This book presents a detailed treatment on the butterflies of Britain's and Ireland's offshore islands. The contents divide into two complementary parts. The first is an account of the findings from analyses of data from the islands. In the second part, butterfly records are presented for 219 islands. Both sections are linked to an extensive bibliography and are supported by a checklist of species, numerous figures and tables. Two appendices list rare immigrants and provide advice and sources of information for making observations on the butterflies of islands. Suggestions are made for future research and the main findings are summarized in a concluding section.
The book provides an up-to-date synthesis of butterfly records for Britain's and Ireland's offshore islands. The authors demonstrate the significance of geography and ecology in accounting for the number of species and the incidence of species on islands. The findings have important connotations for understanding the processes of colonization and extinction, with ramifications for butterfly conservation in Britain and Ireland.