BOOK REVIEWS. 



255 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



" Wild Bees, Wasps, and Ants, and other Stinging Insects." By 

 E. Saunders, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. 8vo., 144 pp.; 4 plates. (Routledge, 

 London, no date.) 3s. Gd. 



Most persons are familiar with the common hive- bee, hnmble-bees, 

 wasps, and the ubiquitous garden ant, but few are aware of the number 

 of interesting insects which are nearly related to these well-known ones, 

 and which are equally common. Hitherto there has not been any work 

 in which a non -scientific reader could find any general information 

 about these insects ; but the book under review, which is written by one 

 of our best authorities on this group, gives a popular and very interesting 

 account of these wild bees, wasps, ants, &c. The author in his preface 

 says : " These pages are written only for the non-scientific, as the 

 scientific entomologist will be already familiar with the elementary facts 

 recorded." The interest and pleasures of a garden are much enhanced if 

 one has some little knowledge of its insect occupants. The butterflies 

 and moths with their caterpillars have for years proved of more or less 

 interest to nearly everyone, and they have a large literature of their 

 own. Next to these, the various bees and their allies are the most 

 prominent insects in our gardens, and the literature about them is very 

 scanty and by no means popular. The author purposely makes only a 

 passing allusion to the hive-bees, as so much has already been written 

 about them, and many of their habits and ways are now matters of 

 common knowledge. The book is well illustrated by four very good 

 coloured plates, containing thirty-one figures and twenty-eight figures in 

 the text. Of course in a book of this size and character it is impossible 

 to give descriptions and figures of all the various species, some 375 

 in number. The book is divided into twenty-nine subjects, which 

 really form chapters, but they are not alluded to as such nor are they 

 numbered. On p. 2 attention is called to the very loose way in which 

 many persons talk of insects stinging or biting, as if they were practically 

 the same action and performed by the same part of the insect ; the 

 difference between the two processes is, however, very clearly pointed out. 

 On p. 23 the great similarity between certain two-winged flies and some 

 of the bees and wasps is commented on. The resemblance between the 

 common drone-fly and the ordinary hive-bee has been already mentioned 

 (on p. 3). There is an interesting chapter on bees' wings, followed by 

 •one on breeding these insects, in which much useful information is given 

 which should prove of great assistance to anyone who wishes to breed 

 them. The reason given on p. 122 for the coloured bands which 

 ornament the bodies of so many species is not very convincing, for if 

 the reason given be the true one, why are not all the aculeate hynienoptera 

 banded ? The last chapter but one is on the development of insects, and 

 it should prove a very instructive one to those who wish to learn Si mo- 

 thing about this very interesting subject. It tells how insects may be 



