Color chart for butterflies ?

[Michael Gochfeld]

In 1975 the American Museum of Natural History published NATURALIST'S 
COLOR GUIDE by Frank B. Smithe.  
The book was intended to update the 50+year old Ridgway (1912) color 
guide, to provide "official" nomenclature for the AOU Handbook on birds. 

The complete set was quite expensive on the secondary market (and I 
don't know if it is still available from the AMNH. (contact Publications 
Department at AMNH, 79th & Central Park West, New York, NY 10024). 

There are three parts to the COLOR GUIDE. 

The "business" volume if a 5.5 x 9" loose-leaf with 182 named colors on 
about 20 cards. This is a simplification (fewer colors) compared with 
1000+ published by Ridgway,  of course, pales besides the colors that 
can be produced on computer screens. 

Originally, Smithe published only 86 colors, but in 1981 (see below) he 
added 96 more in response to criticisms. 

However, Smithe argued that you didn't need more or more complex color 
names to adequately describe bird plumages. 

There is also NATRALIST'S COLOR GUIDE SUPPLEMENT which Smithe says 
provides the theory and explanation for thoroughly understanding the 
colors "swatches". 
	This is a 229 soft-cover volume, which compares the 1975 Smithe 
color names with those of Ridgway (1912). For example, on p68 entitled 
BUFF-COLOR 24, I find "Buff is not shown by Ridgway, although he uses 
the term in more than twenty-four compound color names such as 
ochraceous-buff, buffy brown...."

	We used to joke about the colors in bird plumage descriptions 
and whether you could distinguish ochraceous buff from buffy-ochraceous. 
 Smithe apparently didn't find this funny.

There is also a thin NATURALIST'S COLOR GUIDE PART III. which the museum 
published in 1981 (ISBN 0-913424-05-6).  This is the supplement for the 
96 additional colors which Smithe apparently reluctantly added.  He 
writes "but it is not my objective to present all the colors found in 
nature."  He also noted that even with the 1000 Ridgway colors, Ridgway 
"found that it was rarely possible to match a specific color to a 
specific plumage."

	As far as I know there were not further additions to the Smithe 
COLOR GUIDE. I haven't tried to use it with butterflies, but I can't 
imagine that it would be any easier or harder than with birds. 

	Hope this helps. 

M. Gochfeld