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Volume 52, Number 2
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and plates may actually represent; thankfully, Hardwick does indicate the source area for all larvae reared. In Hardwick's defense, some of the synonomies are valid. For instance, Schinia inclara has been synonomized with S. siren; specimens oVinclara" I examined are superficially indistinguishable from those of S. siren, and the genitalia of the two "species" are virtually identical.
The book, despite all of its shortcomings and uneven as it may be, contains a tremendous amount of useful information. It is the only available compendium of the North American heliothine fauna, and reasonably affordable. Interested workers will find it useful as a visual identification tool, and an excellent resource for adult behavior and larval rearing information for some species. But in many cases the reader is left to wonder what names are actually valid, and some groups are potentially more confusing now (such as the S. gracilenta/bifascia/oleagina/ernesta/baueri/sara/"grandimedia [sp. nov.]" group) than before the publication of the book. But as is the case with any revisionary work, there is always some debate over nomenclature. There is little doubt that anyone interested in the heliothines will want this book.
James K. Adams, 1702 Crow Valley Road #704, Dalton, Georgia 30720, USA
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 52(2), 1998, 225-226
SUOMEN KIITAJAT JA KEHRAAjAT, by Olli Marttila, Kimmo Saarinen, Tari Haahtela and Mika Pajari. 1996. Published by Kirjayhytma Oy, Helsinki, Finland. 384 pages, 153 color photographs, 3 black and white photographs, 29 color plates, 137 maps. Hardcover, dustjacket, glossy paper, 21.5 x 28.5 cm, ISBN 951-26-4145-3. Available from South Karelia Allergy and Environment Institute (Laakaritie 15, SF-55330, Tiuruniemi, Finland, e-mail: all.env@inst.inet.fi) for about US $77.00 (postpaid, airmail).
This team of Finnish authors has again given the lepidopterological community an outstanding book documenting their fauna. As a follow-up to their 1990 book, Suomen Paivaperhoset, on the butterflies of Finland (reviewed in 1997 by Warren in the News of the Lepidopterists' Society, 39:16-17), the title of this new book roughly translates to mean "Finnish Bombyces and Sphinges," a traditional concept that includes Sphingidae, Lasiocampidae, Saturniidae, Notodontidae, Ly-mantriidae, Arctiidae, Endromidae, and Lemoniidae. These are the families treated in this volume, and are now all classified in Bombycoidea and Noctuoidea by most taxonomists.
Although the very detailed text is in Finnish, there is an English summary under each species giving basic data on habitat, distribution (with a map of Finland), phenology, and hostplants. A total of 14 excellent illustrations of male and female genitalia are included in the text for similar species that are difficult to distinguish without genitalic examination. A detailed bibliography on the Scandinavian literature published on these moth groups is of particular value.
The common names of every species covered in the area are given in Finnish, Swedish and English. Swedish is the primary language of about 6% of the Finnish people, but is used regularly by a much larger percentage. While some of us can wade through many foreign language texts using our knowledge of related languages and relying on cognates, this expectation cannot be realized in the case of Finnish, which is neither a Slavic nor Germanic language. We would have liked to see an English version of the table of contents, so that we would not have to guess the topics of the chapters by illustrations alone. These chapters include rearing in captivity, collecting in the field, preparation of specimens for collections, morphology, ecology, and complete species treatments for all 109 species treated, as well as 26 additional species which have not yet been recorded from Finland, but are considered likely to be found in the future. Regarding collecting, imagine collecting moths during the northern summer when the sun never sets!
This book will appeal to book collectors, especially those like us who value books having many color photographs of living caterpillars and adult lepidopterans in their natural habitats. The abundance of stunning and clear photographs with well thought-out compositions (often showing habitat in backgrounds) more than compensates for a text which one may not be able to read. Most of
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the moths and many larvae are shown in a natural resting repose. Toward the back of the book is a set of 24 color plates showing all 109 Finnish and 26 hypothetical species pinned and spread. At least one male and one female are illustrated for every species, but many species are represented by up to eight individual specimens to show variation of the species. Additionally, five more color plates show inflated or freeze-dried larvae and pupae and cocoons.
Most of the species covered in this book range throughout much of Europe, and many taxa range across Siberia to the Far East, some even in Japan. Therefore, the coverage of this book should be of interest to lepidopterists in many regions. Lepidoptera conservationists should find the species treatments of endangered fauna such as Lemonia dumi (L.), of particular interest.
Andrew D. Warren, 310 Thorn Apple Way, Castle Rock, Colorado 80104, USA and Richard S. PEIGLER, Department of Biology, University of the Incarnate Word, 4301 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas 78209, USA
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 52(2), 1998, 226-227
Moths of Thailand, Volume 2, Sphingidae, by Hiroshi Inoue, Robert D. Kennett, and Ian J. Kitching. 1997. Published by Chok Chai Press, 45 Soi Isarapab 12, Klong San, Rangkok, 10600 Thailand, vi+149 pages, 44 color plates. Hard cover, 18.5 cm x 26.5 cm, dustjacket. ISRN: none. Available from Rrother Amnuay Pinratana, St. Gabriel's College, Rangkok 10300, Thailand. Price US $35.00.
Several series of works are in progress to cover moths of tropical Asia, including ones for Taiwan, Nepal, Sumatra, Rorneo, and China. This is the second volume of the series Moths of Thailand, of which volume 1 by A. Pinratana and Rudolf Lampe appeared in 1990 covering Saturni-idae. This new volume covering Sphingidae, with 176 species known from Thailand, is more than twice as thick as the one for Saturniidae, with only 29 known species from Thailand. In the volume for Saturniidae, those authors acknowledged that much more collecting needed to be done, especially in southern Thailand. The present volume addresses that issue by bringing together authors from diverse abilities to contribute—one from Japan, one a resident of Thailand who has collected there intensively for more than ten years, and the other at The Natural History Museum (London). Dr. Inoue spent several years dissecting genitalia of Thai sphingids in order to clarify their taxomony and nomenclature.
The book will serve perfectly to identify specimens collected in Thailand and several neighboring countries, with photographic plates showing all species, subspecies, and color forms. The brief text for each taxon gives the synonymy, key literature references, notes, habitats, flight times, host-plants (cited as genera and families, but not particular plant species), and general distributions. No larvae are figured. There are 50 black and white photographs showing male and female genitalia, conveniently arranged together for easier comparison.
I found only a few typographical errors, and for books cited in the bibliography, the city of the publisher is given, but generally not the publishers name itself. However, the bibliography appears to be complete and up-to-date, with numerous entries published in the 1990s.
The color plates show how diverse yet uniform the hawk moths can be. Some are obvious bee mimics, and there are large and spectacular species depicted as well, of which some were discovered and named relatively recently like Rhodambuhjx schnitzleri. The introduced North American Darapsa myron is also treated, with the note that its permanent establishment in Thailand remains uncertain (see I. J. Kitching & S. A. Rudge, 1993,/. Lepid. Soc. 47:240-242).
With extensive field work by all three authors and taxonomic input by Inoue and Kitching, the nomenclature and systematics in this book are probably highly reliable. As a taxonomist interested in tropical Asian moths, yet one who is not expert on Sphingidae, I question whether the subspecies concept has any validity for such mobile insects, when it is rapidly losing ground among formally trained taxonomists who work with Saturniidae and other lepidopteran families. The other taxonomic question that troubles me is that some of these sphingids appear very similar to ones we have in the New World, yet they are cited under different generic names. I assume that