Annotated List of Ontario Lepidoptera

Ian Wylie Toal is a Martindale-based freelance science writer.

A checklist, the record of all specimens of a particular group of
organisms found in a geographical region, is the product of thousands of
hours of work by collectors, museum curators, and taxonomists. This
particular checklist records all the Lepidoptera—butterflies,
skippers, and moths (except for some micro-lepidopteran taxa)—known in
Ontario.

A short introduction outlines the climatic and vegetative regions of
the province, and discusses how these factors influence species
distribution. A summary of all the museum collections used by the author
to compile the document is followed by the checklist proper. The list
itself is very readable, with higher taxa (suborder to genus) located in
the middle of the page, and species along the left margin. Species are
listed under the genus alphabetically, not taxonomically. The names are
accompanied by minimal taxonomic history, which keeps the list concise.
The distribution of most species is indicated by general region and
county (for Pyralidae and Noctuidae, only general distribution is
given), and by specific site for rare specimens. Some species have
collection dates, additional comments, and a list of museums in which
the specimens were found. The list is followed by references and an
index to scientific names, which is arranged by both genera and species.
French and English common names, which are included in the checklist,
are not included in the index.

It is unfortunate that this book will have little use for
nonprofessionals. Taxonomy is an attempt to define an organism
historically, physically, and behaviorally, but rarely does the
excitement of that work come out in the final product, which is often,
for a number of reasons, a dry list of names.