The Dynastinae of the World

About this book

From the introduction:

"The last work wholly devoted to the Dynastinae of the world was published by Hermann Burmeister over 130 years ago. [...] Over the years many authors have dealt with this subfamily, thereby greatly adding to our knowledge. [...] The endeavours of these and many other unnamed entomologists have led me to undertake the task of revising the known species of this subfamily between 1966 and 1978 in a series of twenty-two papers entitled Monographic der Dynastinae. Since these articles have appeared in different journals, making access rather difficult, I have decided to bring this work together in one volume, updating it with the 4 new genera and 96 species which have been described since 1978. One should bear in mind. however, that the entire Dynastinae fauna is still far from known, and that in the decades to come many new taxa may be found, perhaps reaching as many as 2000 in number.

The present volume is not a monograph but an identification book, designed to assist both specialists and amateurs by facilitating access through a number of keys to the name of the species to be identified. This is why the couplets of the keys are worded more extensively than those in other standard handbooks. The supplementary figures have been selected to complement the text, thus considerably diminishing the possibility of of incorrect identification. [...] The bibliography comprises all the citations of the valid and synonymic names as well as reference to all comprehensive works on the subject."
 

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