The Witt Catalogue, Volume 11: A Taxonomic Atlas of the Eurasian and North African Noctuoidea Noctuinae III: Poliina

About this book

The eleventh volume in this series on nocturnal moths, Noctuinae III: Poliina, contains 102 text pages with the latest taxonomic information, full synonymy and effective diagnoses of all known Palaearctic and Oriental taxa, with the descriptions of 10 new species and 4 new subspecies, and numerous taxonomic and nomenclatural changes. The volume is illustrated with 30 colour plates of high quality magnified photos displaying all taxa included and 25 colour plates showing the variation of each taxon in natural size. The genitalia of all species and subspecies are shown in 114 black and white plates.

The 11th volume treats the first large clade of the hadenine branch of the Noctuidae s. str., the subtribe Poliina. The first chapter introduces the phylogeny and supraspecific taxonomy of the hadenines, this part is followed by the general distribution of the widespread Holarctic subtribe.  The taxonomic part of the book includes altogether five, taxonomically rather difficult genera, all but one are rather diverse and consists closely related and often hardly identifiable species complexes. Four of the five genera of the subtribe (Tricheurois, Haderonia, Ctenoceratoda, and Pachetra) are considered as taxonomically homogeneous, their main lineages are treated in the book as species-groups, while the best-known member of the tribe, Polia, is split into four distinct subgenera, Metallopolia, Atropolia, Leuconephropolia, Protopolia and Polia (s. str.).

This volume will be very useful for both taxonomists, libraries of scientific institutes and professional amateur collectors, as well as for those naturalists who are interested in the true biodiversity of both the Eurasian Fauna and the nocturnal Lepidoptera.

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