African Queens and Their Kin: A Darwinian Odyssey - Hardcover

David A.S. Smith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1908241152 ISBN 13: 9781908241153

Publisher: Brambleby Books, 2014

Synopsis

For most of us who think we know about the biology of butterflies, this book is an amazing revelation. Using the model species the African Queen, Danaus chrysippus, the author takes us on a fascinating tour of the life history, ecology, genetics, behaviour, including mimicry, migration patterns and phylogeography of this important butterfly species complex and its closely related species and forms. Not only is this tour one progressed in space - Africa and other tropical countries of the world, as well as North America and Australia - but is also very much a journey in time. From these pages we learn how the insect evolved in its African home and it and its relatives slowly spread around the globe, mainly in the equatorial regions. Meanwhile populations were affected by both long and short-term climatic events, some of which caused them to be separated before they joined up again, time enough for substantial genetic changes to have occurred. The text is richly illustrated with colour photographs, tables, graphs, boxes with special information and numerous diagrams of phylogenetic relatedness. Truly a work to be studied and appreciated, both by students of butterflies and insects in general, as well as all who are interested in the natural world and wish to delve into some of its mysteries and strangeness. As examples of the last, these include many new and exciting discoveries - such as the fact that the butterflies suffer from male-killing endobacteria which greatly bias population sex ratios, to female lekking and lesbianism, cannibalism, rape, fratricide and pederasty, to male butterflies scratching the leaves of certain poisonous plants and, as these 'bleed', supping up the toxins which makes them attractive to their mates, the poisonous gift being duly passed on during mating and having an adaptive function in making the female butterfly's eggs and larvae (caterpillars) more unpalatable to predators and parasitic flies and wasps.

About this title

Product Description:

The African Queen is one of the world's commonest butterflies, principally in Africa and Asia. The book concerns its lifecycle and ecology, behaviour, genetics, host preferences, parasites and migration, and especially its phylogeny and evolution. This is a monumental study, an accumulation of 47 years of research, and will appeal to all biologists interested in this topic area.

Review:

'A masterpiece of scholarship, an awesome and enlightening read.' -- Prof. Hugh Loxdale DPhil, MBE, past President of the Royal Entomological Society

'...A significant part of David's life lies between the covers of this fascinating and scholarly odyssey; its scope, depth and detail are humbling.' -- John Tennent, Entomological Gazette

‘...This is a beautiful and unique book as well as a fantastic resource ... Because of the detailed material, it may well appeal to a wide range of other academics, ecologists, entomologists and animal behaviourists, as well as anyone interested in African and Asian invertebrates.’ – Grace Upperdine, The Biologist, 2015

 ‘...This is a vast book, in every sense...Every aspect of the biology, ecology, genetics, behaviour, distribution and evolution of this fascinating group is covered in depth...a volume of real substance...’-- Guy Padfield, Dispar

‘...The book is a great reference work and poses many challenges and questions for the aware reader to undertake further research....  Zalucki, Austral Entomology 2015

‘...The book presents a firework of fascinating observations and facts on evolution. ... Hausmann, Basic and Applied Ecology 2015

About this edition

• Publisher: Brambleby Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1908241152
• ISBN 13: 9781908241153
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 848