Review: Steve Woodhall's butterfly books

I’ve always considered myself a butterfly lover. There’s something magical about being propelled by paper-thin wings in various shapes and colours. Aside from their beauty, butterflies are also vital for a happy plant; they’re nature’s fairy godmothers. 

Struik Nature and Steve Woodhall literally have something for every kind of butterfly lover (including goodies to convert those silly enough not to love them). Being the incredibly lucky person that I am, I received a hamper of butterfly books from Penguin Random House. In a nutshell, I am in my happy place.

The Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa is an impressively comprehensive guide to literally all the butterfly species in the country – over 600 of them! This is like a textbook for butterflies – the perfect companion for those who are serious about spotting our winged friends. Containing everything from their life cycle, habitats, distribution in the country and how to watch and collect these insects ethically, its introduction is an entire reference book on its own. But wait, there’s more – thereafter start page after page of entries for the hundreds of species. Packed full of useful information, and brimming with stunning, crisp images, this is probably the only book you will ever need to identify South Africa’s butterflies. It’s a treat of a book that is as impressive as it is useful.

But if you’re not one for the scholarly approach to butterflies, or just want something that fits easily into a backpack while you’re out and about, Woodhall has another offering: The Pocket Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. As the name suggests, this book is the perfect size for portability. Featuring 250 of the most common species in the country for easy identification, it’s great for quick identification and research. Despite its small size, it does not compromise on quality of information.

If you’re still not convinced, or you’re a child of the technological revolution and have no time for paper, there’s an app. I kid you not – Steve Woodhall has an app for butterflies and it is one of the best things I have ever seen! With a whopping 806 species listed (yes, you read that correctly), there’s no way you’ll not be able to identify the butterfly before you. In addition, you can search for a specific species by colour, geography, name, location or time of year. The Butterflies of South Africa app is the ultimate investment for a butterfly lover on the go – it’s always where you are, dead useful, and super interactive. You can even tag where you find a specific species. What’s not to love?

Finally, if you think being able to identify a myriad butterfly species (while awesome) seems challenging in cities, think again. With Gardening for Butterflies, Woodhall and Lindsay Gray teach you what plants attract butterflies, enabling you to create your own butterfly utopia, and use your field guides in your garden, on your balcony, or next to a window box.

Everything about these books is top notch. They are informative, beautiful, useful and so filled with amazing pictures and inspiration. With Steve Woodhall’s help, you can bring the butterflies to you, and identify them from as early as egg stage. The only question that remains is why aren’t you out watching the butterflies?

The Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, The Pocket Guide to Butterflies of South Africa Gardening for Butterflies and the Butterflies of South Africa app by Steve Woodhall are published by Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa.