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Volume 34, Number 4
377
Our prior experience suggests that future individual volumes should not cover more than a maximum number of 250 species. Certainly, even the question of the price of a single volume cannot be overlooked. This problem is entirely out of the hands of the editors. It is set by the publisher and the sponsor, that is, the DFG. Ever since the first volume was issued, 500 subscription copies have been produced. Even such a voluminous book as Part Four (which is a double volume) has received wide publicity.
The authors for all of the future volumes have been arranged. We have been trying to provide extra help for Gregor, the only illustrator of the work so far, whose outstanding performance to date must not be allowed to suffer from time shortage or other future stresses. Therefore, under Gregor's guidance, our colleague Zawada (Cracow) obtained the necessary training for illustrating some of the groups.
On the tenth anniversary of the "MP," we may state, with satisfaction, that our work is a success. Such a major work requires both great personalities and an exceptionally favorable constellation. In other words, to produce such magnificent volumes requires both talented people and the proper conditions under which they can work. This has been accomplished by complying with the words of Nietzsche: "I love people who can give away themselves." The "MP" has been lucky in having found such people, and because of this I believe that we shall eventually succeed in completing this great work.
H. G. Amsel, Landessammlungen fur Naturkunde Karlsruhe, D75 Karlsruhe 1, Erb-prinzstrasse 13, Postfach 4045, Karlsruhe, West Germany.
Editor's Note: This manuscript was originally written by Dr. H. G. Amsel, Karlsruhe, Germany and has been translated into English by Prof. Dalibor Povolny of Brno, Czechoslovakia. It has been extensively edited by A.P.P. prior to publication.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(4), 1980, 377-378
Butterflies of the Australian Region, second ed., by Bernard D'Abrera. 1977. Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, Australia. 415 pp., many illustrations. Available exclusively in North America through Entomological Reprint Specialists, P.O. Box 77224, Dockweiler Station, Los Angeles, California 90007. Price $87.50 (U.S.).
When I reviewed the first edition of this book in these pages some years ago, I waxed rather poetic in my praise of it. I regret to say that I cannot be so enthusiastic about the revised edition. The promotional material that preceded the volume suggested that substantial modifications of the text and illustrations would make this book as indispensable to the students of Australian regional butterflies as was the first—implying that the first edition would become obsolete. With few exceptions, notably the treatment of the Lycaenidae, such has not been the case.
The illustrations have not essentially changed since the first edition (to be sure, there are a few additions and deletions), and while the illustrations are still very good (the best available), my feeling is that the printing is not as good as it was in the first edition, nor are the colors as true-to-life. Perhaps the shortcomings here may be attributed to the use of the same, apparently now tired, plate blocks.
The most important contribution in this book is the complete revision of the section on the Lycaenidae based on Eliot's excellent 1973 higher classification of the group. One can only wish that other families had been so revised. A few species accounts have been rewritten to comply with revisions published (chiefly in England) since the publication of the first edition. These include rewritings on Ornithoptera goliath
378
Journal of the LEPIDOPTERISTS, Society
(many "subspecies" relegated to forms), Vindula (dejone now accepted as a valid species name, rather than erota, although on p. 203 the subspecies ricussa Fruhstorfer is still listed as an erota subspecies, probably because the copy on that page was not changed), and, of course, almost the entire lycaenid section. A number of entities not included in the first edition, such as Charaxes mars madensis Staudinger (p. 247), Austroypthima petersi Holloway (p. 265), Paratisiphone lyrnessa (Hewitson) (p. 277) and Stilbon meeki Rothschild and Jordan (p. 301), are described in detail and photographed in their proper positions within the book.
Other names overlooked in 1971 are included, usually just as names with associated ranges. The discrimination of these subspecies (mostly) is presumably based on label data, rather than discernable morphological characteristics. The editors may have decided to cut the characters from the text, but the impression remains that simply because a name refers to a population on a different island, it must be retained as "real," and that it must be biologically significant.
A number of new names are proposed in the text, and this factor alone will make the book a must for both bibliophile and taxonomist alike. Personally, I feel that if new names are the only reason for buying a book, we are getting shortchanged. The book should be something we want, not something that we must have. These names could better have been proposed in a journal prior to their validation in a book—journals are usually far less than $87.50!
A new section was added ("On Photographing Butterflies"), a philosophical piece that gives little information and adds nothing to the book. These pages were better utilized in the 1971 edition, where they contained a glossary. The rewritten section on classification (p. 30) may or may not be clearer than it was in the first edition, but the misspelling of Libytheidae (as "Lybitheidae") is perpetuated.
Additional foodplant information is tipped into the manuscript throughout the book, and this in company with the rewritten lycaenid section are the most valuable revisions of the present volume.
I must confess to having mixed emotions not only about this book, but also about the projected further volumes dealing with other world fauna. If there are so many incomplete parts of D'Abrera's home fauna in this book, one must shudder to think what might happen when he tackles a strange area's butterflies, such as the Neotropics (projected in one volume). If the reader has no interest in Lycaenidae (yes, there are a few!) and has the 1971 edition, I would not suggest he also pick up this one. If he does not have a book on the Australian region's species the present book is the best available. If he has the first edition, is interested in taxonomy and wants to stay abreast of at least most of the nomenclature, then, like it or not, he must have this book and be prepared to complain loudly about the price. I regret to say that I fall into the latter category!
Lee D. Miller, Allyn Museum of Entomology, 3701 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, Florida 33580.