PREFACE. VII 



would then have been subject to another principle of the mode of compilation. And besides every revolution 

 must be substantiated, and thereby the extensive program of the work would have been rendered disharmonious, 

 unhandy, and its contents would not have been enduring, but at any rate rather antipathetic to most of 

 those using it, 95 percent of whom are no learned specialists. The editor therefore tried to prevent the authors 

 from specialistic digressions however valuable they might be in monographies. 



In the 5th volume, like in the volumes of the preceding part, a cursory inspection already shows that 

 the text is chiefly thought to be a complement to the plates. Beside biological remarks it mostly contains hints 

 to more subtile marks of distinction from closely allied species. Wherever the species were easily recognizable 

 from the figures without any danger of errors, as in especially variegated and conspicuously marked genera 

 {Perisama, Catagramma, Anaea, etc.), the text could be confined to but few words on synonymy and patria; 

 on the contrary, certain complicatedly marketl Lycaenids or Hesperids often necessitated a somewhat minute 

 description. At any rate the latter has been possible without exceeding very much the number of 1000 pages and 

 200 plates being the maxinnim number for the handincss of a volume. 



In the text on the whole 15 000 names were explained and illustrated by about 9000 figures on the 

 plates. No sensible man will demand or only expect all the figures to be faultless or even works of art. If, 

 however, the later plates of this volume should exhibit more defects than the fir.st, this is due to the immense 

 difficulties due to the war and revolution. 



But we beg the readers to make allowance also for that part of the volume that appeared before the 

 war, just as the reviewers had done for the first part. Fii'st and foremost the work is to serve as an orientation, 

 for the cpiick recognition and estimation of materials, returns from explorations, collections, centuria, single 

 specimens captin-ed etc. For this purpose the figures must be well recognizable and life-like, but they need 

 not be highly artistic. In those cases where copies were only to be obtained from old, technically incomplete 

 works, we have therefore not expressly refused the responsibility for the correctness of our figure. Those who 

 know the old works — and for monographies on single groups only such works will be taken into account — 

 will at first sight find out which figures were made according to Hewitson, Cramer, or Hubner, so that it 

 appeared to be superfluous to supply long lists about the origin of each original or copy. 



We only remark in general that nearly all the figures of the Papilio and Erycinidae were made accor- 

 ding to specimens of the Tring Mustnim, the Pieridae and many N ymphalidae according to those from .1. Rober's 

 collection at Dresden, the Morphidne, BrassoUdae, Prepona, Ageronia all from the Coll. Fruh.storfer, the 

 Lycaenids according to those of the collections of Fassl, Staudinger-Bang-Haas, and of the editor. The 

 Mexican forms are mostly copies by Dr. Draudt, ■^^hilst many 8atyrids originate from the collections of Statj- 

 DiNGER and Weymer, now in Berlin. 



Of particular importance I consider to be the statement that a great many Hesperid figures were taken 

 from the work by Carl Plotz. Though this work, a great part of which is at present in the editor's posses.sioii 

 (until its sale), has never been published in the volumes containing the plates (of which there exist about 20), 

 yet, without the inspection of these plates, the numerous publications edited by Plotz cannot possibly 

 be correctly determined. We therefore had some hundreds of the species — mo.stly Hesperids — appearing 

 tons to be doubtful copied from the 5th, 9th, and 13 th yolumes, and by the comparison of these original 

 figures it has been possible to remove many an error and doubt from science. Although Plotz' work was never 

 for sale in the book-trade, yet at least part of it has been available to nearlj^ all the active lepidopterologists ; 

 Hewitson, CtOdma\, Mabille etc. have frecpiently referred to this work. Many figures, particularly those 

 of the Hesperids on more than 1500 plates (the 6 volumes of part XX), have been copied and published by 

 SwiNHOE, Mabille etc. Thus we have also cited Plotz' work as an indispensable text-book and not ne\\ly 

 denominated those species that are at once recognizable from the unicpie figures, but taken them over as 

 sufficiently marked and distributed by copies. 



As to the t e x t - V o I u m e we must remark that the editor is only responsible for the German edition. 

 He had no influence upon the two other editions. The French edition, as far as it has been published after 

 1914, is at any rate entirely unknown to me; I have never seen a single copy. A real completeness could of course 

 only be aspired until the time when the destructive effect of the World's War had not yet interrupted the scien- 

 tific connexion amongst the nations. The further completion must be reserved to the supplementary numbers 

 and to the time when the torn threads of scientific intercourse amongst the nations \\ill be reknittetl. 



Unfortunately we could neitlier in this volume avoid annoying differences between the denominations 

 in the text and on the plates. Technical reasons prevent us from starting simultaneously the description and 

 illustration often based on the same specimen, and thus it was sometimes only after the accomplishment of 



