The Apollo cult

"Butterflies of the Holarctic region" is an illustrated reference work in three volumes featuring the true butterflies of North America, Europe, North Africa and most of Asia. This is the first volume, covering the following families: Papilionidae (Swallowtails), Pieridae (Whites), Danaidae (Milkweed butterflies) and part of Satyridae (Browns). The same author has also compiled similar books on butterflies from other parts of the world. I think the entire series is 13 volumes!

Due to a limited print run and high production costs, these books are extremely expensive and hard to get by. While the butterflies are (of course) beautiful, the books as such are of interest primarily to butterfly-collectors, butterfly-lovers or perhaps vendors of rare books. Library reference sections might also want to have them.

It struck me when looking through the Holarctic volumes that they could be used to complement regular field guides. Otherwise, "Butterflies of the Holarctic region" contain relatively little information. The books consist mostly of color plates showing pinned specimens from the voluminous collections of the British Museum.

Bernard D'Abrera is obviously an author with a very independent mind-set. He is actually a Christian creationist, and has included some pretty strange anti-Darwinist musings in some of his books on Neotropical butterflies. He also complains about the general state of the British Museum collection, which suggests that he spent considerable time trying to track down more robust information on the specimens he was photographing.

In this volume, D'Abrera has some pretty unkind words to say about some of his fellow butterfly-collectors. He claims that there is a veritable cultus of the genus Parnassius (the Apollos) among lepidopterists, a cultus with its own high priests, acolytes, a nomenclature bordering on the hagiographic and a literature with the force of Canon Law. Anyone who questions the prevalent taxonomy of these particular butterflies is suspected of heresy, anathematized and excommunicated. Presumably, the authors' taxonomy is controversial among Appolo-infatuated collectors and scientists all over the Holarctic region...

Am I right in suspecting that Bernard D'Abrera might be a difficult person? A kind of Åke Ohlmarks of the butterfly world? Tolkien fans would know what I'm talking about. But then, it's quite possible that collectors of Lepidoptera really are a bit "out there". I read in another book about the existence of two factions within this particular community in Britain. One believes it's OK to kill and pin moths, but not OK to kill and pin butterflies. Another faction doesn't want to kill moths either. (Presumably, there is also a third faction who wants to kill'em all.) Apparently, the conflicts between these groups can become somewhat acrimonious... (Prozac might help.)

But that's another show. Meanwhile, I give this book five stars for the butterflies...and the effort.

PS. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a butterfly-collector. I had a small collection as a child, but it only included four or five specimens, all collected by my grandfather. The specimens eventually disappeared under truly myserious circumstances. I suspect they were eaten by moths! SO NOW YOU KNOW WHICH FACTION I SUPPORT. :-0