The island of Taiwan is about 36,000 km2, thus only representing 0.024% of the earth's terrestrial surface, but butterflies proliferate across it. In the case of butterflies, the number of butterfly species in Taiwan, Japan (which is 10 times the area of Taiwan) and Australia (which is 213 times the area of Taiwan) are 380, 214, and 435 species respectively, indicating that the diversity of butterflies in Taiwan far exceeds that of Japan and Australia, that is, the distinctiveness of Taiwans butterfly habitat in the world. Whether from an academic research, ecological conservation, or education promotion perspective, research on butterfly resources is of great importance.
For the first time, a complete series of monographs has been collected on the butterflies of Taiwan, reviewed with the latest data on the current status; written in both English and Chinese, the series is planned in five volumes, to be published over the next six or seven years. The first two collections of the monographs on Papilionidae and Pieridae have been published simultaneously.