{"title":"Philip Howse","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"butterflies-messages-from-psyche-book-philip-howse-9781901092806","title":"Butterflies: Messages from Psyche","description":"People have always marvelled at the colours, patterns and designs on the wings of butterflies and moths, but there has been little attempt to decode them or recognise any great significance in them. Philip Howse explains how these living tapestries have been designed by evolution to protect insects from their principal predators, which include birds, lizards, monkeys. These insectivores, it is argued, detect their prey by perceiving small details of shape and colour rather than the 'whole picture' of the insect. With the possible exception of some people with autism, we generally overlook such emblematic features. If we look at the detail of a living butterfly in the way that a bird sees it from many different angles and perspectives, surprising images reveal themselves. There are features of owl eyes, snake heads, caterpillars, lizards, wasps, scorpions, birds' beaks and feathers to be found there. Many butterflies and moths have bizarre combinations of images on their wings and bodies which prompt comparison with the works of art of the surrealists, such as Magritte and Dali. They have a similar effect: to unsettle the way in which things are normally perceived: to confuse and shock. The signs and symbols that appear to be so important in the animal world: details of eyes, snakes, birds, etc., are archetypal symbols in ours, but for us they carry very complex meanings. Our ability to recognise these potent symbols of danger and threat goes back to the beginnings of the human race. Over the millennia, they have been incorporated into mythologies and transformed into the Mother Goddesses of many cultures from those of Palaeolithic man to the Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and the Aztecs.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49560779686161,"sku":"GOR004255988","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50918987268369,"sku":"GOR013260980","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51527900922129,"sku":"GOR009864482","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1901092801.jpg?v=1751440774"},{"product_id":"seeing-butterflies-book-philip-howse-9781906506469","title":"Seeing Butterflies","description":"This title features superb imagery that reveals astonishing insight into the life of butterflies and moths. It features previously unrecognised examples of butterflies' mimicry. It will appeal to biologists and artists, as well as anyone interested in wildlife and photography. You can see butterflies with new eyes through Philip Howse's fascinating text and superb imagery. You can understand the colours and designs on their wings, and the varied and fascinating strategies of behaviour, mimicry and camouflage of the butterflies and moths in your garden, the countryside and in tropical butterfly houses. Whole chapters are devoted to commonly seen groups of butterflies, such as whites, admirals, monarchs, swallowtails, blues, peacocks and passion vine butterflies as well as hawkmoths and giant silkmoths. The superb images will inform and inspire nature-lovers, photographers, artists and scientists.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49643924422929,"sku":"GOR009820713","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49968062005521,"sku":"GOR007036224","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51427697295633,"sku":"GOR013544176","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1906506469.jpg?v=1751380526"},{"product_id":"bee-tiger-book-philip-howse-9781908241627","title":"Bee Tiger","description":"The clear skull markings on the thorax of the large and impressive Death's Head Hawk-moth are truly fascinating, often perceived as a threat or leading to superstitious and mythological beliefs. Here the author, an authority in mimicry, discusses why we are so intrigued by these markings but also explains how other animals may perceive its form and behaviour. This moth has evolved to deceive its main predators, especially birds and bats, and to rob bees of their honey without getting stung, again by deceiving them of its true nature, with acoustic, visual and chemical signals in play. It is able to do this because of the obvious, but usually overlooked, fact that other animals live in a different sensory world to us, i.e. their perceptions are different.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49738658709777,"sku":"NGR9781908241627","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50038198239505,"sku":"GOR011703454","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52378048594193,"sku":"GOR014509390","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1908241624.jpg?v=1750931785"},{"product_id":"giant-silkmoths-book-philip-howse-9781906506254","title":"Giant Silkmoths","description":"The most spectacular wild silkmoths live in tropical and subtropical forests and include the elegant moon moths with delicate pale green wings and long tails, the huge atlas moths with snake patterns embroidered on the edges of their wings, and the 'bullseye' moths with brightly-coloured eye-spots that resemble the eyes of owls. The interplay of wing colour and design, behavior, and ecology in the evolution of these extraordinary insects is explored in a lively, accessible text by award-winning author Philip Howse accompanied by Kirby Wolfe's magnificent photographs. Many previously unrecognized examples of mimicry of other animals embedded in their wing patterns are described and illustrated, including images of owl eyes, bird wings, claws, teeth, heads of reptiles, birds, rodents, cats...all designed to frighten the shortsighted, insect-eating birds that seek to prey on them","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51566889828625,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51566889992465,"sku":"GOR013083875","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1906506256.jpg?v=1751420112"},{"product_id":"butterflies-book-philip-howse-9781554077731","title":"Butterflies","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52580265361681,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52580266049809,"sku":"CIN1554077737G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781554077731.jpg?v=1760985337"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-philip-howse.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}