NA TURE 



[August 8, 1901 



A CATALOGUE OF PAL.-E ARCTIC 

 LEPIDOPTERA. 

 ■Catalog der Lepidopteren des Palaearctischen Fatinen- 

 gcbieles. I Theil : Fami!. Papilionidas — Hepialid;e. 

 Von Dr. O. Staudinger und Dr. H. Rebel. Pp. .Kxxii + 

 411; portrait; II Theil: Famil. Pyralidse — Micro- 

 pterygidcC. Von Dr. H. Rebel. Pp. 368. 8vo. 

 (Berlin : R. Friedlander und Sohn, Mai igoi.) Price 

 Mk. 15 (paper) ; Mk. 16 (cloth). 



THE publication of the third edition of Staudinger 

 and Wocke's Catalogue of Pala?arctic Lepidop- 

 tera is an event of considerable importance. In the 

 earlier part of the last century, the catalogues of Euro- 

 pean Lepidoptera most in use were those of Boisduval, 

 who published the first edition of his " Index Method- 

 icus," including Papilio, Sphinx, Bombyx and Noctua 

 (in the Linnean sense), in 1829 ; and the second edition, 

 to which the Geometridre were added, in 1840. The 

 latter edition included 1941 species, among which are 

 enumerated the few species then known from the 

 Caucasus and Siberia ; for Continental entomologists 

 have always treated the insects of the adjacent countries 

 as virtually forming part of the European fauna. In 

 1844 Duponchel published a more elaborate "Catalogue 

 M^thodique des Lepidoptires d'Europe" (pp. xxx + 523), 

 including the whole Order. 



Between 1843 and 1S51 the German entomologist, 

 Heydenreich, published three editions of his '" Systema- 

 tisches Verzeichniss der europaischen Schmetterlinge," 

 the last of which extends to 130 pages, double columns ; 

 and the first edition of the "Catalog der Lepidopteren 

 Europa's und der angrenzenden Lander, I. Macrolepi- 

 doptera, bearbeitet von Dr. O. Staudinger; II. Micro- 

 lepidoptera, bearbeitet von Dr. M. Wocke '' was issued 

 in a nearly similar form to Heydenreich's. It was pub- 

 lished in Dresden in September 1861, and includes pp. 

 xvi-l-192 (double columns). This catalogue includes 

 5250 species in all ; and the 1941 species of Macro- 

 lepidoptera enumerated by Boisduval in 1840 proved to 

 have increased, in little more than twenty years, to 25S3. 

 This catalogue was very complete and carefully compiled 

 (especially in its earlier portion, for Dr. Wocke's work is 

 far inferior to Dr. Staudinger's), and it at once took its 

 place as the standard catalogue of European Lepi- 

 doptera. This edition included no localities ; but those 

 species which did not occur within the geographical limits 

 of Europe were marked with an asterisk. The title 

 pages and preface were duplicated in French and 

 German. 



In another ten years (January 1871)3 second and greatly 

 improved edition was issued (pp. xxxviii + 426) — this time 

 in single pages, except that a side column is devoted to 

 full localities of each species and variety. The number 

 of species enumerated had now risen to 2S49 Macro- 

 lepidoptera and 3213 Microlepidoptera, or 6062 in all. 

 The catalogue includes the species of Europe, North 

 Africa, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Siberia as far as the 

 Amur, and Greenland and Labrador, but is yet very far 

 from including the whole of the Patearctic region ; for 

 Dr. Sclater's epoch-making paper on the geographical 

 distribution of the class Aves was only published in vol. ii. 

 of the yc«r«(r/ of the Linnean Society in 185S, and did 

 NO. 1658, VOL. 64] 



not attract the attention of entomologists till some years 

 afterwards. 



This second edition of 1S71 has long been out of print, 

 and for many years Dr. Staudinger had been making 

 preparations for a new editio n, to include the bulk of 

 the Pala;arctic fauna, a work rendered much more arduous 

 by the immense increase in entomological literature, as 

 well as by the large number of new species discovered 

 during the last thirty years. The work has, however, been 

 finally carried to a successful conclusion by Dr. Rebel, 

 Dr. Staudinger's old colleague, Dr. Wocke, having pre- 

 deceased him by some years. 



The present edition includes a portrait of the late 

 Dr. Staudinger, a German preface by Dr. Rebel, chiefly 

 relating to the preparation of the work, a tolerably 

 full bibliography and list of geographical names, and a 

 sketch of the system adopted, which, we may say, without 

 being absolutely revolutionary, exhibits profound modi- 

 fications from that used in the earlier editions of the 

 catalogue. Then follows the bulk of the work, com- 

 prising (allowing for supplementary additions) 4756 

 Macrolepidoptera and 4963 Microlepidoptera, or 9719 

 species in all. . 



The present catalogue now includes the Lepidoptera 

 of the greater part of the Palasarctic region and the 

 circumpolar region. Among the most important additions 

 to the districts included in the second edition are the 

 Nile Delta to Cairo ; Asia, to the northern frontiers of 

 Thibet, and the lower course of the Hoang Ho to the 

 Chingan Mountains ; North Manchuria and the whole 

 district of the Ussuri ; North Japan (not southern Japan, 

 in which case Corea and the greater part of China must 

 also have been included) ; Central Asia, Palestine, 

 Persia, &c. A few varieties of species noticed, which 

 occur beyond these limits, have also been included. 

 These are marked with an asterisk ; but we regret that 

 the strictly European species are not, as in previous 

 editions, indicated by the presence or absence of any 

 special mark. 



Dr. Rebel appears to have done his work very com- 

 pletely, English and other works published in 1900 being 

 quoted in the addenda. We notice references to pp. 

 552 and 581 of the Transactions of the Entomological 

 Society of London for that year. 



The two parts of the work are separately paged and 

 have separate title-pages, but are bound in one volume. 

 The indices are very bulky, occupying no less than 102 

 pages of the second volume ; the index of families and 

 genera fills sixteen pages, in double columns ; and the 

 index of species, varieties, aberrations and synonyms fills 

 no less than 86 pages of very small type in triple columns. 



We need hardly say that the work before us will be an 

 absolutely indispensable handbook to all Lepidopterists 

 who are working at any part of the Palicarctic fauna 

 for many years to come — probably till it is superseded 

 by a new edition. At the same time, we cannot e.xpect 

 any book to be absolutely complete or faultless. To have 

 made the bibliography complete would have been im- 

 practicable, and we notice that some books not included 

 in it are quoted in the catalogue. Again, we notice the 

 omission of various varietal names ; but some entomolo- 

 gists consider that the naming of varieties has been carried 

 much too far of late years, both in Lepidoptera and in 



