the
disappearance of entire colonies of bees. Among the causes cited
for this disaster of epidemic proportions are parasites, the
decrease in abundance and diversity of wildflowers, insecticides
and genetically engineered foods (GMO's) that create their own
synthetic pesticides which kill bees as well as other insects. But
one thing is for certain-- mankind is responsible for the drastic
decline in bee population and the United States government is doing
nothing about it. On the contrary, the government has taken
measures to make the problem worse. There is more to this delicate
100 million year old evolution of pollination that just honey bees,
who were not native to the United States, but imported from Europe
and probably originally came from Africa. At least 4,000 species of
wild bees are known to exist in North America alone. All of them
are at risk, and this book will show you how you can make a
difference in saving them, our food supply, and our planet as we
know it.
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