(excerpt)
Don\u27t let the price tag frighten you. This is a book you will turn to again and again, in fact every time you pick up a moth or butterfly and wonder if it is one of those on which Asher Treat found mites. The quotation on the fly leaf gives an insight into the enthusiasm and curiosity, as well as the thoroughness of Asher Treat.  Whether in the field, at home, or in a museum collection, the search for mites on insect hosts is an adventure as exciting as any treasure hunt. Every insect, looked at closely enough to reveal a mite, is an exotic island whose bays and coves may harbor a lurking pirate or the telltale traces of some hidden thief

Husband, Robert W

English

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 9 Number 4 - Winter 1976 Number 4 - Winter 1976 Article 12 December 1976 Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University Press, 1975. $35.00. Robert W. Husband Adrian College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Husband, Robert W. 1976. "Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University Press, 1975. $35.00.," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 9 (4) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol9/iss4/12 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. 208 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 9, No. 4 and splits up species groups within each genus. This is irritating, in that information concerning related species is more difficult to extract. Staying with the phylogenetic format throughout would have been easily accomplished, and would have added to the value of the work. The distributional maps are likewise in the alphabetical format, and they are numbered as in the annotated list making them easy to to refer to. In actuality, even though distributional maps are inadequate for describing population limits, the maps here aid outsiders to Quebec in determining the rough limits of species distributions. The maps could have been even more useful if a short geographic summary had been included, thus allowing interpretation of the various species distributions. Mr. Larochelle states in his preface that the carabid fauna of Quebec is well known. However, the lists of species doubtfully recorded for Quebec, and species which could be found in Quebec, contain 139 and 99 entries respectively. Thus it would appear that much basic work on the Quebec carabid fauna remains to be done. The follow-up to this catalog containing more extensive ecological observations should be a fine contribution. However, I feel the information in this work could have been incorporated into such a study without the necessity of a separate volume. As it stands, at the $15.00 selling price, this work will satisfy only those people specifically interested in the ground beetles of Quebec. LITERATURE CITED Lindroth, Carl H. 1955. The carabid beetles of Newfoundland. Opusc. Entomol. Suppl. 12: 1-160. Lindroth, Carl H. 1963. The fauna history of Newfoundland illustrated by carabid beetles. Opusc. Entomol. Suppl. 23: 1-112. James Liebherr Department of Entomology Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 MITES OF MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES, Asher Treat. Cornell University Press, 1975. $35.00. Don't let the price tag frighten you. This is a book you will turn to again and again, in fact every time you pick up a moth or butterfly and wonder if it is one of those on which Asher Treat found mites. The quotation on the fly leaf gives an insight into the enthusiasm and curiosity, as well as the thoroughness of Asher Treat. "Whether in the field, at  home, or in a museum collection, the search for mites on insect hosts is an adventure as exciting as any treasure hunt. Every insect, looked at closely enough to  reveal a mite, is an exotic island whose bays and coves may harbor a lurking pirate or the telltale traces of some hidden thief." A major asset of this book is the depth of treatment of moth-mite associations. Dr. Treat has been focusing on these associations for more than 20 years; Professional scholars and naturalists should be stimulated by the challenge of Dr. Treat to study specific aspects of mite-moth associations. The book contains all the information a budding moth-mite biologist needs to get started. This includes a thorough discussion of techniques, an excellent reference section and an extensive index. The keys are within the capability of most biologists who are familiar with mites, although a phase contrast microscope would be necessary in my opinion. Non-acarologists will find the illustrations particularly helpful in preliminary identification of the mites of moths. Dr. Treat tells how to go about getting confirmation of identifications. The book should not be considered exclusively of interest to lepidopterists. Many of the mites described by Dr. Treat are found on bumblebees, Orthoptera, beetles and other insects. Many more mites await discovery, description and study. For example, mites of 1Husband: Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University PPublished by ValpoScholar, 19761976 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 2 09 the family Podapolipidae should be found on Lepidoptera. Dr. Treat and I have discussed this possibility but none have been found so far. Mites of Moths and Butterflies comes at an appropriate time to aid new workers in the study of insect mites. The literature cited and historical survey alone should be worth the price of the book. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the little creatures carried by insects. Robert W. Husband Department of Biology Adrian College Adrian, Michigan 4922 1 THE WORLD OF MOTHS. Michael Dickens and Eric Storey. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1974. 128 p., 103 plates. $6.95. This little book will undoubtedly please the amateur collector and rearer of the exotically and exquisitely colored species such as found in the Saturniidae and Sphing- idae. Of the 103 colored photographic plates, 69 illustrate species from these two popular families. Each species is figured on a white background in sharp and vivid color. One species is figured on a page, except for Epicopeia polydora, which includes a figure of its mimetic model Papilio rhetenor. There is a brief text for each species citing the scientific name, family, common name, wingspan, range, habits and habitat, larval foodplants, sexual dimorphism, variations, and similar species. The differences in the size of moths figured, and lack of any scale, detracts from the book and may confuse its users. For example, the Spanish Moon Moth, Graellsia isabellae (10-12 cm) is shown as large on plate 39 as the Golden Plusia, Polychiysia rnoneta (3 .54 cm) on plate 94. After a preface stressing conservation and education in the study of moths, and brief acknowledgments, the introduction includes sections on life-history, rearing moths, structure and senses, light traps and lamps, education and conservation, classification, regions of the world, and explanation of text notes. The authors admit they have borrowed information from many well-known sources in preparing the book. Yet, there are no specific literature citations anywhere in the text, nor is there any bibliography. The authors consistently omit the author's name after each species which tends to  detract from the book as a scientific reference. Following the British custom, there is an index to the common names used with each plate. While there is little new information here to offer the scientist, the book will undoubtedly enjoy some appeal to the many amateurs who avidly collect and rear moths, especially those from exotic regions. In addition, this book will match the authors' earlier publication The World o f  Butterflies, which was completed in this same format. M. C. Nielsen 3415 Overlea Drive Lansing, Michigan 48917 THE MAYFLIES, OR EPHEMEROPTERA, OF ILLINOIS. B. D. Burks, 1975 reprint of Bulletin of the Illinois Natural History Survey, Vol. 26, 1953. Entomological Reprint Specialists, Los Angeles, California, viii + 216 p., 395 figs. $15.00. The continuing demand for general references and aids to identification of Ephemer- optera has undoubtedly prompted the recent reprinting of The Mayflies. . . of  IZlinois. A two-page preface by George F. Edmunds, Jr. dealing with taxonomic and nomenclatural changes since the original 1953 publication has been added and will serve as an adequate aid to those unfamiliar with changing concepts in mayfly systematics. The reprinting is of high quality with the large number of figures having been excellently reproduced in this hard-bound edition. Although over 20 years old, this treatise remains as one of the most cited works dealing with North American mayflies, primarily because it is one of the few works 2The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 9, No. 4 [1976], Art. 12https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol9/iss4/12

Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University Press, 1975. $35.00.

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 9 
Number 4 - Winter 1976 Number 4 - Winter 
1976 
Article 12 
December 1976 
Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University 
Press, 1975. $35.00. 
Robert W. Husband 
Adrian College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Husband, Robert W. 1976. "Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University Press, 1975. 
$35.00.," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 9 (4) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol9/iss4/12 
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. 
208 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 9, No. 4 
and splits up species groups within each genus. This is irritating, in that information 
concerning related species is more difficult to extract. Staying with the phylogenetic 
format throughout would have been easily accomplished, and would have added to the 
value of the work. 
The distributional maps are likewise in the alphabetical format, and they are 
numbered as in the annotated list making them easy to to refer to. In actuality, even 
though distributional maps are inadequate for describing population limits, the maps here 
aid outsiders to Quebec in determining the rough limits of species distributions. The maps 
could have been even more useful if a short geographic summary had been included, thus 
allowing interpretation of the various species distributions. 
Mr. Larochelle states in his preface that the carabid fauna of Quebec is well known. 
However, the lists of species doubtfully recorded for Quebec, and species which could be 
found in Quebec, contain 139 and 99 entries respectively. Thus it would appear that 
much basic work on the Quebec carabid fauna remains to be done. 
The follow-up to this catalog containing more extensive ecological observations should 
be a fine contribution. However, I feel the information in this work could have been 
incorporated into such a study without the necessity of a separate volume. As it stands, 
at the $15.00 selling price, this work will satisfy only those people specifically interested 
in the ground beetles of Quebec. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Lindroth, Carl H. 1955. The carabid beetles of Newfoundland. Opusc. Entomol. Suppl. 
12: 1-160. 
Lindroth, Carl H. 1963. The fauna history of Newfoundland illustrated by carabid 
beetles. Opusc. Entomol. Suppl. 23: 1-112. 
James Liebherr 
Department of Entomology 
Michigan State University 
East Lansing, MI 48824 
MITES OF MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES, Asher Treat. Cornell University Press, 1975. 
$35.00. 
Don't let the price tag frighten you. This is a book you will turn to again and again, 
in fact every time you pick up a moth or butterfly and wonder if it is one of those on 
which Asher Treat found mites. 
The quotation on the fly leaf gives an insight into the enthusiasm and curiosity, as 
well as the thoroughness of Asher Treat. "Whether in the field, at  home, or in a museum 
collection, the search for mites on insect hosts is an adventure as exciting as any treasure 
hunt. Every insect, looked at closely enough to  reveal a mite, is an exotic island whose 
bays and coves may harbor a lurking pirate or the telltale traces of some hidden thief." 
A major asset of this book is the depth of treatment of moth-mite associations. Dr. 
Treat has been focusing on these associations for more than 20 years; Professional 
scholars and naturalists should be stimulated by the challenge of Dr. Treat to study 
specific aspects of mite-moth associations. The book contains all the information a 
budding moth-mite biologist needs to get started. This includes a thorough discussion of 
techniques, an excellent reference section and an extensive index. The keys are within the 
capability of most biologists who are familiar with mites, although a phase contrast 
microscope would be necessary in my opinion. Non-acarologists will find the illustrations 
particularly helpful in preliminary identification of the mites of moths. Dr. Treat tells 
how to go about getting confirmation of identifications. 
The book should not be considered exclusively of interest to lepidopterists. Many of 
