Holarctic butterflies

[Kenelm Philip]

	D'Abrera's books are usually based on the British Museum
collection. Based on what I saw a few years ago when I was looking at the
_Erebia_ at the BM, the collection is not particularly complete for the
NE part of Russia. I have not seen his palaearctic book, so don't know if
he used other sources--but there really is not much in the way of col-
lections for that part of the world.
	There is a hard-to-find book: The Butterflies of the Far East USSR,
by A. I. Kurentzov (1970). This was reprinted (expensively) by Antiquariaat
Junk a while ago--I don't know if it's still available.
	There _is_ a current catalogue of the butterflies of the former
USSR by Tuzov (The Synonymic List of Butterflies from the ex-USSR, 1993)
and an older one by Korshunov. The new Russian lep journal Actias
has some articles on the butterflies of various parts of Asia, including
the far NE.

	There is a forthcoming book on the butterflies of Russia--see
publisher's blurb appended below.

	The palaearctic volumes of Seitz, and the supplement, also contain
information on northern Asian butterflies, but these are not 'easily
available sources'.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at aurora.alaska.edu


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                TITLES ON LEPIDOPTERA FROM PENSOFT

We offer also several antiquarian books or  publications of other
publishers. Please let us know if you are interested to receive a
             hardcopy of our full catalogue.

Guide to the butterflies of   Russia and adjacent
territories (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera). Volume 1:
Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Satyridae
P. V. Bogdanov, A. L. Devyatkin, L. V. Kabak, V. A. Korolev,
V. S. Murzin, G. D. Samodurov, E. A. Tarasov, and V. K.
Tuzov
 ISBN 954-642-018-2
 Format 210x295, hardcover, appr. 400 pp., richly
 illustrated by ca. 100 colour photos and plates. ENGLISH TEXT.
 Pre-publication price: USD 130, or DEM 210 including
 postage & handling if ORDERED & PRE-PAID before the final
 date of publication, or USD 160 (DEM 255), if ORDERED
 before the final date of publication.
 Price after publication: USD 170, or DEM 270.
 Expected publication date: October 1997.
A  unique,  long-needed, full-colour edition  devoted  to  a
relatively  popular,  guide-like  assessment  of  four  most
beautiful  butterfly families in the scope of the  fauna  of
the entire former Soviet Union (FSU). A historical review is
provided of lepidopterological research and of some  of  its
key  figures  in  Russia,  dating back  to  the  early  18th
century.   Altogether,   over  400  butterfly   species   or
subspecies,  including four Central  Asian  species  new  to
science, are documented from the FSU, each supplied  with  a
brief  account  of  its taxonomy, status, ecology,  biology,
variability,  and  distribution.  Virtually  each  taxon  is
illustrated by 1:1 colour photographs of the male and female
both  from upperside and beneath, with several old  and  new
type  specimens  involved. In the cases  of  sibling/similar
forms,   their   genitalic  distinguishing  characters   are
depicted  as well. Based on butterfly distribution patterns,
a  general  zoogeographical division of the FSU is proposed.
In  addition, several dozen beautiful photographs display  a
number   of   habitats/landscapes   supporting   some   most
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