From Kiribati, Tuvalu and Fiji in the west, to the far-flung Marquesas and Austral Islands in French Polynesia in the east, this book surveys (and discovers) the butterfly inhabitants of these tropical islands, including Hawaii.

Butterflies are not fragile flying insects: their distribution across a wild and expansive Pacific Ocean proves otherwise. Long ago they colonised by flight isolated and tiny atolls and they continue to claim new territory.

Others came by land bridges when sea levels were lower, to mark out their distribution and perhaps establish new species. More recently, people have made their way into the South Pacific region; the final chapter considers the impacts of human migration and population growth, and identifies conservation issues.

Brian Patrick is the co-author of several books on natural history and invertebrates and a frequent contributor to BUTTERFLIES magazine.

ISBN 978 1 877578 04 5, 2012 Hardback, 240 pages, colour throughout. Published by Otago University Press.

These are fundraising items for the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust. Funds raised go towards research and education projects for the preservation of NZ's butterflies and moths.

Proceeds to the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust to protect NZ's butterflies, moths and habitat. Incorporated under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 as a registered charitable trust, No. 1679763, with donee status, registered under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957, CC11297, the Trust is raising awareness of NZ's butterflies and moths so they can be protected and encouraged before they become endangered; when bringing them back to our landscape would be so much more difficult. Anecdotal evidence tells us numbers are declining.

Visit http://www.monarch.org.nz for more information, or to become a citizen scientist and take part in our research projects.