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Volume 43, Number 1
75
on oecophorids and cosmopterigids in which the pictures were slightly fuzzy. The line drawings are of fine quality, although several genitalia illustrations lack contrast between membranous and sclerotized parts, giving the impression that these structures are somewhat uniformly sclerotized. The 34 monochrome plates illustrating male and female genitalia are generally of excellent quality. Hodges is to be praised for doing such a fine job at the very difficult task of microphotography. However, the shortcomings of using photographs to illustrate genitalia are apparent in discrepancies in slide quality, mostly brought out by different staining intensities. Some genitalia are too dark, and their details obscured. In the aedeagus illustrations, one wonders whether visible differences in the photos represent taxonomic differences or artifacts of preparation. Differences are even more tenuous in female genitalia where one can only guess at the important characters. Loss of resolution has been minimized by using contact prints, which accounts for the large format of photographs and the fact that many are composites of two prints.
As in previous "micro" fascicles, the style resembles more that of a taxonomic revision than a general manual, but this seems to be an unavoidable aspect of treating groups where lack of previous revisionary work and large numbers of undescribed taxa preclude more popular-style treatment.
The author is to be commended for this fine treatment of little known, small moths. Like previous fascicles on microlepidoptera, this one should be on the shelf of any serious student of moths, but given its price, it is hardly a manual for the general lepidopterist.
J.-F. Landry, Agriculture Canada, Biosystematics Research Centre, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada.
Fascicle 15.2. Pyralidae (Part), Phycitinae (Part—Acrobasis and Allies), by H. H. Neunzig. 1986. 114 pp., 5 monochrome & 6 color pis. Softcover. $45.
This is the sixth fascicle on Pyralidae and the first to be written by H. H. Neunzig. In this fascicle, Neunzig does an exhaustive study of the large and complex genus Acrobasis, and allied genera Cryptoblabes, Trachycera, Anabasis, and Hypargyria. There has been much difficulty with the identification of species in this group, in particular those of Acrobasis. Using primarily C. Heinrich (1965, U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 207:1-581) as a basis, Neunzig incorporated his own studies on biology and immature stages. In his more comprehensive approach, he examined all available type specimens, studied in detail male antennae, shape of male forewings, color pattern of the undersurface of wings and thorax of males, ventral scale tufts of the eighth abdominal segment of males and females, and male and female genitalia.
Neunzig made significant taxonomic changes, including description of three new species, and placement of 16 new synonyms and 2 new combinations. The 38 species of Acrobasis are divided into 10 species-groups based on adult and immature morphology and biology. A convenient table is provided which gives host plant relations and geographic distributions of the species-groups. Future taxonomic work will be facilitated also by the designation of 18 lectotypes in this fascicle.
Accurate identification is aided by detailed species descriptions, excellent illustrations, and keys to genera, to adults and larvae of Acrobasis, and to adults of Trachycera. Many characters of larvae and adults are nicely shown with 61 line drawings. Included also are drawings of larval frass tubes and pupal chambers for 17 Acrobasis species. Four monochrome plates have very good scanning electron micrographs of male antennal characters. In addition, another monochrome plate shows the black scaling of the undersurface of the wings of six species. As with preceding fascicles of MONA, the fine color plates are a strong contribution to this work. Neunzig shows the variation within species by using 6 color plates and 258 specimens to show 44 species photographed at twice natural size. The specimens are in good to excellent condition (few have missing abdomens). A minor inconvenience is the carryover of the same species to subsequent plates, probably to economize on space and reduce costs.
I noticed one error in the text on page 11: "ZMHB" was used for the Museum Alexander
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Humboldt, Berlin, instead of "HUMB," the standard found in "Notes" on page vii. I did not find "ZMHB" in type specimen data or elsewhere in text.
This fascicle will be a valuable addition to the library of those who curate collections, and especially those who are interested in Pyralidae. Those concerned with economic species such as the cranberry fruitworm, leaf crumpler, pecan nut casebearer, pecan leaf casebearer, walnut shoot moth, and the birch tubemaker will find it especially useful to have the known biological information, keys for identification, and color photographs in one publication. Neunzig has made a significant contribution to the knowledge of Ac-robasis and its allies through a more comprehensive approach, and is to be congratulated on his work.
Everett D. Cashatt, Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois 62706.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 43(1), 1989, 76
A Taxonomic Revision of the New World Moth Genus Pero (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), by Robert W. Poole. 1987. U.S. Dept. Agric, Agric. Res. Serv., Tech. Bull. 1698. 257 pp., 1116 figs. No price given.
This work is but one of a small handful of major revisionary papers on the New World Geometridae—in fact, for any large family of New World moths. As such, it is an invaluable aid for determining the members of this genus, which have been in utter taxonomic chaos. That this genus has proven to be a problem over the years is indicated by the list of 10 generic synonyms given, with 6 being placed in synonymy in this paper.
Pero is one of the largest genera in Ennominae; it makes up, by far, the largest portion of the Azelini. Members are restricted to the New World, and occur almost everywhere except in the far northern and southern regions. Pero includes 294 species, of which Poole described 119 as new, and there are 74 junior synonyms for the genus. (One omission is the four subspecific names I proposed in my 1955 paper on this genus in western North America, even though my paper is cited in the text.) With this many species, it is not surprising that there are some that exhibit sexual dimorphism, polymorphism, extreme geographic variation, and a high degree of individual variation. This means that genitalic dissections are often necessary to place the correct name on a species; in fact, I prefer to base determinations on study of genitalia rather than pattern and color of an individual specimen.
This work is a condensation of Poole's doctoral thesis. Descriptions have been reduced to diagnoses, as the author uses them to supplement illustrations of the adults (photographs) and genitalia (drawings). One item I believe should have been included is length of forewings, as specimens range from about 10 to nearly 30 mm; there is no indication in text or photographs, as to specimen size. Each species has a listing of localities for the specimens examined.
For anyone interested in New World moths, especially the Geometridae, this paper is a necessary addition to his or her library.
Frederick H. Rindge, Department of Entomology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024.