THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XXXIV.] SEPTEMBEE. 1901. [No. 460. 



THE NEW EDITION OF " STAUDINGER'S CATALOGUE."- 



Since the second edition of this valuable Catalogue of Lepidoptera 

 was published, now some thirty years ago, quite a number of clianges 

 in nomenclature, and some new arrangements of families and genera 

 have been proposed, and to some extent accepted by lepidopterists. 



In the most recent systems of classification the sequence of families 

 is regulated by their supposed relationship, and it follows that authors, 

 when investigating different sets of facts, may very justly arrive at 

 quite opposite phylogenetic conclusions, and, as a consequence, their 

 systems may be antagonistic. The structural characters of the perfect 

 moth or butterfly afford excellent material for the purjjose of the sys- 

 tematist, but it must be admitted that such material is not all- 

 sufficient, and often leaves the true position of certain units in a 

 scheme doubtful. Our knowledge of the earlier stages of Lepidoptera 

 is ever increasing, and the work effected by specialists in this field of 

 investigation is most valuable, as it serves to modify or disprove some 

 of the conclusions arrived at by those who depend on imaginal 

 characters alone. Very much more work on ova, larvae, and puptB of 

 Lepidoptera will, however, have to be done, before a classification 

 based on the earlier stages can rank as high as one drawn from a 

 study of the imagines. Classification, then, being in a state of tran- 

 sition, it is evident that no very considerable disturbance of the old 

 order of arrangement in our Catalogues is desirable or expedient. If 

 the most natural sequence of families, &c., at present possible is still 

 only of a tentative character — and it is presumed that absolute finality 

 is not claimed for any of the later systems — the middle course adopted 

 in the work under notice is in every way the best. No one having a 

 knowledge of the complex nature of the subject would suppose that a 

 faultless scheme could be evolved from the facts at present available. 



It may safely be said that lepidopterists generally will feel grateful 

 that the aim has been to place the third edition of the ' Catalog ' in 



* Catalog cler Lepidopteren des Palcearctischen Faunengehietes. Von 

 Dr. Phil. O. Staudinger und Dr. Phil. H. Rebel. Dritte Auflage des 

 Cataloges der Lepidopteren des Europaischen Faunengebietes. Berlin : 

 R. Friedlander & Sohp. May, 1901. 



ENTOM. — SEPTEMBER, 1901. U 



