gan to effect control, there was no real success until
Each term is classified
DDT was employed. Sterilization of males, so successful
with the screwworm, has promise also for certain
Illosquitoes.
Forest t'ntolllo(ogy (Schwardtfeger, 16) develoi)ed with
the pr,ll'tice of fort'stry in Germany, after wide stands
of trees had been seriously decimated. The first great
student of forest insects was J. T. C. Ratzeburg, who
published a monumental work during 1837--44. Hopkins
is the father of forest entomology in Korth America,
and Craham (ca. 1950) gave definitive answers as to
"whit'h insccts are injurious." l:nderlying present in-
vestigative efforts is the analysis of relevant environ-
mental fal'tors and population developments.
"Bt'ckeeping proper started when man learned to
saft'g\lard the future of colonies of bees he found in
hollow tree trunks or elsewhere by a certain amount of
care and supervision." (Townsend and Crane, 17.)
Hollow logs, llottery vessels, woven baskets, and the
like were used for centuries. It was not until 1851,
however, that Langstroth discovered that movable-frame
hin's would greatly increase the productivity of bees.
Knowledge of honey hee physiology and behavior, queen
rearing and hreeding, bee diseases, and poisoning has
come about slowly. Agriculture has benefitted greatly
from controlled flower pollination.
Richard (20) describes 5 periods in the functional, or
behavioral, history of entomology: 1800-50, when meth-
ods and ideas hegan to emerge from the history of
hahits; 1850-1900, when objective analysis was begun
in the area of insect-environmental relationships, as
perceived through behavior; 1900-30, when "mechanism"
outreached "vitalism," and "transformation" triumphed;
1930-50, when new techniques were developed and when
pruhlems of complex behavior were formulated in terms
of causality; 1950 to the 1Jresent time, when Scheirla's
interpretation of hehavior, Lorenz's objective ethology,
Skinner's hehaviorism, and Wiener's cybernetics are
leading to neuroethology.
Errors in this History are remarkably few. I do, how-
ever, detect the following ones: p. 135, Abbot lived from
1750 to 1839; p. 149, Rarer Lepidoptera was published
in 1797, and omit the name Edwards; p. 239, read
Henneguy (1904); p. 277, line 18, for "ant", read
"antenna"; p. 354, midpage, for "1,692,000," read
"1,692,000,000"; p. 496, line 2, for "apids," read "aphids."
THEODOREL. BISSELL
Hyattsville, MD
PEST Co:nROI. IX BI'ILllIXGs-A Guide to the l\Ieaning
of Terllls, by P. R. Cornwell. 1973. Published by
Hutchison of London. Available in the "Cnited States
from St. )'Iartin's Press, Inc., ~ew York. 192 p.,
101 fiRures (91 in color). $10.00.
The authnr is Director of Research for Rentokil, Ltd.,
the Iaq{cst firm in England dealing with commercial
Pl'st rontrol services in huildings. Rentokil operates
throughout much of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia,
and as close to :\"orth America as Xassau.
Cornwell credits the Conference of the British Pest
Control Association, held on the Isle of Jersey in 1971,
with motivating" this volume. The Conference was at-
tended hy ca. 70 delegates from the length and breadth
of the l'nited States, as well as from European coun-
tries, India, and Japan. The need for a communications
hase of common terminology was evident at the Con-
ference, and Cornwell's study addresses itself to this
need.
Pest Control in Buildings is organized alphabetically.
It is also ahundantly cross-referenced. For example, the
German cockroach is discussed under B1attella [la-
II/ollica, but cross referencing is supplied under 'Ger-
73
man,' 'cockroach,' or 'Blattaria'.
to 1 of 14 disciplines-to whichever it applies most
directly. These disciplines cover a wide range of head-
ings, including "Building,' 'Toxicological,' 'Entomologi-
cal,' and 'Legislation'.
The contents of Pest Control in Buildings are con-
cerned broadly with the terminology of pest control (in
buildings), the pests themselves and their biology, pest
control techniques, pesticides, manufacturing processes,
building construction, toxicity, legislation, and persons
involved or affected. One intent of the author is specifi-
cally stated: to contribute to the recognition that most
persons with pest problems require help from other
persons who have both a thorough understanding of
pest control and the practical ability to do the job.
Thus, we find in this volume a reference source which
begins with Abate (a proprietary product) and ends
with Zinc phosphide (a chemical), and which incorpo-
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ae/article/20/1/73/212124 by guest on 31 August 2020
rates, along the way, such terms as 'absorption,' 'access
panel,' 'aerosol,' 'animal room,' 'anticoagulant,' 'Anthre-
mus verbasci,' 'artificial respiration,' and 'Avitrol'; as
well as supplying brief, precise, and pertinent explana-
tions of the significance of each term or usage in com-
mercial pest control.
The coverage of commercial pest-control terminology
is complete, even according to North American stan-
darels; although an occasional discrepancy-where an
English meaning was used at variance with North
American usage-was encountered. For example, 'track-
ing powder' was defined by Cornwell as a nontoxic
powder, while United States usage refers to toxic
powders as 'tracking powders,' and requires Federal
registration for them. Toxic powders are called 'contact
dust' in English usage. Still another United States
variance was overlooked in connection with aerosols;
no mention was made of the 'total-release' aerosols, but
they were described as 'non-stop' aerosols.
The small discrepancies do not, however, detract
significantly from the value of Pest Control in Build-
ings. It is a remarkably complete and accurate com-
pendium. A check of technical and operational terms
used in 3 major technical releases of the National Pest
Control Association revealed that 95% of them were
explained in Cornwell's volume.
At this time in the "Cnited States, when State and
Federal agencies are implementing new concepts in the
certification and regulation of commercial applications
in structural pest control, Peter Cornwell's Guide to the
1Ieaning of Terms can be a valuable aid in achieving
COmmOn understanding between regulator and regulated,
RALPH E. HEAL
P. O. Box 225
Oxford, MD 21654
THE ORlBATID GENERA OF THE WORLD, by J. Balogh.
1972. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest. Distributed in
North America by Entomological Reprint Specialists,
P. O. Box 77971, Dockweiler Station, Los Angeles
90007. 188 p., 71 pI. $14.00.
Among free-living Acari, no group rivals the diversity
and complexity of form that distinguish the oribatid
mites. The number of individuals and species in soil
faunas, and their presumed role in litter reduction, have
long attracted soil zoologists, and some very elegant
ecological studies, along with many lesser ones, have
been done, particularly in Europe. Recently, there has
also been a small avalanche of descriptive and faunistic
works for many parts of the world, with the prominent
exception of North America. The growing interest in
soil ecology and the large number of new taxa have
necessitated this new and enlarged treatment of the
world's oribatid fauna.