I spent four months in New Caledonia in 1971 with the object of making a quantitative survey of the night-flying macrolepidoptera with light-traps and an assessment of the Rhopalocera and microlepidoptera. This fieldwork was financed by a Government Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Investigations adminis tered by the Royal Society, and by a grant from the Godman Fund. I devoted a further three weeks to sampling on Norfolk I. , and, with the help of local naturalists, Mr. and Mrs. F. JOWETT, was able to produce a detailed account of the biogeography and ecology of the moth fauna (HOLLOWAY, 1977). This book is an account of the results of the New Caledonian work, together with reviews of the geology, phytogeography and general zoogeography pre sented as background for the Lepidoptera fauna and its geography. Previous work on the macroheterocera, primarily papers by VIETTE (1948- 1971), had recorded not many more than a hundred species, a very low total considering the area of the island relative to that of the Fiji group where the moths were being studied by Dr. G. S. ROBINSON when the New Caledonian expedition was at the planning stage. The Fijian fauna then promised consider ably to exceed three hundred species. Evidently many more species awaited discovery in New Caledonia.
Certificate of Commendation Winner at the 2001 Whitley Awards - Best Zoological Reference Section This very detailed compendium of data on taxonomy and nomenclature of Australian butterflies is another in the Catalogue series produced by the Australian Biological Resources Study, a sub-program of Environment Australia. Expanding on the butterfly section of the earlier Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia by Nielsen, Edwards & Rangsi (1996) This Catalogue contains the fine details of naming and status of types of Australian butterflies, and information critical for fixing the scientific names of the species. This volume is the 'Who's Who' for the Australian butterfly fauna, the very basic information we all need, but find so difficult to access and evaluate for ourselves. It is introduced by a comprehensive historical and explanatory account of work on Australian butterflies. Details are given of all genus and species synonymies applicable to the Australian fauna. There are details of the type designations of all 507 available generic names, of type data for the 1,004 available species group names and of nomenclatural changes and changes in taxonomic status for most of the 136 valid genera, 400 species, and 371 subspecies. The butterflies have an enormous literature and this catalogue provides a guide to the significant literature of each taxon. An extensive list of larval food plants is also included, as well as succinct information on ecology and distribution and a comprehensive bibliography. Features
Brings together exciting accounts of life history strategies of a range of species, as well as background information on general butterfly behaviour, taxonomy and evolutionary aspects.