232 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



A Synopsis of the Ortlioptera of Western Europe. By M. Bure, D.Sc. 



London. 1910. 

 " To work as a specialist is necessary ; to think as a specialist 

 may be dangerous " (Macfadyan). Burr's neat and handy volume 

 on the Orthoptera of Western Europe is one that should help the 

 naturalist, who likes to get a general bird's-eye view of that region of 

 the field of Nature in which he works, as well as the specialist 

 in Orthoptera, who will need to make a closer inspection of that small 

 area he has chosen for his own. Almost of necessity our small total 

 of some thirty-nine Orthoptera are contained in the four hundred or 

 thereabout to be met with on the western fringe of the Old World ; 

 but who knows whether a British naturalist, armed with this 

 " pocket " handbook, may not be able to add to our restricted list 

 the names of some species which ought to occur with us, and possibly 

 only need looking for to reveal their presence. I refer to such species 

 as Chelldura acantJiopygia, Staiiroderus hkjuttulus, Cliorthipims longi- 

 cornis, Tettix fidiginosus, and several others. It goes without saying 

 that the work would have been enhanced by illustrations, but so also 

 would the price. A structural plate explanatory of terms used does, 

 however, seem a desideratum, especially for such as do not make a 

 speciality of the Orthoptera. The 398 species are distributed as 

 follows : — Earwigs, 25 ; Cockroaches, 22 ; Mantids, 13 ; Phasmids, 

 4 ; Acridians, 131 ; Locustids, 161 ; Crickets, 36. An appendix brings 

 the nomenclature up to date. — W. J. Lucas. 



Bulletin of Entomological Research Committee ; issued by the Ento- 

 mological Research Committee (Tropical Africa) appointed by 

 the Colonial Office. Vol. i. pt. 1, pp. 1-88. 4s. London : 

 Longmans, Green & Co. April, 1910. 

 In this bulletin we have the first record of the doings of the 

 Committee, of which the Earl of Cromer is chairman and Mr. Guy 

 A. K. Marshall is scientific secretary, whose object is " to procure the 

 fullest possible knowledge of the insects of tropical and subtropical 

 Africa." That this is a formidable but at the same time most useful 

 task can easily be imagined, and any doubt with regard to it will be 

 removed after reading Dr. A. E. Shipley's admirable introduction to 

 the part before us. Some of the richest tracts of Africa are almost 

 closed to the white man by the presence of inimical insects and ticks. 

 This state of things the Committee intend to alter, by means of the 

 closest study of these animals and their life-histories, and of the 

 organisms which prey upon them in their turn. Two experienced 

 entomologists, Messrs. S. A. Neave and J. J. Simpson, have already 

 left England to work upon the spot, while the Committee are further 

 prepared to cope with the material which reaches them from iVfrica. 

 In addition to the foreword the present part contains articles on 

 African Fruit-flies (E. E. Austen), Blood-sucking Diptera (Dr. R. E. 

 Drake-Brockman), Hemiptera injurious to Cocoa (G. C. Dudgeon), 

 Parasites on Silkworms (ibid.), Scale Insects from Uganda (R. New- 

 stead), Larval and Pupal Stages of Culicidoe (W. Wesche), &c. There 

 are eight fine plates and other illustrations. — W. J. L. 



