Katydids and Bush-Crickets.

D. T. Gwynne. Cornell University Press, New York. 2001. Pp. 317. Price $42.50, hardback. ISBN 0-8014-3655-9

The Tettigoniidae are an ancient and culturally important taxon, so much so that they received geographically distinct names before science cast its beady eye on them (hence the duplication in the title). This book is sub-titled “The reproductive behaviour and evolution of the Tettigoniidae” and is largely a contextualised review of Gwynne's fascination with, and substantial contribution to, the reproductive behavioural ecology of tettigoniids over the last quarter of a century. The book begins by covering key aspects of the background biology of the taxon and then moves into a review of the landmark behavioural ecology. I picked up the book with the expectation of being driven fairly directly to the destination promised in the sub-title and, on the way, shown some important, possibly even spectacular, vistas. The journey was largely informative and enjoyable and I did glimpse some grand biology. However, to my mind, the guide spent a little too much time regaling me with historical perspectives and personal stories which detracted from the scenery and my enjoyment of the trip. I probably have a reputation as a miserable passenger, and I am sure many travellers down this route will enjoy the commentary that I found distracting.

The first chapter is a temporal anchor (the book has a strong chronological sub-theme with respect to the author's work) detailing the intriguing behaviour and ecology of the Mormon cricket – the organism that piqued the younger Gwynne's curiosity and set him on the research path that culminated in this book. The style, at this point is very relaxed, almost chatty, and it works by drawing the non-specialist into the system. The book then transits into the important question of phylogeny: it does so rather abruptly, and, I confess, I did not enjoy the prose about the phylogenetic relationships. Some well-conceived diagrams in an appendix would have conveyed this information and illustrated the points for me. However, I am no orthopterist (or phylogeneticist) and I am sure a reader with both, or either, orientation will relish the detail. The book's next two chapters aim to cover important behavioural ecological ground for later, and deal with habits, life-cycles, natural enemies and ecology. It is these first scene-setting chapters, consisting of mixed writing styles, that give the impression that the book isn't going directly to an interesting destination. This impression detracted from the utility of these chapters and was actually wrong: as Gwynne gets onto his home turf I began to feel I was going somewhere. This second phase deals with the costs and benefits of singing and mate attraction, nuptial gifts, and courtship-role reversal and the writing becomes much more sharply focussed and readable: this part of the book is very good. The text is supported throughout by one of Gwynne's trademarks — stunning photographs that concentrate the essence of the biology they are illustrating. Several of these are produced as a collection of 24 small colour plates.

Like many journeys, my recollections got fonder as time passed and I found myself reminiscing over the good bits. There were certainly enough to make the trip memorable and worthwhile.