Excerpt: Many entomologists are faced with the problem of identifying a plant that an insect has been gathering nectar from, feeding on, or pollinating. Unless he is armed with a working knowledge of botany, and can handle the cumbersome keys in our modern floras, h e must resort to a specialist or a picture book

Donahue, Julian P

English

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 1 
Number 7 -- December 1967 Number 7 -- 
December 1967 
Article 6 
December 1967 
Wild Flowers of the United States: Volume 1, The North-Eastern 
States (in two parts). Harold William Rickett. New York: McGraw-
Hill Book Company, 1966. x, 559 pp. $39.50. 
Julian P. Donahue 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Donahue, Julian P. 1967. "Wild Flowers of the United States: Volume 1, The North-Eastern States (in two 
parts). Harold William Rickett. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. x, 559 pp. $39.50.," The Great 
Lakes Entomologist, vol 1 (7) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss7/6 
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has 
been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For 
more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
1967 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST 259 
Wil l is ,  E. R. and L. M. Roth, 1950. Humidity r e a c t i o n s  of Tribolium 
castaneum. (Herbs t ) .  J .  Exp. Zool. 115: 561-587. 
Wilson,  L. F. and J. L. Bean.  1959. A modified o l fac tometer .  J. Econ. 
Entomol. 52: 621-624. 
Winston, P. W. and D. H. B a t e s .  1960. Sa tura ted  solut ions f o r  the con- 
t r o l  of humidi ty in biological  r e s e a r c h .  Ecology 41: 232-237. 
REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE 
WILD FLOWERS O F  THE UNITED STATES: Volume 1 ,  THE NORTH- 
EASTERN STATES (in two p a r t s ) .  Haro ld  Wil l iam Rickett.  New York: 
McGraw-Hill Book Company,  1966. x ,  559 pp. $39.50. 
Many entomologists  a r e  faced with the  p r o b l e m  of identifying a plant  
tha t  an i n s e c t  h a s  been  ga ther ingnectar f rom,feeding  on ,  o r  pollinating. 
Unless  h e  is a r m e d  with a working knowledge of botany,  and can  handle 
the  c u m b e r s o m e  keys  i n  o u r  m o d e r n f l o r a s ,  h e  m u s t  r e s o r t  to a spec ia l -  
i s t  o r  a p ic tu re  book. 
This  sumptuous fol io ,  the f i r s t of a f ive-volume s e r i  e s f o r  t h e  
United S t a t e s ,  e x c e l s  a s  the  l a t t e r .  I t  i s  even m o r e  than a p ic tu re  book, 
however ,  f o r  i t  includes n u m e r o u s  k e y s  and exce l len t  l i n e  d rawings  to  aid 
i n  the identification of s o m e  1700 of the 3000 s p e c i e s  of f lowering plants  
in  the  n o r t h e a s t  (excluding g r a s s e s ,  s e d g e s ,  r u s h e s ,  woody p lan ts ,  and 
" a n u m b e r  of una t t rac t ive  weeds with s m a l l  g r e e n i s h  f lowers  which a r e  
not  l ikely to exci te  the  i n t e r e s t  of the amateur . " ) ,  m o r e  than half again 
a s  many s p e c i e s  a s  have  b e e n  t r e a t e d  i n  any prev ious  popula r  handbook 
on n o r t h e a s t e r n  wild f lowers .  In addition to the exce l len t  i l lus t ra t ions ,  
D r .  Ricke t t  h a s  included c o m m e n t s  on the d i s t r ibu t ion ,  hab i ta t ,  and o ther  
in format ion  to aid ident i f icat ion of each  s p e c i e s .  He a l so  includes 
subs tan t ia l  and in te res t ing  c o m m e n t s  on e a c h  plant.  
The coverage  of th i s  volume i s  f r o m  Maine to Minnesota,  south to 
Vi rg in ia  and Missour i .  Vir tual ly e v e r y  h e r b a c e o u s  wild f lower b rought  
to one ' s  attention in Michigan will b e  found h e r e .  F r o m  foreword  to 
index ,  th i s  publication of The New York  Botanical  Garden  i s  a fine 
example  of the  book m a k e r ' s  a r t .  The 180 co lor  p l a t e s  were  pr in ted  
in  f o u r  to seven  c o l o r s  by of f se t  l i thography i n  England,  where  the s p e c i a l  
p a p e r  was a l s o  made.  
Wild Flowers of the United States is an i m p o r t a n t  addition to any en-  
tomologist ' s  l i b r a r y ,  if he c a n  afford the pr ice .  J,P.D. 
