Peter Marren is a writer and sometime journalist on natural history matters. His books include Bugs Britannica (a journey through the folklore of invertebrates), The New Naturalists and Britain’s Rare Flowers. His other topics include the history of butterfly collecting, the fortunes and conservation of wild flowers, field mycology generally, the names of species and a long-running commentary about conservation and conservationists in his ‘Twitcher in the Swamp’ column in British Wildlife. He also writes obituaries and book reviews.