Butterfly Fauna of Taiwan by Prof. Hsu Yu Feng Gain Recognition Worldwide
Cooperated with Forestry Bureau, Prof. Hsu Yu Feng of the Department of Science edited the Vol. IV Lycaenidae of the Butterfly Fauna of Taiwan in September, a bilingual book written by Taiwanese. 120 species of butterflies are listed in the book and most of them are not on books available in the market. According to the Forestry Bureau, this is the latest great book after they have published Papilionidae, Pieridae and Hesperiidae.
It’s first of a series of volumes on the butterfly fauna of Taiwan; the series is planned in five volumes, including an introduction to each species with Chinese names and synonyms, description, adult morphology, global distribution, distribution in Taiwan, larval host plants, biology and remarks. Each species is illustrated with color photos of set specimen (upper and underside), with dissected genitalia of both sexes.
Taiwan is the first country with more than 300 species of butterflies that publishes a comprehensive butterfly introduction. In the past, the study of butterflies in Taiwan was first started by Japanese scholars. With years of hard work, the study of butterflies in Taiwan has gain exposure on world stage. Prof. Hsu attended a meeting in Japan and Japanese scholars unanimously agreed that the Butterfly Fauna of Taiwan can replaced the Butterflies of Formosa in Colour published by Takashi Shirozu, a Japanese entomologist who specialized in Lepidoptera. His book was regarded as the classic textbook for researching butterflies in Taiwan. However, it was published in 1960 and many scientific names have changed.
The Forest Bureau stated that this collection of Butterfly Fauna of Taiwan is a bilingual book following The Avifauna of Taiwan., hoping the world will see the high quality of animal research in Taiwan and present the precious animals in Taiwan to the world. Many world-class museums from different parts of the world are sending inquiries through various channels. This also represents the recognition and affirmation of these two sets of books by scholars all over the world.