THE WEB O F  THE SPIDER. L a u r a  B a r r  Lougee.  Bloomfield Hi l l s ,  
Michigan: Cranbrook  Inst i tute  of Sc ience ,  1964. 44 pp. $3.50. 
1
Donahue: Wild Flowers of the United States
Published by ValpoScholar, 1967
260 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 1, No. 7 
I t  is a re l ie f  to find such  a s t ra igh t forward  and object ive work a s  
Lougee's The Web of the Spidev. Her  br ie f  but lucid descr ip t ions  of 
sp ide r  anatomy, s i lk  production and web construct ion will induce ap- 
prec ia t ion  and observat ion of t he se  much-maligned animals .  
The s lender  book i s  divided into twelve ma jo r  sec t ions ,  plus a con- 
clusion and suggest ions fo r  f u r t he r  study. Each sect ion is enhanced 
by photographs and o ther  i l lus t ra t ions ;  t he se  would have been more  
meaningful if l ine drawings had been labeled and living spec imens  
had been used.  Some subject  a r e a s  will be  understood only if the 
r e a d e r  h a s  previous special ized knowledge. Yet eve ry  r e a d e r  will gain 
prof i t  f r o m  th i s  enjoyable book. 
Les l i e  C.  Drew  
Peabody Museum 
Yale Universi ty 
New Haven, ~ b n n e c t i c u t  
NEWSLETTER O F  THE ASSOCIATION O F  MINNESOTA ENTOMOLO- 
GISTS. Edited by John H. Mas te rs .  Vol. 1, No. 1. [ ~ c t o b e r ? ]  1966; No. 2 ,  
not rece ived;  No. 3 ,  Feb. 1967; No. 4, Aug. 1967. F r e e  to m e m b e r s  of the  
A.M.E., who pay $2.75 a y e a r  f o r  act ive and $1.75 f o r  cor responding  
member sh ip s ,  which a r e  open to a l l  by contacting John T. Sorensen ,  
5309 37th Avenue South, Minneapolis,  Minn. 55417. 
As does Michigan, Minnesota includes a s e r i e s  of life zones  f rom 
Upper Aus t ra l  in the  south,  through the ' t ransi t ion '  to Canadian in the  
nor theas t ,  including occas iona l  Hudsonian bog a r ea s .  More wes te rn  
spec i e s  some t imes  colonize i n  Minnesota,  and the d ivers i ty  of habitats  
r e su l t s  in a good var ie ty  of spec i e s  in an in te res t ing  collecting a rea .  
Our  b r o t h e r s  in Minnesota have long taken advantage of th i s  good for -  
tune,  but  only recently h a s  a newsle t te r  appeared to document  the i r  
act ivi t ies .  I t  is a folded 24-page s i l k - s c r een  mimeograph  production 
with heavy stock covers .  The inexpensive f o r m a t h a s  the usua l  drawback 
of muddy type.but adef in i te  improvement  c a n b e  seen  through the cou r se  
of publication, due to the  ut i l izat ion of be t t e r  ma t e r i a l s .  The h'ewslettev 
accepts  contr ibut ions "on any a spec t  of entomology in  any p a r t  of the 
world," but "pr ior i ty  in  publication will be  given to p a p e r s  of the North 
Cen t r a l  Region and to p a p e r s  by m e m b e r s  of the Association." 
The f i r s t  i s s u e s  have been  dominated by the lep idopter i s t s .  P a p e r s  
genera l ly  fal l  into two ca t ego r i e s ;  a r e a  l i s t s  and accounts  of col lect ing 
t r ips .  Many of these  a r e  quite informative and usefu l ,  espec ia l ly  the  
month-by-month account  of "Butterfly Collecting in  Arizona" by  John 
H. M a s t e r s  in  No. 3 .  Annotated l i s t s  of the Lepidoptera  and Coleoptera  
of Minnesota a r e  appearing s e r i a l l y ,  and t he r e  have  been s e v e r a l  pape r s  
on individual spec i e s  of Coleoptex-a.% Book rev iews  appear  i n  No. 4, 
pp. 97 [ vecte 951-96. 
The usua l  e r r o r s  common tonews l e t t e r s  appear .  Frequently scient if ic  
names  a r e  not  underl ined in  the absence  of i t a l i c s ,  while o the r s  a r e .  
Linnaeus '  n ame  is consistent ly given a s  'Linneaus '  throughout a paper  i n  
No. 3 ,  pp. 61-65; ' su l fe r '  consistent ly appea r s  f o r  ' sulphur '  o r  ' su l fur '  
2
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 1, No. 7 [1967], Art. 6
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss7/6


Wild Flowers of the United States: Volume 1, The North-Eastern States (in two parts). Harold William Rickett. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. x, 559 pp. $39.50.

