10% off all books and free delivery over £40
Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks.

Emperors, Admirals and Chimney-Sweepers

View All Editions

The selected edition of this book is not available to buy right now.
Add To Wishlist
Write A Review

About

Emperors, Admirals and Chimney-Sweepers Synopsis

Many have remarked on the poetic names of our butterflies and moths. Their beauty fires our imaginations. Some are named after human occupations and social rank: Emperors, footmen, a miller, quakers, lackeys, ‘rustics’ and chimney-sweepers. Still more are named after animals: tigers, hawks, goats, sharks, even pug dogs. There are species named after jewels, musical instruments, fabrics, letters, carpets, flowers, heraldry and shells. Some names are downright baffling. Why was one butterfly called an ‘admiral’ and another an ‘argus’? Why, for that matter, are they called ‘butterflies’? The scientific names, too, contain many allusions. One whole subset of moths is named after weddings. Another group is named after souls. A great many names are cherry-picked from classical tales and legends, often with relevance to a particular butterfly or moth. Some names are spooky, even sexy. Or funny, for Latin names contain word games and jokes. This is the first accessible and comprehensive guide to the names of our butterflies and moths, both English and Latin. This beautiful book, written with Peter Marren’s usual wit and insight, takes you on a journey back to a time before the arts and science were divided. When entomologists were also poets and painters, and when a gift for vivid language went hand-in-hand with a deep pre-Darwinian fascination for the emerging natural world.

About This Edition

ISBN: 9781908213822
Publication date: 1st July 2020
Author:
Publisher: Little Toller Books
Format: Paperback
Pagination: 266 pages
Genres: Wildlife: butterflies, other insects and spiders: general interest
The Earth: natural history: general interest
Insects (entomology)
Folklore, myths and legends