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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 38(1), 1984, 68
BOOK REVIEW
Catalogo Sistematico de los Lepidopteros Iberica. (I) Macrolepidoptera, by M. R. Gomez-Bustillo and M. Arroyo-Varela. 1981. Inst. Nac. Invest. Agrarias, Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Madrid. 499 pp., 6 col. pis. (1200 Pta. [=$9.40]).
Recent catalogs and checklists, including those of Bradley et al. (1972) for England, Karsholt and Nielsen (1976) for Denmark, and Leraut (1980) for France and Belgium, have almost covered the entire Lepidoptera fauna of the most western parts of Europe with up-to-date checklists. The new catalog by Gomez-Bustillo and Arroyo-Varela closes the gap by covering the fauna of Spain and Portugal. Their work is the first of two volumes; the second volume is to cover the Microlepidoptera. The catalog initially strikes one as very different from most catalogs, since the cover has a large color photograph of the pierid Aporia crataegi (L.), not what one usually finds on catalog covers. Additionally, there are six color plates near the back of the book with photographs from nature of a representative species of each family in the book. The text is also untraditional inasmuch as bibliographic references are included for each family in terms of literature on the species of the Iberian Peninsula. There is an initial brief summary of the classification adopted for the catalog, generally following recent classifications like that of Common (1970, Insects of Australia), followed by a short introduction on the origins and evolution of Iberian Lepidoptera. The main text treats 39 families of so-called Macrolepidoptera, grouping many primitive families together with the normal macros. This arrangement produces an artificial and utilitarian arrangement for the catalog designed to conform to the older concepts, whereby large-sized moths were placed in "Bombyces". This is not altogether detrimental, since a phylogenetic chart of families is included, but it does maintain the myth that these "Bombyces" are somehow related more than they really are, and it also detracts from a strictly systematic treatment of families from primitive to more advanced. Nonetheless, the catalog is a welcome addition to the works listing the European fauna.
The authors follow a family usage that splits families too much, in my view, but does follow the practice of many European specialists. Thus, such groups as Syssphingidae, Riodinidae, Danaidae, Thaumetopoeidae, Dilobidae, and Ctenuchidae, which many consider only of subfamily status, are here raised to family level. I did not make any detailed checks of nomenclature. In Sesiidae, however, not all synonymies are included for each species, only a few of the major ones. Each family name is provided with authorship and dates, as well as for other higher categories. The specific and generic checklist then follows, with a discussion section and reference list for each family. The species are all listed with their dates of authorship, with parentheses added when the names of species have been recombined. The names of subspecies and forms, however, are not provided with dates. Each species is also given a notation as to its place in a European faunal district; thus, statements are made such as "endemic to Iberia" or "supramediterranean."
The catalog is in Spanish, but since the main text involves a checklist of taxa of the Iberian Peninsula, it is easily used by anyone. It is a welcome addition to the growing rank of faunal catalogs and checklists. One can only hope that now, in lieu of a new checklist of the entire Palearctic region, others will follow the lead of the authors and provide additional regional catalogs (e.g., the Balkans, Russia, the Far East), so that in this way we may in time have new lists of all the areas within the Palearctic region.
J. B. Heppner, Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560.
Date of Issue (Vol. 38, No. 1): 27 July 1984