The Lepidoptera of the Faroe Islands

Description:

Text Danish/English. This work presents an updated catalogue of the Lepidoptera found in the Faroe Islands. It includes 170 species recorded between 1781 and the end of year 2023. For each species all relevant literature is listed, details of the first record are given, and the status as either resident, migrant or introduced (and perhaps naturalised) is stated. The status of subspecies recorded from the Faroe Islands follows current literature. Details on biology are presented, which for most species includes only the time of occurrence of the adults. Where relevant, additional remarks are made.

Species, which are listed from the Faroe Islands in earlier literature due to misidentification or other errors, are discussed, and that is also the case for unconfirmed records, based on undocumented ‘sightings’.

In the introductory chapters, we briefly deal with geology and geography, climate and nature, the history of lepidopterology in the Faroe Islands, the origin of the Faroe Islands Lepidoptera, variation and biology of Faroese Lepidoptera. Distribution maps are presented for resident, migrant and introduced species. All illustrated specimens are from the Faroe Islands. The reference list includes all publications on Faroese Lepidoptera that we know of. A checklist with Faroese names of Lepidoptera and an index to names of Lepidoptera in the book is given.