Richard A. Bailowitz

Basics: 1991, softcover, 342 pages, 90 species in color, nearly 300 species in b&w, no range maps

Covering the southeast 1/6 of Arizona, this book illustrates and comments on nearly 300 species either found here or are suspected, possible, or claimed to occur here. Including two counties and portions of four others, this book focuses on a unique geographic area known for both its butterflies and birds.

As noted by the authors, this black-and-white book is meant to be used in tandem with other color field guides. All of the southeastern butterflies are illustrated with multiple (usually two) b&w photos. The two photos are typically dorsal and ventral and often of male and female. Four color plates showing dorsal views of 90 species are included in the appendices. The b&w photos create some difficulty with identification of some species, especially the blues and skippers where the shading and hues of the colors are important.

The text for each butterfly varies from one paragraph for vagrants to half a page for the expected species. Four categories are typically offered for each butterfly, which are: General, larval foodplant, flight period, and distribution. I’ve found the very brief descriptions mixed into the "General" section to be a bit too sparse at times and lacking sufficient comparative information between similar species. As an example, the only description offered for the Mylitta Crescent is “the nearly uniform orange DS ground color is usually diagnostic.”

The format and content of this book seem to be a cross between a reference and a guide. It will be welcomed by more engaged butterfly enthusiasts but might be a little less friendly to a novice when trying to identify an unfamiliar specimen. This book certainly is a solid reference on AZ butterflies – and, the first to do so; however, I would recommend the more recent book, Butterflies of Arizona by Stewart and Brodkin if identification is the key focus.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Butterflies of Arizona: An Identification Guide by Stewart et al.
2) Butterflies of North America by Brock/Kaufman
3) Butterflies of North America by Scott
4) Butterflies through Binoculars: The West by Glassberg
5) Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies… (mer)