Ebert (Hrsg.): Nachtfalter VII, Geometridae, (final) part 2. Authors: Bartsch, Becher, Ebert, Hafner, Herrmann, Karbiener, Meier, Mörtter, Ratzel, Schanowski, Steiner, Thiele, and Trusch, 609 pp., Ulmer, 2003 (in German). Richly illustratated throughout in colour, 5 colour plates, reference list of vols 8 & 9.
[In Finnish: Ainutlaatuinen tietopaketti myös Suomen oloihin, täydentää hyvin mitä tahansa muita tietolähteitä. Upea kuvitus, lähes sveitsiläisten tasoa - tekstit jopa paremmat. Ei perinteinen määrityskirja. Osat kokoonsa nähden edullisia.]
The 9th volume concludes the treatment of the B-W state macrolepidopterous fauna. Volume 10 consisting of additional material, corrections and a combined register is said to be already under preparation. The second part of the Geometridae section includes the remaining part of Larentiinae (Perizoma, Eupithecia, Horisme, ...) and the large subfamily Ennominae (207 species occurring in Baden-Württemberg). The systematic order and nomenclature are based (with quite a few exceptions) on the Leraut 1997 France-Belgique-Corse-list. However, Chloroclystis-Gymnoscelis with Chesiadini, Asthenini and Trichopterygini (including among others Aplocera, Hydrelia and Lobophora) were moved to Band 8 for practical reasons.
The text starts with a checklist and conservation issues. The species chapters of the "Spezieller Teil" consist of: synonymy, ethymology, distribution (dot maps), phenology (imagines and early stages!), ecology (including the original hostplant records), habitat and behaviour of the adult moth and larvae. Colour photos of the early stages, habitats and resting Leps appear on nearly every page. A total of 198 pages are devoted to the 60 species of pure Eupithecia, alone. Identification info concentrates on difficult groups; Eupitheciini (including Horisme) and Gnophini are shown on five colour plates. Larvae of nearly every species are shown in colour. Gen. figs are shown only in Eupitheciini (male & female).
A great advantage is the book's exceptionally deep coverage of older records and literature comments. The authors don't blindly repeat the references, but rather evaluate their power as evidence. Rather many errors, again and again reported in literature, are based on nomenclatural misinterpretations or untraceable records. Larval foodplant data are often based on rearings, not necessarily on wild-caught caterpillars. Here the data is very well filtered to include only confirmed records. Additional data from other areas are mentioned, when necessary.
The whole series is an absolut favorite of mine and a few of my more experienced colleagues. One of the best texts ever written about Lepidoptera.
Kimmo Silvonen (thanks to ML)