English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

There is little doubt that research on ensiferan Orthoptera is biased in favor of Tettigoniidae and Grylloidea. This is not surprising, given that the two are the most speciose ensiferan groups; they contain the bulk of the world’s singing insects, and so have attracted much attention from behaviorists. The Biology of Wetas, King Crickets and their Allies is a solid start toward redressing the balance, by reviewing the current state of knowledge of some other ensiferan groups. This knowledge is delivered by 30 contributors, in a book that includes 22 chapters on the biology of the main group covered, the predominantly Southern Hemisphere Anostostomatidae (weta and king crickets). [Note that this family was split from Stenopelmatidae by Johns (1997).] As well, there are three chapters on ‘Allies’, the Gryllacrididae (raspy crickets) and Stenopelmatidae sensu stricto (Jerusalem crickets and relatives). A key hope for a book such as this is that it encourages and directs future research. What new researcher would not be inspired by a group that includes some of the world’s heaviest insects, with species that withstand freezing over several winters and others that sport elaborate male weaponry and common names such as ‘parktown prawn’ and ‘wetapunga’ (named after the ‘Maori God of Ugly and Deformed Things’). A newcomer to any insect group would be aided immensely by a decent guide to taxonomy and phylogeny, by a thorough review of natural history and general biology and, of course, by a reasonable book price. Where the Biology of Wetas… succeeds well is in its presentation of biological reviews. We learn that amongst weta and their allies are behaviors and physiologies unique among insects and certainly every bit as fascinating as those of the more familiar ensiferans (and there are even surprises about diversity: D. Weissmann (Chapter 3) points to a threefold increase in the number of known stenopelmatids with 30 or more new species in California alone!). However, the book fails the newcomer with a poor introduction to taxonomy and relationships with other Ensifera. Another shortcoming is that sprinkled throughout the book are unsupported claims or conclusions lacking either data or references to literature. We feel this is important because it may mislead a new researcher to conclude that a particular idea has empirical support when in fact it remains a fertile area for study.

A Book Review ofThe Biology of Wetas, King Crickets and their AlliesEdited by L. H. Field