Wings in the Light: Wild Butterflies in North America

by David Lee Myers, Robert Michael Pyle (Foreword by)

Overview

An extraordinary look at the wild butterflies of North America, with hundreds of compelling original photographs

See what it’s like to stare a butterfly in the eyes. Lavishly illustrated and scientifically rigorous, this dazzling volume provides a comprehensive visual guide to the butterflies of North America. David Lee Myers’s stunning photography captures these amazing insects in their natural habitats, offering a firsthand look at how butterflies appear in the wild. Featuring more than a hundred species of butterflies, the book highlights the importance of studying these insects as indicator species and discusses not only the taxonomy and biology of butterflies but also the importance of conserving butterfly habitats.  
 
A valuable resource for both professional lepidopterists and amateur naturalists, this engaging window into the world of North American butterflies teaches us what we can learn about these beautiful and inspiring creatures, and the incredible things that we can learn from them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300236132
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

David Lee Myers is a prize‑winning natural history and landscape photographer who has taught photography at various colleges. He has collected data and led butterfly counts for the North American Butterfly Association and the National Park Service.

Editorial Reviews

There are innumerable guides to identifying these beauties. Wings in the Light…will make you fall in love first. Myers's assured photographs are beautiful; he bears witness to the depredations of a fragile winged life, which can last from a few weeks to a few seasons…

The New York Times Book Review - Dominique Browning

If you build that garden, they will come — the birds, the bees and the butterflies. I have added lots of unruly but fragrant fennel to my beds just for the thrill of watching the stained-glass wings of swallowtails morph from dapper dotted and striped caterpillars. There are innumerable guides to identifying these beauties. WINGS IN THE LIGHT: Wild Butterflies in North America by the photographer and writer David Lee Myers, will make you fall in love first. Myers’s assured photographs are beautiful.”—Dominique Browning, New York Times Book Review

"It would be wrong to suggest that this is just a magnificent picture book. The text, built from personal experience and solid research, is at once familiar, unassuming, confiding, witty, and humble, yet reassuringly authoritative—a difficult balance to achieve, but one that comes naturally to David Myers."—from the Foreword by Robert Michael Pyle

“An intimate and personal biophilic journey told in words and images. Wings in the Light catalogs the singular passion of David Lee Myers for the enchanted winged insects we know as butterflies. More than a field guide, he shows the objects of his passion in the raw—not always pristine and lined up like soldiers in a battalion, but in their habitats and sometimes worn and tattered from life in a messy and multifarious world.”—James Prosek, author of Eels and Ocean Fishes

"Field guides rarely use photos of faded or tattered butterflies. This book bridges the gap between reference book and art book, and will appeal to both experienced lepidopterists and everyday butterfly enthusiasts with its unique photos and narrative.”—Caitlin C. LaBar, co-author of Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest  

"A visually impressive and rich introduction to the wealth of North American butterflies."—David G. James, Washington State University, co-author of Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies

From the Publisher