The Principles of Insect Physiology

Abstract

THE most significant change of outlook among entomological workers to-day is the increasing appreciation of the importance of the physiological aspects of their subject. These same aspects are also drawing an increasing number of young zoologists in their search for problems upon which to expend their energies. A great literature already exists on insect physiology, and it is appearing in a disconcertingly wide and erratic range of journals. The consequence has been that keeping up to date with this literary growth has already transcended the possibilities of most entomologists, and Dr. Wigglesworth's book has made a timely appearance in consequence. With evident critical powers and acumen he has done the great service of coordinating and sifting out this great accumulation of data and facts and welding it as a whole into a really indispensable text-book. At the same time he has incorporated the results of his own researches, which are distinguished for their originality and for the resourcefulness of the technique that has been used. The general anatomy of insects is outside the programme of this book, and is only dealt with in so far as it may be necessary to make the physiological arguments intelligible. Histology, on the other hand, naturally comes in for fuller treatment since it is intimately linked up with the interpretation of the functions of organs and parts. It is coming to be recognized that rational measures for controlling injurious insects are often dependent upon a proper acquaintance with the physiological ‘make-up’ of the species concerned. As Wigglesworth remarks, knowledge of the ecology of an insect is necessary in order to achieve effective control, while ecology itself can only be properly appreciated in the light of an understanding of physiology.

The Principles of Insect Physiology

By Dr. V. B. Wigglesworth. Pp. viii + 434. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1939.) 30s. net.