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WE have plenty of guidebooks to help identify birds, mammals and other large
animals. But popular guides to the insect world are much less common. And one
group of insects in particular has been overlooked, even though we often come
across it in the garden or in the country—the orthopteroids. These include
the grasshoppers, crickets, mantids, earwigs, stick insects, termites and
cockroaches. David Renz from the Australian National Insect Collection in
Canberra, has now rectified the situation. He has produced Grasshopper
Country: The abundant orthopteroid insects of Australia (UNSW Press,
$74.95 hardback). The book has more than 550 photographs and ample notes
and anatomical drawings of the insects. At almost 300 pages, the glossy hardback
is too big for use in the field— a paperback version would be handy. For
those really keen to know more about orthopteroids, there is a companion CD
available of the noises they make. It is available with the book for an extra
$5 from CSIRO Publishing, PO Box 1139, Collingwood 3066.