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This monograph is the fifth to be published in a series planned on the
Bornean ‘macrolepidoptera’ superfamilies Cossoidea, Zygaenoidea, Bombycoidea
(including Sphingidae), Noctuoidea, Geometroidea, Calliduloidea and Castnioidea.
Parts will appear over the next few years as regularly as the vagaries of life
permit. The first part, Notodontidae, was published in early 1984, the second,
covering certain Noctuid subfamilies in 1985, the third with a key to families
and covering Cossoidea and some Zygaenoidea, in 1986, and the fourth, covering
the superfamily Bombycoidea, in 1987.
The author is in frequent communication with the Heterocera Sumatrana
team organised by Dr E.W. Diehl and the two series of publications complement
each other to provide, for the first time, fully illustrated reference works to
a large proportion of the very rich South East Asian and Sundanian
macrolepidoptera fauna.
The series is based on a large amount of recently collected material
that gives some indication of habitat preference for the species concerned. Data
on early stages and host- plants are being collated and reviewed.
Literature on the Oriental fauna is voluminous but often without
illustrations and with poor, superficial descriptions. Synonymy presented often
proves to be erroneous. Generic placements and higher classification are often
found to be similarly superficial on close examination. This problem is dealt
with more fully in the author's introduction to his Taxonomic Appendix to H.S.
Barlow's An Introduction to the Moths of South East Asia. This series on
the moths of Borneo is seen as an opportunity to establish a fresh, more stable
foundation for the study of the Indo-Australian tropical macrolepidoptera, an
opportunity facilitated by access to the wealth of historical material held in
the British Museum (Natural History) and other European Museums. The
centralisation of this material is a boon for the comparative studies necessary
to provide the stable foundation just referred to.
The reader must be prepared, however, for major changes to previously
accepted generic, or even subfamilial placements. This is illustrated in this
part by discussion of higher classification in the Arctiidae and of the status
of the Aganainae.
As the series is completed it may be revised and reissued in three or
four bound volumes as a complete reference work. A field guide incorporating the
colour plates is also being considered.
Hard
copy is available from:
Southene
Sdn Bhd
P.O Box 10139
50704 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Phone : +603 4022 2653
Fax : +603 4022 2267
Email : hsbar@pc.jaring.my
London,
1988. J.D.H.
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