The Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville has just published a draft of a book known as "The Butterflies of California."
When the authors first started writing it in 1974, initial estimates were that it would take about five years. Instead, it took five decades.
The nearly 900-page butterfly guide includes lots of information about how the insects grow, what they look like and where you can find them.
The book was co-written by the late Thomas Emmel, a founder and curator of the museum’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, and two of the center’s research associates, Emmel's brother, the late John Emmel, and Sterling Mattoon.
It remained unpublished until after deaths of Emmel brothers. Both passed away over the past decade. The draft is now available for free online.
WUFT's Faith Smith sat down with a close friend of one of the authors, McGuire Center's collection coordinator Andrei Sourakov, who helped publish the book.
Click on the listen button above to hear the report.
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