d'Abrera Butterfly Concise World Atlas Available

[Ron Gatrelle]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dameron, Wanda" <be496 at lafn.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 2:48 PM
Subject: d'Abrera Butterfly Concise World Atlas Available


> In searching for seconds of parts 4 & 6 of the Neotropical series
> (anybody have for sale?) found that the above long-awaited book is
> available.  It will retail for $112 Jan 1, but currently Bio-Quip has it
> on special for $99.  310-324-0620; http://www.bioquip.com;
> bioquip at aol.com attn Cindy Mapp   My copy on order.   Further info from
> the d'Abrera Hill House Publishing site <http://welcome.to/hillhouse>
> below:
>
>
> THE CONCISE ATLAS of BUTTERFLIES of the WORLD
>
Snip - all parties have the full post already.

Needless to say, this portable volume is
> extensively referenced
> to the larger volumes, which are in turn referenced to the main
> collections in the B.M.(N.H.) (the Natural History Museum) It must be
> emphasised that this volume does not replace the larger volumes, but is
> a most necessary supplement to them.
>

I am writing as an addendum to the very last phrase here. It is not only
necessary to point out that the new volume does not replace the prior
d'Abrera works they also do not replace, substitute for, or come close to
the information contained in the world's other lepidopteran publications -
especially the scientific ones.

I am writing not to detract from the overall d'Abrera works. I am writing
to remind those who should know, and inform those who do not know, that the
various d'Abrera  works have many debatable taxonomic points. They are
_far_ from The Final Word in many areas of systematics and taxonomy. One
Example. On  1 January 2000 Dr. Kurt Johnson published the description of a
new species of Eumaeini (Ahlbergia hsui) from China in TTR (The Taxonomic
Report) Vol. 2 # 1. In this paper Dr. Johnson addressed the numerous errors
and omissions of d'Abeera 1993 relative to this group of Elfin butterflies.
In part Dr. Johnson stated that d'Abrera  "...gave only a cursory treatment
of the region's elfin butterflies, overlooking 21 species, and either
misspelling or wrongly attributing names to three others."  Dr. Johnson
goes on to correct those errors and lists the omissions and proper
taxonomic treatment.

The d'Abrerea are basically "popular" type books and not true scientific
literature. They are very fine for what they do - but the full (and at
times accurate) story is elsewhere. It will cost one a whole lot more than
the d'Abrerea series many times over to acquire the proper library to have
access to the full scoop on the world's Lepidoptra. There is no short cut
(or cheep way) to becoming a butterfly expert - either broadly or as a
specialist.

The British Natural History Museum is the best overal (best world wide)
collection on the planet. However, there are many areas - specially for
North American taxa where a visit to consult its drawers will reveal it
has - very little or nothing.  When it comes to specialists and specific
genera or species, various museums in the world are the "top" place to go
for those areas. The folks at the USNM, AMNH, CM, LACM, FSCA and various
others will be happy to proclaim those areas where they are the world's
best place to go to study  X.

The first page of Dr. Johnson's paper mentioned above can be consulted on
line at http://tils-ttr.org  via the Taxonomic Report "button" on the home
page.  The type specimen of hsui is also available there in the photos
section.  If you have not yet visited this web site you will be glad you
did. There are many type specimens figured there - including the recently
described Satyrium liparops floridensis and the soon to be posted there
Mitoura hesseli angulata.

Now I need to get to ordering my copy of the d'Abrera Concise Atlas.

Ron Gatrelle


 
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