92 



The Irish Naturalist. September, 1920. 



REVIEW. 



EARWIGS, COCKROACHES AND GRASSHOPPERS. 



A Monograph of the British Orthoptera. By William John Lucas, B.A., 

 Pp. xii. X 264, with 25 plates and 25 text figures. London : Ray 

 Society, 1920. 



In his Introduction to this volume the author refers to the Orthoptera 

 as one of the orders of insects " neglected " by the entomologists of these 

 countries. He should now be gratified by the knowledge that the publi- 

 cation of his monograph must be effective in bringing such neglect to an 

 end. Thanks to Mr. Lucas' exertions the student who desires to work 

 at our native earwigs, cockroaches and grasshoppers can consult detailed 

 descriptions of the various species with which he is likely to meet, read 

 interesting notes on their habits, and compare the structural features of 

 his captures with clear diagrams, and with photographs, most of which 

 are effective and well reproduced, though the smaller ones are not clear 

 or definite enough to be of systematic value. As in other Ray Society 

 volumes the adjective " British " is understood to include Ireland and 

 our entomologists will agree with Mr. Lucas' statement, as to future 

 discoveries among the earwigs, that " the south-west of Ireland might 

 possibly yield something new if it were thoroughty explored." The 

 records of Irish distribution are among the least satisfactory details in 

 the book. They are stated in the preface to be mostly due to " specimens 

 in the collection at Trinity College, Dublin," examined by Dr. Stanley 

 W. Kemp, who is made responsible for the Irish localities instead of the 

 naturalists who determined and in several cases recorded them in publi- 

 cations to which Mr. Lucas gives no reference. The collection examined 

 by Dr. Kemp was that of the National Museum, not of Trinity College, 

 and there are some astonishing misspellings of Irish place-names such 

 as " Houth," " Carage Lake " and " Trome." 



Some objection may reasonably be taken to Mr. Lucas' broad systematic 

 treatment of the insects included in the Monograph. He treats the ear- 

 wigs and allies as a sub-order of the Orthoptera comparable to six other 

 groups which exhibit closer but varying degrees of relationship. None 

 of these six can be regarded as worthy of sub-ordinal distinction, while 

 the weighty morphological reasons for separating the Dermaptera, the 

 comparatively primitive genital ducts and prominent maxillulae, are 

 not mentioned in the introductory discussion. 



There are valuable observations as to the seasonal appearance and 

 life-cycle of many of the species, and the important subject of variation 

 has not been neglected. The various species of " domestic " cockroaches 

 are regarded as naturalised members of our fauna ; some surprise will be 

 caused to many readers by the large number of exotic " casuals " among 

 the " British " Orthoptera. 



G. H. C. 



