1899] INSECTS 223 
(included among the Neuroptera in Part I.), and placed next to the Beetles, 
with which they have no near relationship. 
The treatment of the various groups is, however, admirable. No fewer 
than 180 pages are devoted to the Bees, Wasps, and Ants, and the external 
form and habits of these most interesting of insects are fully described after the 
observations of Janet, Verhoeff, Marchal, Wasmann, and other recent natur- 
alists. Internal structure should perhaps have received more attention ; some 
details of the digestive and reproductive systems of the honey-bee might fairly 
have been expected. Dr. Sharp writes on the economy of the social insects 
with charming enthusiasm, freshness, and human interest. After recording 
Hoffer’s confirmation of Godart’s statement—-made 200 years ago—‘ that a 
‘trumpeter-bee’ is kept in some nests to rouse the denizens to work in the 
morning,” the suggestion is hazarded that the hour when the trumpeting occurs 
(3 or 4 a.m.), caused the observation to remain discredited for two centuries ! 
The section on ants and their ways is particularly good. 
Most of Dr. Sharp’s own entomological work has been done on the 
Coleoptera, and his account of this order will therefore be scanned with special 
interest. Undoubtedly some grouping of the numerous families of beetles into 
large divisions is very convenient and desirable. Our author adopts the well- 
known Lamellicornia (placed at the head of the order), Adephaga, Heteromera, 
Phytophaga, and Rhynchophora, while the many families which will not fit 
into any of these—the Clavicornia and Serricornia of former writers—are 
relegated to a group appropriately called the Polymorpha. The account of 
each family is illustrated by a figure of a typical species with its larva; an 
original figure of the remarkable stridulating-organ of a Passalid grub (p. 192) is 
worthy of special mention. The enigmatic Strepsiptera are doubtfully regarded 
as an aberrant group of Coleoptera. 
The section on the Lepidoptera is full, more attention than usual being 
devoted to internal structure. In the account of the wing-nervuration it is a 
pity that the American nomenclature—familiar to readers of Natural Science 
through the papers of Mr. A. R. Grote—is not mentioned. In classification, Sir 
G. Hampson is followed, his key to the families from the “Moths of India” 
being reproduced in full. Dr. Sharp’s views on protective coloration and 
mimicry are far from “orthodox.” It is doubtless well that the Batesian and 
Miillerian theories should not be dogmatically preached as they have been by 
many writers. At the same time, Dr. Sharp is hardly as fair as usual when he 
writes, ‘‘ We think it is clear that the explanation from our point of view is of 
but little importance,” and when he refers to Prof. Poulton’s “Colours of 
Animals” as “the case as stated by an advocate.” Dr. Dixey’s recent suggestive 
work in support of the positions attacked is not mentioned. 
That most difficult order of insects, the Diptera, is next dealt with, and 
the account of the outer form, classification, and larvae of flies is admirably clear 
and well balanced, though the internal organs and the formation of the parts of 
the imago in the grub and pupa might well have received more attention. The 
Fleas are treated as a sub-order of Diptera. There is a good account of the 
small but interesting group Thysanoptera, which is rightly regarded by Dr. 
Sharp as forming a distinct order. In the reference to Uzel’s recent beautiful 
monograph on these insects, it is implied that the work is entirely in Bohemian, 
whereas it contains a rather full German summary. 
The concluding chapter, devoted to the Hemiptera, is admirable both in its 
morphological and systematic portions. The Lice (Anoplura) are doubtfully 
treated as a sub-order. The volume is beautifully illustrated, and the footnote 
references to literature are full and instructive. Indeed, little complaint can be 
made except to ‘ask for more.” Could not the author have added a chapter 
giving us his views on insects as a whole, the relationships between their orders, 
the probable course of their evolution? Only the faintest echoes are to be 
found in this book of the bold and suggestive paper on insect classification read 
