Insect Mythology

Gene Kritsky and Ron Cherry
Writers Club Press, Lincoln, NE, 2000
140 pp., price unknown
ISBN 0-595-15017-9 (softcover)

This book will be of interest to entomologists and perhaps curious historians who want something easy to read whilst travelling. It is however more than just a travelling companion because it discusses the occurrence and significance of arthropods (spiders and scorpions are included in addition to insects) in mythological tales from different time periods and from many parts of the world. A section on General Mythology is followed by Old World and then New World sections. References are included so the reader can easily pursue areas of particular interest. The section on arthropods in the Bible is especially thorough. The book actually contains a lot of information that the authors have assembled from many areas. The book, therefore, represents a good source of material on this subject with analysis of numerous mythological tales and the role of arthropods in these. A photograph of a totem pole is accompanied by a line drawing that clearly shows details of the fauna included in its construction. This approach would have enhanced the interpretation of other photographs in the book. These often are of poor quality. You might use the tables for your lectures but you will not be scanning the images. The flow of the book could be improved by eliminating spaces between the text, tables, and figures and having an expanded glossary located with the references and index at the end of the book rather than at three-quarters of the way through. I finished the book without realizing that I had come to the end and in the next edition some sort of concluding statement or general discussion should be added to help the reader feel satisfied. With appropriate attention to small details, the next edition should become a more professional publication that will satisfy both amateur and career scientists alike.