The Mosquitoes of the South Pacific (Diptera, Culicidae).

The Mosquitoes of the South Pacific (Diptera, Culicidae), by John N. Belkin. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1962. Vol. 1, 608 pp.; Vol. 11, 412 pls. Price 20 U. S. dollars. It is a rare pleasure to find a specialilzed \\,ark on taxonon-ry which x~i l l he of great interest and value to workers not directlv concerned with the group under consideration. The present work is uncloubtehly in this select group; no student of the fauna of the South Pacific can afFord to igmore it. I can truthfully say I have seen no work on the taxonomy of the Diptera which is more satisfying in either content or presentation. The area considered is that part of the Pacific south of the equator and eas: of the Bismarcks, New Guinea and Australia, extending to Easter Island and Sala y Gamez. For this huge and varied area the author has given a concise description of the topography, water supply, and other factors affecting mosq~~ito production for each of 44 islands or island groups, ranging in size from New Zealand to the 2 square miles of Ocean Island. Included is an analvsis of the mosq~uto species of each of these areas, with a discussion of their dismbution and relationships. The introduction treats also bionomics arid its effect on dispersal, ccntres of origin and history of dispersal, relation of mc~squito distribution to human migration, importance as rectors, possible modes of speciation, and methods used in the present study. In my opinion the author is too ready to invoke hybridization as a mode of origin of species and highcr categories, although this may be wiser than disn~issing thc possibilitv out of hand. The tnvonomic section is superb. Although it will be of less interest than rhe intrcxluction to zoologists in general, it can be profitably consulted by all mosquito taxonomists. The 183 species of Culicidae known from the area (in the author's opinion perhaps less than half the total) are described and illustrated in great detail. Tt is, I believe, thc first major work on Culicidae in which the pupae are treated as extensively as the larvae. Diagnosis of the family and of all subordinate groups is escellent. The taxonomic changes seem extensive but actuallv involve only shifts in rank. Dixinae and Chaoborinae are returned to the Culicidae as subfamilies, and the mosquitoes proper are treated as twelve tribes Anophelini, Tosorhynchidni, and ten formed from the Culicini of authors. This ~la~sification is tentative; the author's hope is that it will stimulate study of the relationships of the various groups within the family. Seventeen pages of tables show in a remarkably clear manner the distribution, both exualimital and South Pacific, of the mosquitoes of the area, the distribution of the closest relatives of these species and species groups, and the larval habitats and economic importance of the species. Excellent maps show the world and South Pacific distribution of all world senera but one and of all the native South Pacific species groups and species. In summary, the work can be highly recommended as an introduction to zoological geography of the South Pacific, as a handbook of mosquitoes of the area, and as a model for monographs on insect taxonomy. J. R. VOCKEROTH