I would like to know if there are taxonomic keys, besides the ones in Lemaire's books, for any group within Saturniidae family. UPDATE: Thank you all for your answers, Lemaire's books are indeed the most accurate.
If the reason behind your question concerns identification then perhaps the revisions of the New World Saturniidae by the late Claude Lemaire are what is needed. See https://www.bioquip.com/search/DispProduct.asp?pid=9529
Thank you very much, professor Tawfiq M. Al Antary
. I have already checked the book and there are no taxonomic keys for groups within Saturniidae. Though it has good descriptions and notes on the family!
There are relatively few species and they are mostly all colorful. Most people identify specimens using pictures or an existing collection. The following may help, but I have no idea if keys are present. Possibly the first webpage can help identify an expert who will be able to provide assistance, or contact a book author.
http://www.saturniidae-web.de/
Books
https://www.amazon.com/Saturniidae-World-Pfauenspinner-Stages-Adults/dp/3899370848
https://www.nhbs.com/saturniidae-mundi-volume-1-book
DNA
http://www.lepbarcoding.org/saturnidae/species_checklists.php
Host Plant
https://breedingbutterflies.com/saturniidae-host-plant-bible/
https://www.lepsoc.org/content/memoir-no-4-foodplants-world-saturniidae
Thank you so much, Drs. Timothy A Ebert and Tawfiq M. Al Antary
. I was hoping to find any taxonomic key for using as reference, but definitely, it seems no one has ever proposed one! Thanks for the links, very useful as well!
Andrea, a key must exist somewhere. It is the only way to describe a new species. It may be in parts: this genus in one article, that genus in another. It may be keys specific to one part of the world and where you fit into that geography may require multiple keys. You can hope that an expert in Saturniid taxonomy will read your question, or you can try to find specific people and try to contact them.
You could take a more modern species and search the literature until you find the scientific paper wherein that species was described. Then look to see who that paper cites and who cites that paper. Eventually, you will find your answer. Also look for revisions.
Something like this paper will not have a key, but it might cite a paper with a key.
Two nuclear genes yield concordant relationships within Attacini (Lepidoptera : Saturniidae) By: Friedlander, TP; Horst, KR; Regier, JC; et al. MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Pages: 131-140 Published: FEB 1998.
This paper will almost certainly have a key. It may not be the key that you are looking for. However, it might cite other articles that would also have keys. Any paper with a description of new species should have a key of some sort.
Description of three new species of Periga Walker from the Intervales State Park, Ribeirao Grande, Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil and the resurrection of Automeris intermedius (Bouvier) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae, Hemileucinae, Hemileucini) By: Mielke, Carlos G. C.; Joerke, Elyana G.; Miranda, Aline V.; et al. ZOOTAXA Volume: 4294 Issue: 4 Pages: 471-479 Published: JUL 20 2017
If the reason behind your question concerns identification then perhaps the revisions of the New World Saturniidae by the late Claude Lemaire are what is needed. See https://www.bioquip.com/search/DispProduct.asp?pid=9529
Martin Honey thank you!! I have found them in those books indeed.
Of course that there are keys to Saturnidae, check this books, the best treatment of the world Saturnidae family and genera:
DÁBRERA, B. 2011. SATURNIDAE MUNDI. SATURNIID MOTHS OF THE WORDL, PART I.
https://www.iberlibro.com/Saturniidae-Mundi-Saturniid-Moths-World-Vol/19240164273/bd
D'ABRERA, B. 2012 SATURNIIDAE MUNDI. SATURNIID MOTHS OF THE WORLD, Part II. 232 pags, 700 fotos color, tapas duras. Include more than 400 species.
https://entomopraxis.com/tienda/es/lepidoptera/1416-d-abrera-saturniid-moths-world-saturniidae.html
DÁBRERA, B. SATURNIDAE OF THE WORLD part III
https://www.amazon.es/Saturniidae-Mundi-Saturniid-Moths-World/dp/3931374033
You may also want to consult:
Jordan, K. 1924. On the saturnoidean families Oxytenidae and Cercophanidae. Novitates Zoologicae, 31: 135-193, pl. 6-21.
Since recently, these are now considered two subfamilies of Saturniidae, but were not treated by Lemaire or D'Abrera. You can find it in the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Check Bill Oehlke's Saturniidae site. It worths to become a member. Plenty of species and fantastic photos, with checklists for every country. There are also some rare specimens from my collection depicted on his site, like a female of Antheraea montezuma from Mexico.
http://www.silkmoths.bizland.com/indexos.htm
The first volume of Claude Lemaire "The Attacidae of America" has keys for the subfamilies, of Saturniidae, genera and species of Attacinae. vol. 2 and 3 have keys for Arsenurinae and Ceratocampinae. All of them for the spcies of America. They do not have keys to Oxyteninae and Cercophaninae that were placed in Satruniidae after the publication of the books. So far, I think this is the best source for Saturniidae id of America.
My primary resource for keying Lepidoptera of the world was Brues, Melander & Carpenter. 1954. Classification of Insects: Keys to the living and extinct families of insects, and to the living families of other terrestrial arthropods. 2nd edition. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol. 108. 917 pages. Keys to Lepidoptera are on pp. 226-305 (keys to Lepidoptera larvae on pp. 271-285); keys to Saturniidae and its subfamilies on pp. 241-243. Unfortunately, only the first (1932) edition is available on the Biodiversity Heritage Library, but I just found used copies for less than $5.00 USD by searching addall.com! Taxonomy and nomenclature have changed for many of these families since the book was published 65 years ago (e.g., Borror et al. for North America), but it remains an excellent starting point for identifying insects to at least family level from anywhere in the world.
Thank you very much for all the help and valuable information! I truly appreciate it.
Hi,
Yes, I gree with Luis Miguel Constantino.
The Best Regards
Samaneh Mahmoudvand
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