56 THE fe Ay UU Dee B2OuNee Bee ie eae ian: 
graphical area cover only thou- 
sands of years, or millions, that 
area is consdered relatively young. 
Statafell National Park, Iceland, is 
a kind of living sample of the Ice 
Age. The Galapagos Islands, fasci- 
nating to observers for centuries, 
inspired Darwin’s theories. In the 
mere 15,000 years of man’s life, he 
has looked at his world and record- 
ed it. In these times when both he 
and life seem to be threatened, a 
work like “National Parks of the 
World” can give strength and in- 
spiration to look for answers for 
the next 15,000 years. Effective solu- 
tions to our environmental prob- 
lems demand an effective know- 
ledge of the earth on which we 
live. It is to be hoped that this 
overview of the world of the pro- 
tected areas will make us wiser in 
our course of action to protect 
and sustain life in a changing 
environment. 
INSECTS OF NORTH AMERICA 
by Alexander & Elsie Klots 
Doubleday, 1971, $9.95 
Audubon members who have been 
fighting the insecticide manufac- 
turers, and their supporters in the 
press, the legislature and the Con- 
gress, may find this book’a valu- 
able weapon. It provides useful in- 
formation on these ancient animals. 
I guess one might say that many 
insects have a face “only an ento- 
mologist could love.’ The close-up 
illustrations, some of the insects 
in the mating game, are fascinating. 
Those of the beetles and butterflies 
are especially good. 
Alexander Klots is professor 
emeritus of biology at City Uni- 
versity in New York. His wife, 
Elsie, has a doctorate from Cornell 
University and is also an entomo- 
logist. They have achieved wide 
popularity thru their publication of 
“Living Insects of the World” in 
eleven languages. Alexander Klots 
is also a research associate at the 
American Museum of Natural His- 
tory in New York. 
We are told that in North Ameri- 
ca there are over 86,000 species of 
insects and they all seem to come 
out at the Sunday picnic table. For 
the suburbanite who has _ been 
plagued by ants and anthills, Dr. 
Klot’s comments are interesting: 
he points out that ants are actually 
highly specialized wasps, with more 
than 3,500 species in the world and 
found in almost every habitat. In 
numbers of individuals, they out- 
number every other type of animal 
found on the land. He mentions 
one ten-acre plot in Maryland that 
was known to have between 11 and 
13 million individuals of one spe- 
cies alone (not counting other 
types). Queen ants do nothing but 
lay eggs for 12 to 17 years. A 
worker ant may live for ten years 
in captivity. Ants rely mainly on 
smell and taste. 
With the increasing move of 
Americans to the suburbs, others 
buying abandoned farms, and 
others starting a hobby of bee- 
keeping, this book may find its 
way to many home library shelves. 
—Raymond Mostek 
EPILOGUE 
DDT 
Strip-mining 
Litter 
Channelization 
Effluent 
Clearcutting 
Dredge and Fill 
1080 
Oil Spill 
Watergate 