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 1 Number 7 -- December 1967 Number 7 -- December 1967 Article 6 December 1967 Wild Flowers of the United States: Volume 1, The North-Eastern States (in two parts). Harold William Rickett. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. x, 559 pp. $39.50. Julian P. Donahue Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Donahue, Julian P. 1967. "Wild Flowers of the United States: Volume 1, The North-Eastern States (in two parts). Harold William Rickett. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. x, 559 pp. $39.50.," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 1 (7) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss7/6 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 1967 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST 259 Wil l is ,  E. R. and L. M. Roth, 1950. Humidity r e a c t i o n s  of Tribolium castaneum. (Herbs t ) .  J .  Exp. Zool. 115: 561-587. Wilson,  L. F. and J. L. Bean.  1959. A modified o l fac tometer .  J. Econ. Entomol. 52: 621-624. Winston, P. W. and D. H. B a t e s .  1960. Sa tura ted  solut ions f o r  the con- t r o l  of humidi ty in biological  r e s e a r c h .  Ecology 41: 232-237. REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE WILD FLOWERS O F  THE UNITED STATES: Volume 1 ,  THE NORTH- EASTERN STATES (in two p a r t s ) .  Haro ld  Wil l iam Rickett.  New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company,  1966. x ,  559 pp. $39.50. Many entomologists  a r e  faced with the  p r o b l e m  of identifying a plant  tha t  an i n s e c t  h a s  been  ga ther ingnectar f rom,feeding  on ,  o r  pollinating. Unless  h e  is a r m e d  with a working knowledge of botany,  and can  handle the  c u m b e r s o m e  keys  i n  o u r  m o d e r n f l o r a s ,  h e  m u s t  r e s o r t  to a spec ia l -  i s t  o r  a p ic tu re  book. This  sumptuous fol io ,  the f i r s t of a f ive-volume s e r i  e s f o r  t h e  United S t a t e s ,  e x c e l s  a s  the  l a t t e r .  I t  i s  even m o r e  than a p ic tu re  book, however ,  f o r  i t  includes n u m e r o u s  k e y s  and exce l len t  l i n e  d rawings  to  aid i n  the identification of s o m e  1700 of the 3000 s p e c i e s  of f lowering plants  in  the  n o r t h e a s t  (excluding g r a s s e s ,  s e d g e s ,  r u s h e s ,  woody p lan ts ,  and " a n u m b e r  of una t t rac t ive  weeds with s m a l l  g r e e n i s h  f lowers  which a r e  not  l ikely to exci te  the  i n t e r e s t  of the amateur . " ) ,  m o r e  than half again a s  many s p e c i e s  a s  have  b e e n  t r e a t e d  i n  any prev ious  popula r  handbook on n o r t h e a s t e r n  wild f lowers .  In addition to the exce l len t  i l lus t ra t ions ,  D r .  Ricke t t  h a s  included c o m m e n t s  on the d i s t r ibu t ion ,  hab i ta t ,  and o ther  in format ion  to aid ident i f icat ion of each  s p e c i e s .  He a l so  includes subs tan t ia l  and in te res t ing  c o m m e n t s  on e a c h  plant.  The coverage  of th i s  volume i s  f r o m  Maine to Minnesota,  south to Vi rg in ia  and Missour i .  Vir tual ly e v e r y  h e r b a c e o u s  wild f lower b rought  to one ' s  attention in Michigan will b e  found h e r e .  F r o m  foreword  to index ,  th i s  publication of The New York  Botanical  Garden  i s  a fine example  of the  book m a k e r ' s  a r t .  The 180 co lor  p l a t e s  were  pr in ted  in  f o u r  to seven  c o l o r s  by of f se t  l i thography i n  England,  where  the s p e c i a l  p a p e r  was a l s o  made.  Wild Flowers of the United States is an i m p o r t a n t  addition to any en-  tomologist ' s  l i b r a r y ,  if he c a n  afford the pr ice .  J,P.D. THE WEB O F  THE SPIDER. L a u r a  B a r r  Lougee.  Bloomfield Hi l l s ,  Michigan: Cranbrook  Inst i tute  of Sc ience ,  1964. 44 pp. $3.50. 