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Insect life history patterns: Habitat and geographic variation
374
age. Media publicity in recent years has created a sympathetic climate of opinion for the development of research programmes. Overall, papers in the Proceedings of the Conference on Eucalypt Die.back in Forests and Woodlands reflect the views of M.F. Day, CSIRO, Canberra, who, in the Foreword, places diebacks in a perspective which acknowledges both the extent of the problem and the opportunity for divergent views. He takes the opportunity to add two additional hypotheses of his own. As he says, a wider audience can benefit from the proceedings. The literature frequently reports new cases with similar syndromes. F.J. NEWHOOK
Department o f Botany University of Auckland Private Bag, Auckland New Zealand
INSECT L I F E HISTORY PA'I~rERNS
Insect Life History Patterns: Habitat and Geographic Variation. R.F. Denno and H. Dingle (Editors). Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1981. 225 pp., 62 figs. ISBN 3-540-90591-x. This volume is based on a symposium on Species and Life History Patterns: Geographic and Habitat Variation, held during the National Meeting of the Entomological Society of America in Denver, CO, U.S.A. in November 1979. A c o m m o n failing o f such works is that they remain a collection of papers with little relationship to each other or the title: Denno and Dingle have avoided this in a well edited book in which all twelve chapters contribute to the theme. Each author presents experimental results from his own work to illustrate and support his topic. Early chapters deal with the plant-insect relationship, including heterogeneity within a single plant and its effect on insect colonisation; genetic change in an insect population over several generations on a single plant which better adapts the population to that plant; and adaptation of an insect to different host plant species to the extent that cross-infestation from one host to any of the other hosts lowers survival of the transferred insect population. It is suggested that plant variability and continual genetic change, and subsequent adaptation by an insect species to them, contributes to speciation in the insects. The second section deals with habitat and geographical variations in insect species to give best adaptation to local conditions, and the final, third section considers coexistence of species in equilibrium and non~quilibrium situations.
375 The chapters are well-referenced, and some widely held theories are questioned in the light of experimental results. I recommend the book: not only is it of interest to the 'old hand' in field ecology, it is also a good introduction to the complexity of field interactions for the newcomer. MICHAEL T. TANTON Department of Forestry Australian National University P. 0. Box 4
Canberra, A.C.T. 2600 Australia
WEED AND INSECT CONTROL CHEMICALS
Handbook of Weed and Insect Control Chemicals for Forest Resource Managers. M. Newton and F.B. Knight. Timber Press, Beaverton, OR, U.S.A., 1981. 213 pp., US$17.95. This book is intended for the North American market, but it contains information which may be useful elsewhere. It appears to be more appropriately an introductory text than a practibal handbook for forest resource managers. I doubt the need for the limited treatment of the chemicals and their structure: the people for whom the book is intended are not likely to need such material, and if they do, there are other works which provide better and more accurate information. One also wonders about the value of the clinical terminology and treatments given in Appendix Table 1. A simple explanation of symptoms, emphasis on the need to get immediate medical help, and a listing of Poisons Centres and telephone numbers would be more useful in a handbook. The section on Application Technology details the usual range of equipment, but does not mention newer methods of ultra low volume, Controlled Droplet Application (Rogers, 1975; Matthews, 1976). No background to cost/benefit analysis of forest application of these chemicals is given, yet a manager should be aware of the long term economic viability of decisions. The book has received inadequate proof reading and editing: it tends to be repetitive and disjointed, with a rather staccato style. Opportunities for bringing together material are missed: thus on page 40, paraquat is stated to have 'special health considerations'. Not until page 156 does one find mentioned the problem of fibrous thickening if lungs by paraquat. Obvious errors have been missed, for example 'mammlain' on page 117 in place of
'mammalian'.
age. Media publicity in recent years has created a sympathetic climate of opinion for the development of research programmes. Overall, papers in the Proceedings of the Conference on Eucalypt Die.back in Forests and Woodlands reflect the views of M.F. Day, CSIRO, Canberra, who, in the Foreword, places diebacks in a perspective which acknowledges both the extent of the problem and the opportunity for divergent views. He takes the opportunity to add two additional hypotheses of his own. As he says, a wider audience can benefit from the proceedings. The literature frequently reports new cases with similar syndromes. F.J. NEWHOOK
Department o f Botany University of Auckland Private Bag, Auckland New Zealand
INSECT L I F E HISTORY PA'I~rERNS
Insect Life History Patterns: Habitat and Geographic Variation. R.F. Denno and H. Dingle (Editors). Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1981. 225 pp., 62 figs. ISBN 3-540-90591-x. This volume is based on a symposium on Species and Life History Patterns: Geographic and Habitat Variation, held during the National Meeting of the Entomological Society of America in Denver, CO, U.S.A. in November 1979. A c o m m o n failing o f such works is that they remain a collection of papers with little relationship to each other or the title: Denno and Dingle have avoided this in a well edited book in which all twelve chapters contribute to the theme. Each author presents experimental results from his own work to illustrate and support his topic. Early chapters deal with the plant-insect relationship, including heterogeneity within a single plant and its effect on insect colonisation; genetic change in an insect population over several generations on a single plant which better adapts the population to that plant; and adaptation of an insect to different host plant species to the extent that cross-infestation from one host to any of the other hosts lowers survival of the transferred insect population. It is suggested that plant variability and continual genetic change, and subsequent adaptation by an insect species to them, contributes to speciation in the insects. The second section deals with habitat and geographical variations in insect species to give best adaptation to local conditions, and the final, third section considers coexistence of species in equilibrium and non~quilibrium situations.
375 The chapters are well-referenced, and some widely held theories are questioned in the light of experimental results. I recommend the book: not only is it of interest to the 'old hand' in field ecology, it is also a good introduction to the complexity of field interactions for the newcomer. MICHAEL T. TANTON Department of Forestry Australian National University P. 0. Box 4
Canberra, A.C.T. 2600 Australia
WEED AND INSECT CONTROL CHEMICALS
Handbook of Weed and Insect Control Chemicals for Forest Resource Managers. M. Newton and F.B. Knight. Timber Press, Beaverton, OR, U.S.A., 1981. 213 pp., US$17.95. This book is intended for the North American market, but it contains information which may be useful elsewhere. It appears to be more appropriately an introductory text than a practibal handbook for forest resource managers. I doubt the need for the limited treatment of the chemicals and their structure: the people for whom the book is intended are not likely to need such material, and if they do, there are other works which provide better and more accurate information. One also wonders about the value of the clinical terminology and treatments given in Appendix Table 1. A simple explanation of symptoms, emphasis on the need to get immediate medical help, and a listing of Poisons Centres and telephone numbers would be more useful in a handbook. The section on Application Technology details the usual range of equipment, but does not mention newer methods of ultra low volume, Controlled Droplet Application (Rogers, 1975; Matthews, 1976). No background to cost/benefit analysis of forest application of these chemicals is given, yet a manager should be aware of the long term economic viability of decisions. The book has received inadequate proof reading and editing: it tends to be repetitive and disjointed, with a rather staccato style. Opportunities for bringing together material are missed: thus on page 40, paraquat is stated to have 'special health considerations'. Not until page 156 does one find mentioned the problem of fibrous thickening if lungs by paraquat. Obvious errors have been missed, for example 'mammlain' on page 117 in place of
'mammalian'.