Southern African Moths & their Caterpillars
Hermann's book is out, and it is a must have!
Authoritative and informative, Southern African Moths & their Caterpillars provides a comprehensive overview of the moth fauna of the region.
Featuring more than 1,500 of the 11,000 species occurring in southern Africa.
The guide features the most abundant species, and those of economical or ecological importance, conspicuous or unusual.
The guide offers:
- Authoritative text richly supported with photographs of both adult moth and larva.
- Clear ID pointers plus information on biology, habitat and distribution.
- An informative introduction covering evolution, life cycle, diversity and ecological importance of moths.
446 pages. About R550.
The publishers say:
As the only substantive and up-to-date guide to the rich moth fauna of the wider southern African region, this volume fills a gap in the natural history books of Africa. Furthermore, it includes data from citizen science project The Caterpillar Rearing Group to depict caterpillar stage and respective host plant/s for a sizeable proportion of the southern African moth fauna. Based on more than 270,000 location records, preferred habitats and point-based distribution maps are provided for the first time. A crucial addition to our understanding of the wildlife of the African continent.
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Comments
Common species (with over 75 observations on iNat) not in Hermann's book:
464 Eurytela dryope ( Nymphalidae )
163 Nodaria nodosalis ( Erebidae )
119 Duponchelia lanceolalis ( Crambidae )
117 Maliattha subblandula ( Noctuidae )
89 Mixocera frustratoria ( Geometridae )
89 Celypha sistrata ( Tortricidae )
85 Vietteania intestata ( Noctuidae )
82 Pioneabathra olesialis ( Crambidae )
79 Antigastra morysalis ( Crambidae )
77 Mocis mayeri ( Erebidae )
refer to it shorthand as: sAMoths2023
Some first impressions:
*. The illustrations and descriptions are amazing: very well done all! I am in love again ...
*. I think I would prefer the imagos and caterpillars in separate guides.
*. I would have preferred it if Pinhey's common names had not been disregarded. But the Common Names are kool.
*. I would prefer it if the Families had a full half page or even a full page for a more in depth summary of their features, ecology and behaviour. And some unusual or typical species & perhaps a bit more on telling the genera apart. (and here the caterpillars should be fully dealt with even if the guide is adults only.)
464 Eurytela dryope ( Nymphalidae ) Not a moth
I thought butterflies were diurnal moths?
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