1Donahue: Wild Flowers of the United StatesPublished by ValpoScholar, 1967260 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 1, No. 7 I t  is a re l ie f  to find such  a s t ra igh t forward  and object ive work a s  Lougee's The Web of the Spidev. Her  br ie f  but lucid descr ip t ions  of sp ide r  anatomy, s i lk  production and web construct ion will induce ap- prec ia t ion  and observat ion of t he se  much-maligned animals .  The s lender  book i s  divided into twelve ma jo r  sec t ions ,  plus a con- clusion and suggest ions fo r  f u r t he r  study. Each sect ion is enhanced by photographs and o ther  i l lus t ra t ions ;  t he se  would have been more  meaningful if l ine drawings had been labeled and living spec imens  had been used.  Some subject  a r e a s  will be  understood only if the r e a d e r  h a s  previous special ized knowledge. Yet eve ry  r e a d e r  will gain prof i t  f r o m  th i s  enjoyable book. Les l i e  C.  Drew  Peabody Museum Yale Universi ty New Haven, ~ b n n e c t i c u t  NEWSLETTER O F  THE ASSOCIATION O F  MINNESOTA ENTOMOLO- GISTS. Edited by John H. Mas te rs .  Vol. 1, No. 1. [ ~ c t o b e r ? ]  1966; No. 2 ,  not rece ived;  No. 3 ,  Feb. 1967; No. 4, Aug. 1967. F r e e  to m e m b e r s  of the  A.M.E., who pay $2.75 a y e a r  f o r  act ive and $1.75 f o r  cor responding  member sh ip s ,  which a r e  open to a l l  by contacting John T. Sorensen ,  5309 37th Avenue South, Minneapolis,  Minn. 55417. As does Michigan, Minnesota includes a s e r i e s  of life zones  f rom Upper Aus t ra l  in the  south,  through the ' t ransi t ion '  to Canadian in the  nor theas t ,  including occas iona l  Hudsonian bog a r ea s .  More wes te rn  spec i e s  some t imes  colonize i n  Minnesota,  and the d ivers i ty  of habitats  r e su l t s  in a good var ie ty  of spec i e s  in an in te res t ing  collecting a rea .  Our  b r o t h e r s  in Minnesota have long taken advantage of th i s  good for -  tune,  but  only recently h a s  a newsle t te r  appeared to document  the i r  act ivi t ies .  I t  is a folded 24-page s i l k - s c r een  mimeograph  production with heavy stock covers .  The inexpensive f o r m a t h a s  the usua l  drawback of muddy type.but adef in i te  improvement  c a n b e  seen  through the cou r se  of publication, due to the  ut i l izat ion of be t t e r  ma t e r i a l s .  The h'ewslettev accepts  contr ibut ions "on any a spec t  of entomology in  any p a r t  of the world," but "pr ior i ty  in  publication will be  given to p a p e r s  of the North Cen t r a l  Region and to p a p e r s  by m e m b e r s  of the Association." The f i r s t  i s s u e s  have been  dominated by the lep idopter i s t s .  P a p e r s  genera l ly  fal l  into two ca t ego r i e s ;  a r e a  l i s t s  and accounts  of col lect ing t r ips .  Many of these  a r e  quite informative and usefu l ,  espec ia l ly  the  month-by-month account  of "Butterfly Collecting in  Arizona" by  John H. M a s t e r s  in  No. 3 .  Annotated l i s t s  of the Lepidoptera  and Coleoptera  of Minnesota a r e  appearing s e r i a l l y ,  and t he r e  have  been s e v e r a l  pape r s  on individual spec i e s  of Coleoptex-a.% Book rev iews  appear  i n  No. 4, pp. 97 [ vecte 951-96. The usua l  e r r o r s  common tonews l e t t e r s  appear .  Frequently scient if ic  names  a r e  not  underl ined in  the absence  of i t a l i c s ,  while o the r s  a r e .  Linnaeus '  n ame  is consistent ly given a s  'Linneaus '  throughout a paper  i n  No. 3 ,  pp. 61-65; ' su l fe r '  consistent ly appea r s  f o r  ' sulphur '  o r  ' su l fur '  2The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 1, No. 7 [1967], Art. 6https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss7/6

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Wild Flowers of the United States: Volume 1, The North-Eastern States (in two parts). Harold William Rickett. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. x, 559 pp. $39.50.

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