There are a lot of butterflies in tropical America. In a country like Mexico, there are way too many to fit into a field guide, right? That’s the conventional wisdom. But if you eliminate all of the text, and cram 8 to 16 pictures onto every single page, it can be done. Jeffrey Glassberg, prolific photographer and chaser of butterflies, has done just that in the ambitious, if dizzyingly busy, A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America.
I’ll admit right off that I’m a fan of field guide texts. I learn a lot from the introductions. I benefit from written descriptions, and I learn better when the differences between images are pointed out to me. Glassberg’s short introduction is useful, and many images have a few words plastered onto them to point out key differences between look-alike species. But what I like most of all about many field guides is that they help me understand something about the creatures I’m seeing in the field. This book doesn’t give me any of that information; it strictly helps an observer put a name to a butterfly that’s been seen and photographed. If you’re playing butterfly bingo in Mexico, you’ll need this book.
Admittedly, the sort of information I seek simply couldn’t fit into a field guide for any tropical country. The author states his goal straightforwardly: “The purpose of this book is to help people to identify Mexican butterflies.” It meets its goal, and since there are so few resources available about identifying butterflies of the neotropics, the book is likely to sell well. Glassberg, Founder of the North American Butterfly Association, has long encouraged butterfly enthusiasts to turn “butterflying” into a competitive, compulsive listing game, comparable to some aspects of birding. This is a publication designed for those who have heeded his call.
Myself, I think he’s trying to emulate some of the least attractive qualities of birding. While I’m sure I’ll use A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America to identify butterflies I see in tropical America, I’m disappointed by the lack of information. The name of a creature just begins the process of learning, understanding, and appreciating. For the users of this volume, it’s assumed that learning the name (and, by implication, ticking it onto the lifelist) is the only goal.
I am eager to see how many species of Costa Rican butterflies are covered by the book, as that’s my Central American country of choice. So yes, I’ll dream of the ideal book, the one that tells me the life story of every butterfly, illustrates it lavishly and perfectly, and yet fits in my pocket. Until the age of the electronic book is really upon us, such a dream just isn’t possible. Glassberg has chosen to publish a book with as many pictures as humanly possible into a manageably small volume. Begrudgingly I’ll admit that it’s an impressive feat, and an impressive, eminently useful book.
Glassberg, Jeffrey. A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America. Sunstreak Books, 2007. 266 pages, $34.95 paper. ISBN-10: 1-4243-0915-8; ISBN-13: 978-1-4243-0915-8.