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204
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
Every book with broad scope is bound to have a weakness, and this one is no exception. Taxonomy is one area in which McFarland has little interest, and thus it receives little attention in this book. Every attempt has been made to use the correct names for the 72 moths portrayed. One new combination has been published, where larval information made the previous generic assignment obviously wrong. Despite the desire for correct names, and the existence of life history data for almost 20 years, there are three (possibly four) un-named new species among the 72 in this book. This is certainly ironic; never has an un-named species been described in such detail in a publication. But Noel McFarland is not interested in creating zoological nomenclature, and apparently no one else is either, so that is the way it stands. E. Strand, who named all of Sir George Hampson's un-named aberrations, would have seized this opportunity with relish.
In closing, McFarland states that the primary purpose of the book was to "communicate my pleasure in the thrill of discovery, while undertaking the documentation of these 72 life history investigations." This goal has been admirably achieved. For the future, I hope that a companion volume will some day document the many life histories he has detailed subsequently in over 20 years of observations in Ash Canyon, Cochise Co., Arizona.
Ron Leuschner, Research Associate, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90007.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 44(3), 1990, 204-205
Moths of Thailand, Vol. 1: Saturniidae, by Amnuay Pinratana and Rudolf E. J. Lampe. 1990. Brothers of St. Gabriel in Thailand, St. Gabriel's College, Bangkok 10300, Thailand, v + 47 pp., 44 color plates. Hard cover, 19 x 26.5 cm, no ISBN, $22.00 U.S. (postpaid).
After producing a six-volume set on butterflies of Thailand (1977-88) of over 1000 pages of text, Brother Pinratana has now embarked on a treatment of Thai moths beginning with saturniids. The junior author is already a well-known saturniid specialist in Germany, having established his reputation with about 20 brief papers on life-histories of various species plus a lengthy paper on Saturniidae of West Malaysia. Their joint effort in the present volume is a fine success.
The book is attractive and well made, having been produced with sturdy binding and glossy pages, with gold lettering on the spine and front cover. The latter may be seen only rarely as it is covered by a beautiful dust jacket depicting on the back cover a life-sized male of Actios rhodopneuma, arguably among the most beautiful lepidopterans in the world with its long tails and pink and yellow coloration, and on the front cover, perhaps appropriately, a female of Saturnia pinratanai Lampe, described in 1989. The color plates are excellent, depicting the large moths life size (consequently only one or two specimens appear on most plates). Color reproduction ranges from good to perfect, except for a couple of the blue-green Actias, which are too yellow, and the pair of Saturnia zuleika (Plate 40), which are definitely too brown and yellow. The first seven plates depict mature larvae, several of which have never been illustrated or described. Also illustrated for the first time is the bizarre-looking female of Salassa lemaii, a species very rare in collections.
The authors indicate that their book is based on material collected mainly in northern Thailand, and that further collecting in southern Thailand would certainly increase the number of species above the 29 currently known for the country. They also state at the onset that no taxonomic changes are proposed in this book, a wise decision in my judgment, considering that most genera of Indo-Australian Saturniidae still need revision. I agree with their identifications, notably that Samia canningii is indeed the correct name for
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what occurs in northern Thailand, a conclusion I reached a few years ago based on material in my own collection. The text, in English, is sparse, but gives specific localities, dates of collection, and descriptions of the adult moths. The subspecies concept is explicitly rejected in a short discussion on page 32. I found no misspellings nor typographical errors. The book is an essential addition to the bookshelf, especially considering the impressive and numerous color plates and low price. We have relatively few modern treatments of the saturniid fauna of Southeast Asia and this one fills a definite gap.
Richard S. Peigler, Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Natural History, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado 80205.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 44(3), 1990, 205
The Butterflies of Egypt, by Torben B. Larsen. 1990. Apollo Books and The American University in Cairo Press. Distributed by Apollo Books, Lundbyvej 36, DK-5700 Svend-borg, Denmark. 112 pp., 8 color plates, 6 halftone illustrations. Hard cover, 16.5 x 24 cm, ISBN 87-88757-14-5, Danish kroner 240 (plus postage) (about $32.00).
This volume is based on Dr. Larsen's painstaking searches of major museum collections for Egyptian butterfly records, which were augmented by six weeks' field work from late March to mid-May 1987. As he states (p. 7), "I did not wish to publish such a review without personal acquaintance with all the varied habitat types ..." (emphasis mine). He further admits that the book is less based on his personal research than were his previous excellent faunal reviews.
This volume has been produced beautifully by Apollo Books and the American University in Cairo Press. The color plates are outstanding and much superior to those of his previous works. The text is very readable and relatively free of typographic errors, although a few notable ones demand attention. A pioneer collector, A. Alfieri, is referred to as "Alfierii" on pages 30 and 31, though correctly elsewhere, and Esper is listed (p. 60) as having described Carcharodus alceae in "1870", 90 years after he did so.
In the introductory section, Larsen gives lucid descriptions of most major Egyptian biotic areas, and his discussion of past collecting activities is extensive. The species discussions are adequate, but obviously not based on much personal experience. The bio-geography section almost is equal to his others for the region. The first and last of these, and to a lesser extent, other sections, suffer from a common problem: a lack of cooperation by the host country. Larsen was not allowed to visit the Gebel Elba in southeasternmost Egypt, an area interesting for its Afro-tropical elements that remain almost unknown today, though the species that have been found are tantalizing. The book should have been much stronger had access to the Gebel Elba not been denied. A comprehensive bibliography for Egyptian butterflies completes the treatment.
I have the impression that publication of this volume, for whatever reason, was premature. Larsen's entire series on middle Eastern butterflies, which concludes with this volume, should not be judged on this book alone.
Anyone with an interest in Mediterranean butterflies should buy this book to complete an otherwise excellent series. Others may or may not wish to buy this work: it is really not a "coffee table" book, nor does it have the "meat" of his other faunal works.
Lee D. Miller, Allyn Museum of Entomology, Florida Museum of Natural History, 3621 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, Florida 34234.