Field Guide to the Micro-moths - second edition

 

If you haven't ordered it yet and are still looking for ideas for Christmas, my copy arrived in the post this morning and on first glance it seems to be very well worth the money.  More than 100 extra pages, many more species covered and lots more information and photographs on early stages than in the first edition which was published a long time ago now, way back in 2012.

There are bound to be a few niggles in something this size but the only one I've spotted so far is that, as in the first edition, I would struggle to recognise the tortrix Epinotia cruciana as it appears in our area from either the adult illustration or indeed from the description in the text.  

One thing you need to be prepared for is that vernacular names feature much more prominently in this edition and, indeed, the authors have taken it upon themselves to change a large number of them.  In my opinion that's yet another reason for sticking to the scientific names for micro-moths! 

  

Dave Wilton Westcott, Bucks