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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
verified and it is unfortunate that specimens of the Erynnis persius complex were not dissected.
The nomenclature, as stated in the introduction, is largely that of dos Passos (1964 op ctt.) and was updated, apparently by Holland, to include many (but not all) subsequent revisions. New subspecific names proposed for Euphydryas anicia by C. D. Ferris and R. Holland (1980, Bull. Allyn Mus., No. 57), Speyeria atlantis by R. Holland (1988, Bull Allyn Mus., No. 115), and Colics alexandra by C. D. Ferris (1988, Bull. Allyn Mus., No. 116) are included, yet the revisions of Neominois ridingsii by G. T. Austin (1986, Bull Allyn Mus., No. 107) and Thessalia fulvia by M. J. Smith and J. P. Brock (1988,' Bull. Allyn Mus., No. 118) were not consulted. In certain instances, subspecies of some taxa are not recognized. Eurema mexicana is treated as monotypic, yet the southern Central American E. m. bogotana is certainly distinct. The Phoebis sennae is probably P. s. marcellina. No subspecies are mentioned for Calephelis nemesis or Vanessa atalanta. New Mexican Pontia beckerii must be of the nominotypical subspecies; P. s. pseudoch-loridice is a Pacific Northwest taxon. Cyllopsis henshawii is a subspecies of C. pyracmon and the name "nabokovi" refers to the fall brood phenotype (see Scott 1986 op. cit.).
Typographical errors are relatively few although I did not specifically search the book for these. At least one literature citation, C. F. dos Passos and L. P. Grey (1947, Amer. Mus. Novit, No. 1370), was omitted.
All these criticisms are minor. As Holland states in the Preface, "for sheer volume of information it will almost surely never be surpassed." The deficiencies of this work do not in any way detract from its importance and usefulness in the continuing study of the butterflies of New Mexico and southwestern United States.
George T. Austin, Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, 700 Twin Lakes Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89107.
Journal of the Lepidopterists Society 46(3), 1992, 242-243
Simon & Schuster's Guide to Butterflies and Moths, by Mauro Daccordi, Paolo Triberti, and Adriano Zanetti (originally published in Italian under the title Farfarelle, translated into English by Arnoldo Mondadori). 1988. Simon and Schuster/Fireside Books. Printed in Italy, published by Simon & Schuster, Inc., Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 USA. ii + 383 pp., 29 text figures, 1 table, 289 color plates. Soft cover, 11.5 x 19 cm, ISBN-0-671-66066-7; $11.95 U.S.
What a refreshing little book. Oh come on, you say, a field guide to the butterflies and moths of the world? You can't be serious. Obviously, with a genre limit of several hundred pages, a comprehensive field guide on any particular subset of the world Lepidoptera is out of the question. The point of such a field guide should be to stimulate and enrich the large mass of humanity that has minimal lepidopterological experience. This is no small task, but one at which Daccordi et al.'s volume excels.
Consider the first paragraph of the Introduction. That's as far as one might realistically expect many uninitiated readers to advance before abandoning text forever in favor of color plates. If a book hasn't awakened the audience's interest after those first few sentences, it's finished. The authors know this well. In just one paragraph they move from the aesthetics of butterflies and moths, to their more striking biological attributes, to their ties with the plant kingdom, to agriculture and human culture—while all the time developing a low-keyed yet alluring appeal for conservation and ecological awareness. It is a deft example of how to mix the author's agenda with that of the reader.
In fact, this is one of the clearest, most refreshingly honest and articulately craned general natural science books I've reviewed. To see what I mean, focus on the first sentences that follow each section heading in the first 69 pages of introductory/background material. Evolution: "We have gained little knowledge concerning the evolution of the Lepidoptera.
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This is hardly surprising if we consider the delicacy and fragility of the body of these insects, the only (and very rare) parts left as recognizable fossil remains [p. 11]." Habits: "If we examine the flight of a butterfly or moth and the crawling movements of a caterpillar, we might be tempted to think that most of the activities of these insects are ruled by chance [p. 31]." Predators and parasites: "In the life cycle of a butterfly or moth, no stage of development is immune to the attacks of parasites and predators. Among the former, above all, are viruses and bacteria, as yet little known, which are the principal causes of death in caterpillars [p. 51]." The reader gets sucked into these stories, as if this were a paperback whodunit.
I'm biased, of course, but can gleefully report here an overarching focus on moths rather than butterflies throughout the 323 color figures. For example, among the larval shots are 10 butterflies and 24 moths, and 7 of the latter are casebearers, leafrollers, and other perhaps less glamorous microlepidopterans. Perhaps . . . but you can't appreciate the role of a casebearer in the grand scheme of things if you don't know what one is. The offbeat lepidopterans are prominently displayed, too. There is a wonderful picture of an apterous adult female geometrid (Plate 101), the fuzzy and cuddly teddy bear of the book; a contorted adult lappet moth (Plate 70) to convince even the most skeptical that crypsis happens; and an incurvariid (Plate 37) with antennae quintuple the body length to underscore that wings aren't necessarily always where it's at. All in all there are 323 species accounts, of which 34 illustrate the larval stage and 289 the adult stage. Most photographs are of live organisms and the color reproduction is excellent.
The species accounts are organized by major geographic region of the world, and therein in alphabetical order by genus. The blurbs accompanying the photos are reasonably well organized, quite informative, and adorned with colored icons indicating the type of lepidopteran (diurnal, nocturnal, micro), the general habitat, and localization within the geographic region in question. There are a few mistakes in identification (the Catocala that isn't on Plate 153; the spicebush swallowtail that ate pipevine on Plate 189), but by and large I don't think such mistakes mean anything in this sort of volume. The identification error rates are higher for regions other than the Palearctic, from whence the authors hail, which isn't surprising.
For such an otherwise well produced book, there are still a few perplexing inconsistencies. Thus, for some reason Grammia virgo (Plate 144) warrants an additional subtitle— "(formerly Apantesis virgo L.)"—the taxonomic significance of which is never explained. And Raja Brooke's Birdwing {Trogonoptera brookiana, Plate 288) and the Dogface (Ze-rerte caesonia, Plate 208) don't seem to warrant subtending common names. But the largest problem by far is the sprinkling of photos of dead adult Lepidoptera alongside those of the living: for example, a scintillating translucent Cithaeris savoring a plant stem in the dark forest, next to a rigid Danaus flopped onto some twigs (Plates 219-220); or a streamlined Xylophanes sphingid, forced to cohabit with the aforementioned and quite dormant Dogface (Plates 207-208). The effect is just awful, and the liability to the book's educational appeal is anything but trivial. It is an entirely unnecessary and avoidable scar on an otherwise fine volume.
Lawrence F. Gall, Division of Entomology, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 46(3), 1992, 243-244
Larvae of Owlet Moths (Noctuidae): Biology, Morphology, and Classification, by O. I. Merzheevskaya (original release 1967) (translated from Russian by P. M. Rao; Scientific Editor, George L. Godfrey). 1989. Distributed by E. J. Brill Publishing Company, P.O. Box 9000, NL-2300 PA Leiden, The Netherlands; U.S.A. & Canada, E. J. Brill (U.S.A.) Inc., 24 Hudson Street, Kinderhook, New York 12106. xx + 419 pp., 97 text figs., 6 tables. Hard cover, 15 x 24 cm, ISBN 90 04 08804 0; $57.50 U.S.