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Rolf Witt: Wespen (Wasps)
(in German)
Review by Robin Williams
Second revised, enlarged edition
(December 2009). 400 pages, about 450 photos, mostly coloured illustrations,
format 11,6 x 18,6 cm. thread-stitching, film laminated board.
ISBN 978-3-9813284-0-0. price: 33,95 € plus shipping
Purchase: Vademecum Verlag, Friedrich-Rüder-Str. 20, D-26135 Oldenburg,
Germany
Tel: 0441-85043. E-mail: info@vademecumverlag.de. Website:
www.vademecumverlag.de.
[Order only directly from vademecum verlag. Not available in any
bookstores.]
For more information and excerpts see: www.vademecumverlag.de (in German)
Many will be familiar with
the previous edition of this completely revised book, which is now available
direct from the author. The magnificent photographs are reproduced superbly
and extra species have been added. For British users without much knowledge
of German, these pictures and the various measurements given are worth the
cost alone.
For those with German,
this book gives a comprehensive description of the
social, solitary and parasitic strategies of this group, which
contains some 700 solitary species found in Central
Europe. It also contains an introduction to biology, ecology and taxonomy,
including recent changes, while a chapter is devoted to the species-dynamics
arising from climate change. There are useful hints on trap nesting and
attracting solitary wasps to gardens, and discussion on their value as pest
controllers.
The format for description and identification covers the
familiar pattern of full keys to 200 solitary wasp genera in Central Europe;
while a separate key covers all the social wasps of Europe. The great bulk
of the book is set out by genera, including comprehensive descriptions to a
set formula. Within each genus, there is more detailed information, with
pictures of selected species, again to a set format.
There
is no other book available that covers the Central-European wasps in such a
comprehensive manner with such informative and artistic photographs and in a
format which is readily taken into the field A great many British species
are covered, while it offers a taste of those others which may arrive in the
future. I regard it as an essential part of the library of anyone with an
interest in wasps.
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