Monarchs and Milkweed: A Migrating Butterfly, a Poisonous Plant, and Their Remarkable Story of Coevolution

(Hardback)

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Description

The fascinating and complex evolutionary relationship of the monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant Monarch butterflies are one of nature's most recognizable creatures, known for their bright colors and epic annual migration from the United States and Canada to Mexico. Yet there is much more to the monarch than its distinctive presence and mythi

Reviews

"A lively, highly informative introduction to significant research in ecology that highlights the importance of conserving our natural habitats."--Kirkus "This comprehensive and colorful illustrated study of monarch biology and behavior ... offers another reason to admire the versatile insect: its long and successful symbiotic relationship with the otherwise toxic milkweed plant... Agrawal's book will appeal not only to butterfly enthusiasts but also to the environmentally aware and all readers who appreciate solidly written and accessible popular science."--Booklist "Epic is the only word to describe the annual journey of monarch butterflies... Agrawal's splendid book is no less epic, taking us from heart toxins and sodium pumps to climate change and illegal logging. This is important science about an iconic and sadly declining insect, made readable by enthusiastic, personal prose."--Richard Jones, BBC Wildlife Magazine "[Anurag Agrawal's] book is a minutely detailed exploration of just about everything about [monarchs]: sex lives, dining habits, internal flight guidance and, in particular, their coevolving-but-competitive relationship with milkweed."--Nancy Szokan, Washington Post "Fantastic, readable, scientifically rich, detailed... Monarchs and Milkweed is to date the coolest nature or science book I've seen so far this year."--Greg Laden's Blog

Author Bio

Anurag Agrawal is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Entomology at Cornell University. He lives in Ithaca, New York.