Insecta Books

Crompton, John, 1987 .2nd edition. "The Hunting Wasp"--Little Known, Shocking Similarities Between Insects and Humans. Nick Lyons Books, New York, New York. 240 pages.



The Hunting Wasp is a classical work of natural history published more than 50 years ago and still in print. John Crompton, an English author and a natural historian. It was written in 1955, with two subsequent editions published in 1987 and 2004. The fact that there are new editions of the Hunting Wasp proves that this piece of work is of high quality and that the audience appreciates its context, despite the fact that scientific research being conducted nowadays has surpassed the observations Crompton describes. The book still finds its way to the hearts of the readers which, in my opinion, is a tribute to the story telling, clear style of Crompton's writing.

The structure of the book follows the behavior of different subfamilies of the Sphecidae family of wasps, mainly those of Ammophila and Cerceris, in various situations. It focuses on how wasps obtain food for their offspring, underlining the fact that these insects have the capability of attacking and killing insect species much stronger and larger than themselves. Each chapter of the book shows how a wasp deals with a certain type of insects, whether it is a fly or a caterpillar, or a humongous praying mantis or a cockroach. Crompton typically compares and contrasts observations made by three entomologists, Fabre and the Peckham couple, who have spent significant time studying wasps, combing these observations with his own comments. This is particularly interesting as it gives a reader, especially the one not familiar with the process of scientific research, a chance to familiarize oneself with it and also the fact that scientific observations done in a similar manner can often lead to very different results. I liked very much the way in which Crompton wrote this book, because the vocabulary he chose in explaining his observations was equally suitable for a biologist and a more general reader. I did find the reading to be somewhat difficult at times, due to differences in British and American English, as well as some old fashioned vocabulary and grammar structures he sometimes uses. I also found the authors attempts to be poetic a little overwhelming at times ("And now I think, without further preliminaries, we will go straight into the arena and watch the fight", p.50)

What amazed me the most while reading The Hunting Wasp was that insects, those creatures we find annoying and useless most of the time, are such intelligent little beings. Some parallels that the author drew between the ways humans and wasps react in certain situations were truly shocking and I couldn't help but think how we take the insects for granted and how little credit we usually give them. One of the most interesting moments were graphic descriptions of how wasps capture the prey and bring it to their offspring. The way in which they plan out the process, go about the execution and carry it out does not differ much from what humans do. The authors describes in detail how wasp goes about targeting and hitting the correct nerve regions in the victim in order to inject the poison and paralyze it. What makes it even more difficult to believe is the insects' "knowledge" of the anatomy of various insect species; they know exactly what spot will be the most adequate and effective for a certain type of the prey. They know that caterpillars are best immobilized by injecting poison in each one of the segments, whereas this is unnecessary if the victim is a beetle, in which case one shot of poison in the right place fully immobilizes it. Another illustration of wasps' intelligence was a graphic description of how the insect builds its house. Reading about how it measures and judges the distances between the entrance and the back of the room to see whether the captured prey will fit in, and how it chooses different shapes and sizes of stones and grass while building the shelter for their babies, inevitably leads us to question the popular belief that humans are the only species capable of rational thinking.

I believe that the author's attempts to bring the insect life closer to the readers was mostly successful due to the approach he chose; rather that bombarding a reader with textbook facts, he interwove the language accessible to everybody and the sufficient amount of observations and facts, so that the material presented sounds credible to both an entomologist and a car mechanic. This is the skill that most of the writers of the books with scientific topics either neglect or do not possess at all. I also felt that the book was a prefect choice for the class I'm taking this semester, because it mainly deals with the behavioral aspects of insects, which combined with the mostly anatomical/physiological approach of the class, makes the overall picture much more complete. For all these reasons, I would certainly recommend "The Hunting Wasp" to anybody interested in learning more about the insect life.

Crompton's books get excellent reviews in the press. That's why I bought "The Hunting Wasp" several years ago. I didn't read it until recently, however, and then only because I found myself without other reading material one evening. I figured that any book on insect life is bound to pall after the first few pages, no matter how great the reviews.

Not true. Crompton's accounts of the lives and loves of hunting wasps are cliff-hangers, filled with blood lust, love gone bad, murder and mayhem, the sacrifices of motherhood, and adventure. I love this book.

