The British Mosquitoes

Abstract

F1920, the British Museum published a “Handbook of British Mosquitoes” by Dr. W. D. Lang; it set up a new standard in its figures, attention to early stages and in other ways. That book has now been replaced by Mr. Marshall's, which, though it owes much to its forerunner, is definitely a new book and in many ways an advance on extant works on mosquitoes. It is a matter of some interest to notice that both these books have been written by men who might claim the distinction of being amateurs. The author of the first, a palæontologist, was asked under the stress of war to produce a monograph on these insects. The author of the second, an engineer who found that salt marsh mosquitoes were uncomfortable neighbours, turned his mind first to control and, through that, to scientific study.

The British Mosquitoes

By J. F. Marshall. Pp. xi + 341 + 20 plates. (London: British Museum (Natural History), 1938.) 20s.