This is a 1,000-page reference work entitled “Keys to
the Insects of the European Part of the USSR”, Volume IV, Lepidoptera, Part 1.
It's said to be the 117th volume of an even larger work, “Keys to the Fauna of
the USSR”. The English-language translation was commissioned by E J Brill
Publishing in Holland, but printed in India. We are gravely warned that “its
export from India is unauthorized”, presumably without explicit permit from E J
Brill.
Could be good to know, if you ever find two or three copies of this mammoth work in a used book store somewhere in Goa and wish to avoid problems with the customs at the airport...
This volume is said to cover moths belonging to the groups Microjugata, Macrojugata and 17 minor families of Frenata. I suppose these are discarded taxa, since I can't find them on Wiki or even the web at large! Most illustrations are black-and-white drawings of diagnostic characters such as wings or male genitalia. This may not be such a big deal in the chapters on mandibulate moths, pygmy moths and monochromatic miner moths, but strikes me as a somewhat boring approach when applied to clearwing moths or forester moths…
Clearly, editor-in-chief G S Medvedev has compiled an excellent work for real scientists only. In particular those interested in, well, Euro-Russian moths.
Thank you.
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