Ted Benton is professor emeritus in Sociology at the University of Essex, UK. His academic work has focused on integrating environmental issues into social scientific theory, and he is a long-time environmental activist. Since childhood he has been a field-naturalist, with a strong interest in insects. He has travelled throughout Europe over the past 35 years studying and photographing butterflies in their natural habitats. In addition to his academic publications he has authored or co-authored seven books on natural history, including two award-winning volumes in the New Naturalist series (Bumblebees (2006) and Grasshoppers and Crickets (2012). His photographs of European butterflies have appeared in numerous publications, and he is author (with artist Tim Bernhard) of The Easy Butterfly Guide (Aurum 2006).