25S 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



"The Butterflies of the British Isles." By R. South, F.E.S. Sm. 

 8vo., 201 pp. " The Moths of the British Isles." Series 1. By R. 

 South, F.E.S. Sm. 8vo., 843 pp. (Warne, London, 1906 and 1907.) 

 66-. and 7s. 6d. net respectively. 



Though many works have been published on our butterflies and 

 moths, hitherto those most useful to the ordinary collector (being 

 illustrated) have been too expensive for his purse. The present series by 

 Mr. B. South, the well-known lepidopterist, supplies a long-felt want. 

 The volumes he has written are of very handy size and can easily be 

 carried in the pocket ; they are well printed and profusely illustrated, most 

 of the figures being exceedingly well coloured, and the price is most 

 moderate ; in fact it is difficult to understand how they can be sold at 

 their price. Only two volumes are at present published ; one on the 

 butterflies and the other on the moths, beginning with the Sphingidae 

 and ending with the Noctuidae. Other volumes are to follow. The 

 classification of the moths is somewhat different from what entomologists 

 have hitherto been accustomed to. Recent investigations have caused 

 a considerable alteration in the position of certain moths. Our old 

 friend the goat-moth is now placed near the Tortricidae instead of 

 following close after the clear-winged moths, and is no longer known as 

 Cossus ligniperda, but is called Trypanus cossus ; the clear wings are 

 now placed near the Tineidae ; various other changes have also been 

 made. 



The volume on butterflies opens, after the preface and introduction, 

 with Part 1, which gives the life-cycle of a butterfly, describing the egg, 

 caterpillar, chrysalis, and perfect insect or butterfly, their external 

 anatomy, Sec. ; then follow several pages on collecting which contain much 

 useful information on nets, the various methods of setting, boxes, 

 cabinets, &c. Part 2 contains the description of the various kinds of 

 butterflies, their caterpillars with their food plants, and the chrysalides. 

 The plainest and tersest language is used ; there are no poetical quotations 

 or other padding, which are quite out of place in a book of this description, 

 but which authors, to show off their erudition, are too fond of indulging 

 in. The plates are most excellent and in most cases give more than one 

 figure of each species. The English name of the insect is always given 

 before the scientific one in the heading of the description of the insect, 

 which is a pity, as popular names should not be encouraged, though 

 perhaps necessary evils. One great disadvantage of them is that they 

 do not show the affinity of one species to another in any way ; for 

 instance, "the small square spot," "the six-striped rustic," and "the 

 cousin-german " are described in the sequence here given ; but the 

 English names do not show that they have any relationship to one 

 another, whereas the scientific names Noctua rubi, N. umbrosa, and 

 N. 80brina at once denote their relationship and that they belong to the 

 same genus. The "hedge rustic," which one might imagine was some 

 connection of the other rustic, belongs to quite a different genus (Tholera). 

 In the introduction to the volume on moths the peculiarities of their 

 structure as differing from that of butterflies is pointed out, a figure is 

 given showing various types of antennae, and there is also a figure show- 

 ing the veins and giving the names of various markings on the wings. 