It helps that John Crompton is an extraordinarily gifted writer and witty to boot. Describing the courtship of crickets (which are the prey of certain hunting wasps), he writes, "While the cricket sits fiddling, thinking only of his art, a female appears before him. He is disconcerted and shy and she is shy too, but timidly their antennae touch. After that they sit for hours fondling one another and then, after a last caress, the female goes away. But she returns, or he goes to her, and henceforward the affair proceeds with gathering tempo until they find themselves in each others' arms so to speak and the union proceeds. When he has recovered a little from the exhaustion caused by these nuptials, he scrapes a gentle note on the Stradivarius. Alas, the tune that once so thrilled the bride leaves her unmoved now. Indeed, it irritates her, and irritates her so much that she springs at him and smashes his violin. If he is wise he will not prolong the honeymoon. Nothing is more obvious than that his newly wed wife has conceived a violent aversion for him. Her transient love of music too has gone. He has done the only thing that interests her and she has no further use for him. He will get more than his violin broken if he stays."

Wonderful stuff. So good that I've ordered his books on spiders, bees and ants so I can continue reading these spellbinding sagas of the insect world.

You would never expect that a book about wasps could possibly be interesting, if you think bugs are disgusting little critters for which Raid is the best tool of study. That's what I thought until I happened to leaf through Crompton's little volume. To my amazement, he made the strange world of these beasties fascinating. And he has a wonderfully witty way of describing them in semi-human terms. They're even more disgusting than I thought they were, but he opened my eyes to an extraordinary part of the world around me. A Disney world, it isn't. More like a Stephen King world. But his sense of humor makes it all bearable. Tree-huggers and condo inmates, read Crompton or be stung by ignorance! -- Tom McDonough

I purchased this book for my 4th grade son who aspires to be an entomologist he loves the book. I was a bit shocked at how small the book was when it arrived - 184 pgs 8.5" x 5.25". I'm assuming the high price is because it is a college text.

It seems incredible that Cornell University Press has let this book go out of print. How hard could it be to produce an inexpensive paperpack photo reprint and market it as the classic it is? It's true that Comstock's textbook is a bit out-of-date now: the original was first published in 1920 and the latest revised edition dates from 1940. It stands to reason that some of the information in the book might be out-of-date now, and the black-and-white illustrations can't compete with modern textbooks and field guides. But Comstock's 1,064 page textbook remains the best-written and single most useful natural science reference work in my library. Most of the information it contains has remained unaffected by the changes in taxonomy over the past sixty years, and Comstock's prose is incomparable: always clear and informative, matter-of-fact when it needs to be, rhapsodic when it can afford to be. Consider this paragraph, which occurs in the middle of a meticulous introduction to the sphingid moths:

"Of all the beautifully arrayed Lepidoptera some of the hawkmoths are the most truly elegant. There is a high-bed tailor-made air about their clear-cut wings, their closely-fitted scales and their quiet but exquisite colors. The harmony of the combined hues of olive and tan, ochre and brown, black and yellow, and grays of every conceivable shade, with touches here and there of rose color, is a perpetual joy to the artistic eye."

Please, Cornell, bring back Dr. Comstock. In the meanwhile, anyone interested in learning more about the world of insects should scour the used book services for this book.

The 1930 edition is a beautifully written and illustrated revision of Comstock's 1895 college textbook for "teachers of entomology". Lovingly revised with Comstock's blessing, the 1930 edition begins with a general discussion of the Arthropoda in general and the insects in particular. The majority of the book treats various orders of insects including taxonomy, morphology, ontogeny, life history, subsistence, and predators in a narrative form. Insect impact on human activities is noted. It is an excellent detailed resource for anyone interested in natural history. interested in insects.

While this book is now 50 years old, it is still the definitive American work on spring creek fishing. At the time of the writing, it is true, Marinaro was unaware of U.S. spring creeks outside of Pennsylvania, this does not diminish its value.

He realized that this type of fishing was firmly rooted in the 19th century English chalkstream traditions, and built a solid work upon this foundation.

Some of what he says, in reference to flies, is either dated or irrelevant to most anglers, and his neglect of the sunken fly will disappoint a few, but his tactics cannot be faulted. Indeed, strategies touted as the most modern are clearly described, along with their pros and cons, unlike the treatment given them in some current works.

A fine piece of literature, as well as one of the most significant angling books of the 2oth century.

It details a diverse range of springtail taxonomy and ecology.
Good to the soil ecologist to get the overall perspectives