The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast

Colourful, full-page illustrations by Alan Aldridge prepared in collaboration with Harry Willock. Verses by William Plomer. Each insect or animal illustrated has a description at the end of the book. For example: "Musk Beetle (Plate 24, playing violin) is a handsome green longhorn beetle, with red spots on the elytra (wing-cases), and antennae that in the male are one and a half times as long as the body. It may, however, vary in colour from coppery red to bright blue. Its name derives from the strong musky smell emitted by both sexes. The larvae live in the wood of old rotten willows and poplars, and consequently the beetles are usually found near these trees--and it is from salicin, a bitter substance found in poplars and willows, that the musk beetle derives its distinctive smell. The musk beetle is one of the most widespread beetles and is usually to be seen in July and August."