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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 799 



tire class. The diseiission of the various 

 orders or groups is frequently supplemented 

 by brief observations on collecting methods, a 

 most suggestive departure for the amateur. 

 One of the strong features of the work is the 

 extended discussion of the termites, a very im- 

 portant group in tropical countries. The 

 chapter on galls (p. 167) might possibly have 

 been amplified to advantage, since there are a 

 large number of species known to produce de- 

 formities in plants. It is doubtful if the 

 author's generalization to the eiiect that the 

 parent gall insect stimulates the tissues to an 

 abnormal growth, will be sustained by a re- 

 examination of the facts. The paragraphs 

 dealing with the fig insects are of special in- 

 terest to Americans since the establishment 

 of Blastophaga on the Pacific coast. Another 

 statement open to question is the author's 

 assertion (p. 191) to the effect that there is 

 no real information as to how the two sexes 

 find each other. We are under the impres- 

 sion that some experiments^ demonstrate be- 

 yond all question that certain male insects 

 find their mates through the highly developed, 

 olfactory organs of the antennas. The ob- 

 servations on the methods employed by S alius 

 (p. 196) in capturing its prey, are particularly 

 commendable. The plugging of rifie barrels 

 with clay, by Sceliphron (p. 207) appears to 

 be a novel record and the same is true of the 

 wasp, Icaria ferruginea (p. 215), rendering 

 houses uninhabitable. It is interesting to 

 note that Xylocopa on the plains and Bornbus 

 in the hills, are the dominant flower-visiting 

 insects, the latter being comparable to Amer- 

 ican conditions. The practicability of using 

 one insect to fight another is strikingly illus- 

 trated by the natives employing certain 

 species of true ants to check the depredations 

 of white ants. Similarly, the author mentions 

 the introduction in the Hawaiian Islands, 

 of species of dung beetles, in the hopes that 

 by quickly destroying the droppings of cattle 

 they would abate the plague of horn flies. 

 The chapter on insects as food is exception- 

 ally full and certainly timely, in view of the 

 high price of meat. There seems to be no 

 ^1900, Mayer, A. G., Psyche, 9: 15-20; 1906, 

 Folsom, J. W., " Entomology," pp. 102-103. 



reason, as observed by the author, why man 

 should " refuse to consider a nice, clean, 

 white termite queen or a dish of locusts " 

 when he includes in his diet shrimps, whelks 

 and even dried sea slugs. A practical sugges- 

 tion for protecting wood from borers is 

 found in the fact that general experience in 

 India has demonstrated the value of soaking 

 bamboo in water prior to using it for struc- 

 tural work, for the purpose of preventing 

 attack by scolytids. This latter group, de- 

 spite its importance in temperate regions, re- 

 ceives scant notice. 



The discussion of the Lepidoptera is rela- 

 tively full and very satisfactory as a whole, 

 though it is difiicult in a work of this char- 

 acter to preserve a satisfactory proportion 

 between the various parts. The large and at- 

 tractive Bombycidas, such as Actias, An- 

 therwa and Attacus come in for their full 

 share of attention. In connection with these 

 forms there is an excellent discussion of the 

 production of silk by insects, together with 

 notes on its composition and a technical de- 

 scription of the four commercial Indian silks. 

 The Microlepidoptera of India appear to be 

 relatively unknown for the most part, judging 

 from the fact that the discussion of the entire 

 series, composed of ten important families, 

 occupies only thirty pages. 



The account of the Diptera is very satis- 

 factory as a whole. The Culicidae, owing tO' 

 recent discoveries as to the importance of this 

 group, naturally receiving a somewhat ex- 

 tended notice, accompanied by an excellent 

 schematic figure illustrating the life cycle of 

 the malarial parasite. As in some other 

 groups, the author gives a list of the species 

 known to occur in India, following Theobald 

 in this particular instance. It is interesting 

 to note that only two species of Cecidomyiidse, 

 probably less than one per cent, of the native 

 fauna, are recorded from India. The chapter 

 on Indian blood-sucking insects gives a com- 

 prehensive notice of the species addicted to 

 this practise and their economic relations. 

 A considerable number of Ehynchota (Hemip- 

 tera) are briefly noticed, though compara- 

 tively few Aphididse and Coccidae, two groups 

 of great importance in temperate regions, are 



