Monika Hilker and Torsten Meiners, Eds.
Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK
2002, 390 pp.
ISBN: 1-4051-0694-8

Numerous books have examined various aspects of insect chemical ecology, but none have focused on the chemoecology of insect eggs—a highly vulnerable, yet important stage of the insect life cycle. This edited volume fills that gap by collecting and organizing many of the relevant papers on insect egg chemoecology. As its title suggests, this volume has a relatively narrow focus and will appeal to professionals and graduate students in the field of insect chemical ecology as a useful reference and/or as a text for a graduate seminar. With 13 chapters citing more than 500 references, this body of work covers a range of topics, from molecular events in egg formation to the evolutionary ecology of oviposition pheromones.

The book is organized into two sections, which is reflected in its two-part title. The first six chapters examine the chemoecology of the eggs themselves; and the remaining seven chapters address intra- and interspecific interactions governing egg deposition. Although most of the book’s chapters are nicely organized into these two themes, some chapters seem misplaced. For example, in Chapter 4, Eisner et al. discuss the paternal role in egg defense in a somewhat disjointed fashion, which seems misplaced when compared with the first three succinct chapters focusing on the biochemistry and physiology of eggs. Chapter 5 (Ayasse and Paxton) is an engaging review of brood protection in social insects, but it appears to belong in some other volume because it has very little discussion about the chemical aspect of this behavior. Despite the shortcomings and/or misplacement of Chapters 4 and 5, the rest of the book contains useful, novel information. Below are some of the highlights.

In Chapter 6, Kellner reviews the role of microorganisms for eggs and progeny and covers topics ranging from the beneficial effects of microorganisms for eggs and progeny to female oviposition mediated by cues from microorganisms. Chapters 7 (Stadler) and 8 (Hilker et al.) make important contributions to our understanding of interactions between insect eggs and plants. Between these two chapters, the reader gains a better understanding of the plant chemical cues that are important for egg deposition and of how plants then change physically and chemically once oviposition has occurred.

In Chapter 10, McCall examines chemoecology of oviposition in insects of medical and veterinary importance; this is a well-written chapter with a more applied flavor. Although many volumes have been written on chemoecology of parasitoids, in Chapter 11 Steidle and van Loon present a succinct review of theoretical and experimental research on oviposition in parasitoids. This chapter also makes some novel comparisons between oviposition of parasitoids and predators. Finally, Chapters 12 (Hoffmeister and Roitberg) and 13 (Janz) review the evolutionary questions and problems associated with insect oviposition. The former chapter focuses on the evolutionary ecology of marking pheromones with a discussion of how natural selection might affect the chemistry of these pheromones. In Chapter 13, Janz reviews the behavioral strategies of oviposition, but unfortunately spends little time discussing the chemical aspects of this behavior.

Considering that information on insect oviposition is scattered throughout the second half of the book, it would have been very useful for the editors to write a synthetic chapter on this topic that specifically addressed the conservation and pest control implications of this topic. In fact, a synthetic overview seems to be the one key chapter missing from this volume. The editors briefly discuss the implications and future directions of insect egg chemoecology in their introduction, but it would have been more helpful to have a comprehensive chapter of this type at the end of the volume, especially addressing oviposition chemoecology.

Despite its few shortcomings, this edited volume will be a worthwhile addition to anyone interested in insect chemoecology. The editors did an excellent job of ensuring that each chapter followed a similar format, and the photos are superb throughout the text. This book will be more valuable to research efforts than to teaching needs and will undoubtedly spark discussion about its implications for pest control at extension, agricultural, and park facilities.

April M. Boulton
Department of Biology
Villanova University
Villanova, PA 19083
april.boulton@villanova.edu
American Entomologist
 Vol. 51, No.4, Winter 2005