So, for this, and the following Book Club posts, I think I’ll just concentrate on the books I use to help me ID species or general reference books I use. I won’t go into any scientific papers, or PDF documents, as that would make each post massive. The idea here is to get an idea of the books you might like to look into getting if you are interested. I’ll make sure to start from a general overview to a more Spain/regional specific base.
Also, this list will now be used as a reference when I post on butterflies, saves me having to list the books each time around.

Oh, and I’ve got books like Nabokov’s Blues, the ones by Dave Goulson, and many more but I’ll discuss those seperatly … this really is only reference books.

General

• Haahtela, Tari, Kimmo Saarinen, Pekka Ojalainen & Hannu Aarnio – Butterflies of Britain and Europe: A photographic Guide – 2011 – A&C Black – 384 pp. – Pretty decent, more modern than the two listed here. I had this an the Tolman as my only books for ages. I liked the idea of having one illustrated and one photo book (this one also has living butterflies). This was an accidental buy, but it turned out to be worth it (it also was not expensive at all). There is a new edition out (2019 – Bloomsbury Wildlife – great publisher) and it has been translated in French and English. Unless Tolman comes with a new edition soon, this might be a better buy (it is less than 10 GBP on Amazon), as the photos really are good.
• Lafranchis, Tristan – Butterflies of Europe – 2004 – Diatheo – 352 pp. – This book has an ID key in it that can be really helpful if you like to use those … based on photos of living buterflies … good companion to Tolman. There’s a French and Dutch version of this book. The Dutch version was published by the KNNV in 2009 and is expensive (currently one for sale for €75), as it is now out of print.
• Tolman, Tom & Richard Lewington (illus.) – Collins Butterfly Guide – 2009 – William Collins Books – 384 pp. – Pretty much the reference book on everything to do with butterflies in Europe. A must have, stunning illustrations, maps, excellent info on each species … needs an update though (due to taxon changes etc.). I cannot think of a better book to own if you are interested in butterflies. You can also get it in Spanish and, probably, other languages.
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Spain

• Redondo, Víctor, Javier Gastón & Juan Carlos Vicente – Las Mariposas de España Peninsular: Manual ilustrado de la especies diurnas y nocturnas – 3rd edition – 2019 – Prames – 464 pp. – In Spanish and it includes moths (not micro moths). It is okay, not really worth it for the butterflies though. I got it for the moths. The pictures are of collection specimens so it looks really unnatural and the colours are not very vivid. No maps, very basic info on distribution. Basically a book for those who have already read a lot and just want to have something new for their butterfly library. Still in print and will probably remain so with a new edition coming out every once in a while.
• There’s a better book on Spain, but I only have it as a PDF … written by E. García-Barros, and others, in 2004. It is good, though is only based around distribution, has no photos or illustrations, because it is based on scientific papers you can really pinpoint species in specific regions. You can probably find this on the internet. It has both Spanish and English text! I used it a lot in the early days.
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Specific Regions in the Cantabrian Mountains (my area of interest)

• Sánchez, Juan Manuel, Rafael Obregón & Tomás Sanz – Mariposas diurnas de Somiedo – Asturias: Pequeña guia para senderistas – 2018 – Ayuntamiento de Somiedo – 96 pp. Small, informative, handy, and in Spanish … so, great if you are going to visit this stunning national park (I haven’t yet but one of the authors was associated with Proyecto Lepides so I got this book). Maybe you can pick up a copy on a visit to the park, it cost me €5, so why not. There’s a new version (2022) out (without Tomás Sanz) that is double the page number. No idea what the difference is, but I’m sure it is pretty decent
• Sanz Román, Pablo & Juan Manuel Marcos Gómez – Mariposas y Ecosistemas Cántabros – 2004 – Cantabria Tradicional S.L. – 196 pp. – I’ve not had this book too long, but I’ve read parts of it many times. It is in Spanish, has photos and maps of butterfly (and some moth) species in Cantabria. A good place to start to get an indication where you might find certain species of butterfly in this ecologically diverse province … but websites are better these days because they are more current. There is also a whole section on larval host plants (LHP). Mistakes do occur in this book, the names are really far behind regarding taxon (Lafranchis, from the same year, is way more up to date), so my copy is full of pencil corrections. It is like you’re reading a book from the 1980s. You can get by without this book when you visit Cantabria, for the completionist, as it shows its age and needs a refresh/update for sure. Long since out of print (the publisher went bankrupt years ago) and hard to get.
• Verhulst, Georges, Joseph Verhulst & Hugo Mortera – Mariposas dirunas del Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa – 2005 – Organismo Autónomo Parqeus Naturales Ministerio de Medio Ambiente – 184 pp. – Book in Spanish written by two Belgian brothers and an expert on butterflies in Asturias (I have Mortera’s book on butterflies in Asturias in PDF format – also excellent and available on the internet). A bit old, but quite cool and quirky (has common names in 4 different languages), as it also includes some pictures of caterpillars and pupae. The photos are okay, both of living and collection specimens. There are some mistakes but those aren’t really an issue. You’ll need to buy this online, with the best/cheapest option being Oryx in Barcelona (how I got it). Take care because this book can be very expeinsive on other sites, and it probably isn’t worth that unless you are a completionist.
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Comments

The region-specific books can be really hard to get a hold of. If you want to pick them up for a vacation to Spain it is best to do so well in advance. Most of them are out of print. For example, the Lafranchis I’ve seen with quite a high price-tag (e.g. there’s currently one for sale for €40 online – I got mine for €10 – but there’s one on Amazon for GBP 155!). If you want to get a good overview of butterflies in a specific region in Spain then the García-Barros PDF is an excellent place to start and get a checklist going. You’ll need something like Tolman for IDing the butterflies you see though (even though it desperatly needs a refresh).
Also, I have a lot of PDFs for other regions outside of the Cantabrian Mountain range, I’m sure you can find those PDFs on the internet.

Do take care when picking up any odd butterfly book. I once got one as a present that had a ton of mistakes and wasn’t really helpful in any way (terrible photos), so just gave it away again (should have had the foresight to keep it and give it a negative review here – cannot remember the author or title). Also, many of the multi-insect guides are not that great, just get one that is specific to butterflies. Tolman is not expensive.

I’m always looking for new books, and on my travels to regions in Spain I do keep an eye open for region-specific books. There are quite a few. This means that I’ll try and keep this list evergreen …

Final Note

My list of non-reference works includes: Nabokov’s Blues, The Butterfly Isles (already discussed), Fine Lines, In Pursuit of Butterflies, The Jungle Garden, Rainbow Dust, The Collector, A Buzz in the Meadow (also discussed), and some that I am probably forgetting.