the mites described by Dr. Treat are found on bumblebees, Orthoptera, beetles and other 
insects. Many more mites await discovery, description and study. For example, mites of 
1
Husband: Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University P
Published by ValpoScholar, 1976
1976 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 2 09 
the family Podapolipidae should be found on Lepidoptera. Dr. Treat and I have discussed 
this possibility but none have been found so far. Mites of Moths and Butterflies comes at 
an appropriate time to aid new workers in the study of insect mites. The literature cited 
and historical survey alone should be worth the price of the book. I recommend this 
book to anyone interested in the little creatures carried by insects. 
Robert W. Husband 
Department of Biology 
Adrian College 
Adrian, Michigan 4922 1 
THE WORLD OF MOTHS. Michael Dickens and Eric Storey. Macmillan Publishing Co., 
Inc., New York, 1974. 128 p., 103 plates. $6.95. 
This little book will undoubtedly please the amateur collector and rearer of the 
exotically and exquisitely colored species such as found in the Saturniidae and Sphing- 
idae. Of the 103 colored photographic plates, 69 illustrate species from these two popular 
families. Each species is figured on a white background in sharp and vivid color. One 
species is figured on a page, except for Epicopeia polydora, which includes a figure of its 
mimetic model Papilio rhetenor. There is a brief text for each species citing the scientific 
name, family, common name, wingspan, range, habits and habitat, larval foodplants, 
sexual dimorphism, variations, and similar species. The differences in the size of moths 
figured, and lack of any scale, detracts from the book and may confuse its users. For 
example, the Spanish Moon Moth, Graellsia isabellae (10-12 cm) is shown as large on 
plate 39 as the Golden Plusia, Polychiysia rnoneta (3 .54 cm) on plate 94. 
After a preface stressing conservation and education in the study of moths, and brief 
acknowledgments, the introduction includes sections on life-history, rearing moths, 
structure and senses, light traps and lamps, education and conservation, classification, 
regions of the world, and explanation of text notes. The authors admit they have 
borrowed information from many well-known sources in preparing the book. Yet, there 
are no specific literature citations anywhere in the text, nor is there any bibliography. 
The authors consistently omit the author's name after each species which tends to  detract 
from the book as a scientific reference. Following the British custom, there is an index to 
the common names used with each plate. 
While there is little new information here to offer the scientist, the book will 
undoubtedly enjoy some appeal to the many amateurs who avidly collect and rear moths, 
especially those from exotic regions. In addition, this book will match the authors' earlier 
publication The World o f  Butterflies, which was completed in this same format. 
M. C. Nielsen 
3415 Overlea Drive 
Lansing, Michigan 48917 
THE MAYFLIES, OR EPHEMEROPTERA, OF ILLINOIS. B. D. Burks, 1975 reprint of 
Bulletin of the Illinois Natural History Survey, Vol. 26, 1953. Entomological Reprint 
Specialists, Los Angeles, California, viii + 216 p., 395 figs. $15.00. 
The continuing demand for general references and aids to identification of Ephemer- 
optera has undoubtedly prompted the recent reprinting of The Mayflies. . . of  IZlinois. A 
two-page preface by George F. Edmunds, Jr. dealing with taxonomic and nomenclatural 
changes since the original 1953 publication has been added and will serve as an adequate 
aid to those unfamiliar with changing concepts in mayfly systematics. The reprinting is of 
high quality with the large number of figures having been excellently reproduced in this 
hard-bound edition. 
Although over 20 years old, this treatise remains as one of the most cited works 
dealing with North American mayflies, primarily because it is one of the few works 
2
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 9, No. 4 [1976], Art. 12
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol9/iss4/12


https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1288&context=tgle

Mites of Moths and Butterflies, Asher Treat. Cornell University Press, 1975. $35.00.

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