British Moths: A Photographic Guide to the Moths of Britain and Ireland

The first edition of this popular photographic guide was published in 2008 as ‘British Moths and Butterflies’.  The second edition represents a significant revision, and has much new material to offer.

Although the new edition has exactly the same number of pages and is the same size as the first, it is now in a more robust hardback format; but the greater changes are inside.  Butterflies and larvae, which were included previously, are no longer covered, and the resulting space has been used to good effect by including an additional 800 species, mostly micro-moths, which now receive extensive coverage. The moths are listed in the order proposed in 2013 by Agassiz, Beavan and Heckford in their ‘Checklist of the Lepidoptera of the British Isles’, although the older Bradley and Fletcher numbers are also given.

Many new photographs have been included, including significant numbers of leaf mines, and those of adult moths are arranged where appropriate in a common orientation with the head to the upper right.  UK and Ireland species maps are included for the first time, and a dark line below photographs of adult moths indicates their typical length.

This is an excellent volume, and will justly be consulted alongside moth guides relying on artwork or set specimens to assist the ever increasing number of moth enthusiasts in identifying their catches.

Book reviewed by Graham Geen