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Volume 57, Number 1
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77
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Porter, A. H. 1997. The Pieris napi/bryoniae hybrid zone at Pont de Nant, Switzerland: broad overlap in the range of suitable host plants. Ecol. Ent. 22:189-196.
Porter, A. H. & H. Geiger. 1995. Limitations to the inference of gene flow at regional geographical scales—an example from the Pieris napi group (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in Europe. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 54:329-348.
Porter, A. H., R. Wenger, H. Geiger, A. Scholl & A. M. Shapiro. 1997. The Pontia dalpidice-edusa hybrid zone in northwestern Italy. Evol. 51:1561-1573.
Tolman, T. 2001. Butterflies of Europe. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ.
Troubridce, J. T. & D. M. Wood. 1990. Biology and taxonomic status ofBoloria natazhati (Gibson) (Nymphalidae). J. Lepid. Soc. 44:180-187.
Wahlberg, N. & M. Zimmermann. 2000. Pattern of phylogenetic relationships among members of the Tribe Melitaeini (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Cladistics 16:347-363.
Zimmermann, M., N. Wahlberg & H. Descimon. 2000. Phylogeny of Euphydnjas checkerspot butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 93:347-355.
George T. Austin, Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, 700 Twin Lakes Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89107, USA
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From a practical standpoint the 150 color plates would form the raison d'etre for acquiring this book. The plates are amalgamated from d'Abrera's previous volumes, and they crisply render the butterflies against a white background. They are very good. The plates will be useful for identifying specimens to genus in the selected geographical regions, and there should be little ambiguity matching the illustration, the name provided, to a specimen in hand or one in a photograph.
The captions provide taxonomic and distributional information taken from the previous volumes. In some cases the captions also offer taxonomic corrections to the previous volumes (e.g., Waigeum, Alanea lam-bourni, Phasis, Memphis elina, Olynthus), or suggestions for genera in need of revision (e.g., Spindasis, Euptychia), and in other cases, rather strong critical opinions (e.g., Libytheidae, Mallika, Karanasa, Ginzia, Asterope). Finally, in an effort to solve the problem of "Thecla" the captions also include descriptions of eight new Neotropical lycaenid genera. There are also many new taxonomic combinations.
Apart from a few minor spelling errors here and there, I noted that the captions for plate 146 are out of sync. To interpret them correctly the numerical quantity of one needs to be subtracted from all figures starting with Emesis fatima (labeled #4). The problem is that Emesis lucinda is given numbers 1-3, but should read 1-2 to correspond accurately to the plates. This minor error affects the correspondence of all subsequent numerical entries to the figures in plate 146. Presumably this could easily be corrected in subsequent printings.
Some aspects of the index make it difficult to use, especially for the novice. All users are required to know the generic names before the index will send one to the plates; no species names are included in the index. This problem is most evident with the Neotropical lycaenids since the new generic names appear for the first time in the Atlas. I think the utility of the book could be improved by having a more thorough index that includes species names. Once again, perhaps this is something for future printings.
The Concise Atlas provides a valuable summary of one man's lifetime of work with butterflies and his personal perspective on their place in nature. Whether selected for their beauty, endemism or ubiquity, the species illustrated in this book can be used to further our understanding of butterflies.
P. J. DeVries, Center for Biodiversity Studies, Milwaukee Public Museum, 800 West Wells Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233 USA
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
57(1), 2003, 77
THE CONCISE ATLAS OF BUTTERFLIES OF THE WORLD, by Bernard d'Abrera. 2001. Hill House Publishers, Melbourne and London. 353 pp. ISBN 0-947-352-37-6. Price: US $99.50 plus shipping.
Bernard d'Abrera has produced nearly 20 renowned books on butterflies. He is likely one of the best-known Lepidopterists in the world, and therefore, an eminence of all things butterfly. Like many butterfly biologists, most of d'Abrera's other works are in my reference library and I was naturally chuffed to see the publication of The Concise Atlas of Butterflies of the World. In North America the book is distributed exclusively by the entomological supply firm BioQuip (Gardena, California).
The layout, design and high photographic quality of The Concise Atlas of Butterflies of the World is in line with d'Abrera's previous works, with one difference. This book is comprised of two parts. Part one comprises 95 pages of largely philosophical essay; a three-part introduction interspersed with photographic images and many footnotes. Part two comprises 103 pages of captions (pp. 97-200) that support the subsequent 150 color plates depicting exemplar butterflies from the five geographical regions treated in d'Abrera's previous series on butterflies. There is also an index.
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