Description

Author: Andrei Sourakov and Rachel Warren Chadd
ISBN: 9780691228563
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Year of Publication: 2022
288 pages with many illustrations and photos
Hardcover

Filled with striking images, The Lives of Moths looks at the remarkable world of these amazing and beautiful creatures. Moths are among the most underappreciated insects on the planet, yet they make up the majority of some 180,000 known species of Lepidoptera.

While butterflies may get more press than moths, Andrei Sourakov and Rachel Warren Chadd reveal that the lopsided attention is unjust. Moths evolved long before butterflies, and their importance cannot be overestimated.

The authors show that moths and their larvae are the main food source for thousands of animal species, and interact with other insect, plant, and vertebrate communities in ecosystems around the world, from tropical forests and alpine meadows to deserts and wetlands. The authors also explore such topics as evolution, life cycles, methods of communication, and links to humans.

From the tiniest leaf miners to exotic hawk moths that are two hundred to three hundred times larger, these creatures are often crucial pollinators of flowers, including many that bloom at night or in twilight.