Book Review: Nault, L.R and Rodriguez, J.G. (Editors). 1985. The Leafhoppers and Planthoppers. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 500 pp

Mead, Frank W.

English

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Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, FloridaInsecta MundiUniversity of Nebraska - Lincoln Year 1988BOOK REVIEW: The Leafhoppersand Planthoppers, 1985Frank W. MeadFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,Gainesville, FLThis paper is posted at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/insectamundi/491160  INSECTA MUNDI  Vol. 2,  no. 2,  June 1988 BOOK REVIEW Nault, L.R and Rodriguez, J.G. (Editors). 1985.  The Leaf- hoppers and  Planthoppers. John Wiley & Sons, New York 500 pp. $79.95 (hardbound). This book  is  composed  of  19  chapters written primarily. by U.S.  authors but enriched in 9  of  the chap- ters by contributors from Great Britain, Egypt, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Italy. The chapters have sprung primari- ly from a symposium in honor of  Dwight M. DeLong at the 1983 Entomological Society of  America meeting in Detroit, Michigan. Practically all aspects of  science con- cerning ledhoppers (Cicadellidae) and planthoppers (Fulgoroidea) are treated. The beginning chapters are on the life and contributions of  Dr. DeLong and on the sys- tematics and morphology of  leafhoppers and planthop- pers. Following that are a variety of  contributions which utilized many of  the new tools available to science, such as  electron  miscoscopy,  sound  recording,  and audiospectrographs of  the weak sounds produced by leafhoppers and planthoppers. These contributions em- pKasize  ecology, genetics,  evolution, plant resistance, pakasites and pathogens, and transmission of  plant dis- eases. Each  chapter ends with "Literature Cited" that often lists 50-100  or more references. There are abundant drawings, tables, photographs, and charts reproduced with good detail and contrast. The paper and binding are of  good quality, anh in the review copy the pages stayed flat at almost any place to which the book was opened. The price of  the book may be a little steep for those on limited budgets, but on the positive side, there is a great deal of  up-to-date information  on  two  insect families that have attracted a significant share of  the en- tomological world's  attention in recent years. Leafhop pers and planthoppers are pests and vectors of  diseases that affect many of  the world's  most important crops such as rice,  maize, coconuts, beans, potatoes, alfalfa (lucerne),  beets, oats, barley, wheat, sugarcane, and other food, ornamental, and fiber plants. The fulgoroids, many of  which have bizarre shapes and structures, have come in for increased attention, especially the delphacids, but it may be fairly said that there has been an explosion of leafhopper papers  in  recent  years.  No  doubt  their economic importance is a big factor for this interest, but research into their acoustical emissions and behavior, re- searchers' increased ability to rear numerous species and study their life histories, their migratory habits, their use as indicators of  ecological situations, and their co-evolu- tion with disease organisms and host plants have made them popular research subjects. This book should be on the shelves not only of specialists in auchenorrhynchous  Homoptera, but in the libraries of  entomological research institutions, including universities, and federal and state agricultural experi- ment stations, and museums. Frank W.  Mead Division of  Plant Industry Florida Department of  Agriculture and Consumer Services P.O. Box 1269 Gainesville, FL  32602 

Book Review: Nault, L.R. and Rodriguez, J.G. (Editors). 1985. The leafhoppers and planthoppers

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