Hidden gems

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Amidst all the fears of loss of biodiversity around the world, and particularly in the tropics where so much exists and is least charted, Costa Rica stands out as a small but highly significant home for a vast diversity of species, whose futures are being taken seriously. Many researchers within the country and from outside are involved in projects cataloguing, monitoring and researching the rich array of species that occur in Costa Rica's diverse tropical habitats. And a new book∗ celebrates a small selection of the enormous diversity of moths and butterflies in the country in large-format photographs taken by Jeffrey Miller, from the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management at Oregon State University. The photographs are accompanied by species accounts and caterpillar images. Together with co-authors Daniel Janzen and Winifred Hallwachs at the University of Pennsylvania, they describe the insects' abilities in mimicry and migration, courtship behaviours and describe how DNA technology is boosting lepidopteran biodiversity research. The authors carried out their work in the Guanacaste Conservation area in north-west Costa Rica, a remarkable reserve that is only the size of New York City and its suburbs. But within this region, 10,000 species of moths and butterfly species have been estimated to exist, representing wide taxonomic diversity, and variations in behaviour and life-history tactics. An inventory has also been compiled of the caterpillar stages of moths and butterflies in this region. “We chose to show these moths and butterflies through one of the many possible lenses, as artistic portraits pinned against a black background, partnered with species accounts that illuminate the life histories trusting that a beautiful creature is made more beautiful if it is understood”, the authors say. The long-term work of Jansen and Hallwachs, a team of caterpillar collectors, and the participation of neighbouring farming communities has deepened understanding of Costa Rica's lepidoptera and has brought about advances in restoration ecology of tropical habitats, biodiversity prospecting, biotechnology and ecotourism development, the authors write. “Since we are diurnal, colour-vision mammals, the photographs we chose tend to depict species that are brightly coloured”, they write. “As a result, the particular ledger of species we chose is biased in favour of those that warn potential predators to stay away, and their mimics.” But the authors point out that so little work has been done on these species that it is hard to know which are genuinely poisonous and which are the mimics. But the collected photographs represent a stunning array of butterfly and moth morphology and colours and a major potential research resource. ∗100 Butterflies and Moths: Portraits from the Tropical Forests of Costa Rica. Jeffrey C. Miller, Daniel H. Janzen and Winifred Hallwachs. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN-13 978-0-674-02334-X