Les Moustiques de l'Afrique mineure, de l'Égypte et de la Syrie

Abstract

ALTHOUGH the Culicidse as a family are perhaps better known now than any other group of insects, our know-ledge of all the details of their life-histories is still far from complete, especially as regards the species of certain regions. The author of the work under notice is of opinion that the mosquito fauna of North Africa and Asia Minor is less known than that of any other malarious region, which was certainly true until very recently. As shown by this volume, however, the deficiency is now to a large extent made good. The main title of the work is somewhat misleading, as it includes a fairly detailed account of nearly all the European mosquitoes, on the quite justifiable ground that many or most of them will be found eventually in the regions under consideration. The treatment is mainly from the systematic point of view, but larvae as well as adults are discussed and distinguished, as is essential for practical purposes. The bulk of the text is a compilation from previous publications of the author and other workers in this field, but there are some 200 original and carefully executed drawings of structural details, which in themselves will render the work of much value to students. The author, like other systematists, to some extent follows his own inclination as to nomenclature and classification, but the views of others are made clear by full references. His attempt to divide the biting mosquitoes into three subfamilies is not very successful. There are a number of minor errors and inconsistencies, which appear to be chiefly due to too hasty compilation (compare, for example, the references to Dixa submaculata on pp. 177 and 179). The volume concludes with a catalogue of Palsearctic and Nearctic Culicidae, together with a number of maps showing the distribution of some of the more interesting species; some of these, it must be admitted, are partly hypothetical.

Les Moustiques de l'Afrique mineure, de l'Égypte et de la Syrie.

E.

Séguy

Par. (Encyclopédie entomologique, 1.) Pp. 257 + 29 planches. (Paris: Paul Lechevalier, 1924.) 50 francs.