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Volume 29, Number 3
195
BOOK REVIEWS
Clearwing Moths of Australia and New Zealand (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), by W. Donald Duckworth and Thomas D. Eichlin. 1974. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, no. 180. 45 p. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Price: $1.70 U.S.
This is the first taxonomic treatment of the Australian Sesiidae since Gaede's 1933 enumeration of the World fauna in Seitz, and the 1925 World list of Dalle Torre and Strand in Lepidopterorum Catalogus. The only previous revisions of the Australian species were by A. J. Turner in 1917 and 1922.
The present revision recognizes 14 species from Australia, including the introduced pest species Synanthedon tipuliformis. Only the introduced S. tipuliformis is known from New Zealand. One Australian species is described as new and the fauna is assigned to six genera. Eight names represent new combinations in three genera Pennisetia Dehne, Alhuna Edwards and Carmenta Edwards, which have not previously been included in the Australian fauna. The two genera Lophocnema and Diapyra, described as endemic by Turner, have been treated as synonyms of Pennisetia. The authors discuss the taxonomic history, morphology, biology and geographical distribution of the family. They conclude that the Sesiidae have invaded Australia relatively recently with a minimal development of endemism, and that most of the Australian species will ultimately be found to occur in neighbouring areas to the north.
As the authors state, the Australian Sesiidae have been seriously neglected and are poorly represented in collections; few species have been reared from the larvae. This up-to-date and well documented taxonomic treatment should do much to interest Australian lepidopterists in the group and to encourage them to search for both adult and immature stages. Although no endemic species are known from New Zealand, careful field work in the far north of the North Island could yield new discoveries.
This revision is well illustrated by photographs of the adults and line drawings of the male and female genitalia, wing venation, and morphological details of the head. Maps show the localities referred to in the text. It would have been useful to Australian workers if the numbers of specimens examined in each species had been indicated, together with the label data and the repository of non-type specimens. Although relatively small, the number of specimens studied must have greatly exceeded that of previous workers. The revision appears to be largely free of inadvertent errors, and only three have been noted. On page 18, column 1, line 25, "Bernard" should read "Barnard," and on page 18, column 1, line 39, "western" should read "eastern." Finally in Maps 1 and 6, Carmenta chrysophanes is shown to occur at a point well within the Eyrean faunal province. If this point represents Canberra, where the species is stated to occur, it is too far north and too far inland; Canberra is in fact in the Bassian province.
I. F. B. Common, Division of Entomology, C.S.I.R.O., P. O. Box 109, Canberra City, Australia.
The Sesiidae (Lepidoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark, by M. Fibiger and N. P. Kristensen. 1974. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica, vol. 2, Scandinavian Science Press Ltd., Gadstrup, Denmark, Contents + 85 p., 144 figs., including line drawings, 28 color illus., and 34 black and white photographs. Price: 40 D.kr.
Though the faunal coverage indicated by the title includes 17 species, 8 species not known to occur in Scandinavia are also treated. According to the Introduction