Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths, is the leading flagship group for advancing interest in insect conservation. One of the largest insect orders, with numerous intricate ecological interactions, their long aesthetic attraction to naturalists and collectors has contributed to a unique cumulative historical record of information on diversity, biology, habitat relationships, distribution, and interactions with people. Collectively, this information has ensured that many declines and extinctions of species - particularly of butterflies in the northern hemisphere - have been brought forcefully and unambiguously to human notice. Both theoretical and practical aspects of their conservation have proliferated in recent decades, and the relevant scientific literature on Lepidoptera ecology and conservation (both peer-reviewed and in unpublished reports) continues to burgeon in extent and complexity.

This book is a global overview of Lepidoptera conservation and its roles in providing lessons for wider insect conservation. It brings together some of the highly scattered information into a synthesis for research workers, conservation managers, naturalists and students, in a manner that assumes little previous knowledge, and provides a substantial list of relevant references for further information. The book emphasises the contrasts between the progress possible for the better-documented northern temperate regions and for the rest of the world, but examples and cases noted demonstrate also the increasing urgency and novel initiatives that continue to develop.