Phil Schappert, the author of A World for Butterflies: Their Lives, Behavior and Future (Firefly, $35), calls them “the charismatic megafauna” of the insect world. His lavishly illustrated book provides an introduction to this ephemeral but ubiquitous arthropod, together with the reasons that many species have become endangered. Further intimate portraits of these and other insects are to be found in The Hand of Nature: Butterflies, Beetles and Dragonflies (Thames & Hudson, £24.95, $40) by Jacques Kerchache and Ettore Sottsass Jr, with photography by Patrick Gries. The book is a photographic record of Kerchache's insect collection.