Introduction to California Beetles.

Arthur V. Evans & James N. Hogue
University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
2004, 316 pp.
Price: $39.95 hardcover (ISBN 0-520-24034-0)
$16.95 paperback (ISBN 0-520-24035-9)

Field Guide to California Beetles.

Arthur V. Evans & James N. Hogue (November 2006)
University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London.
2006, 362 pp.
Price: $65.00 hardcover (ISBN-10 0-520-24665-1)
$24.95 paperback (ISBN-10 0-520-24657-8)

These companion volumes are finally both available, and the opportunity to review them together seems an appropriate course of action. The diversity and endemicity of the flora and fauna of California have been well-known for generations. These two volumes contribute to the appreciation of California by discussing the components of the most successful ordinal taxon in nature. The California Beetle Project at the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum (http://www.sbnature.org/collections/invert/entom/
cbphomepage.php) estimates that “10,000 or more beetle species call California home.” And while that number might be high (or more likely low), the challenge to introduce such a vast subject to the general public, whether in one or two volumes, in less than 700 pages, will likely produce a diversity of opinions from those who will acquire the volumes for a variety of uses.

The first volume, Introduction to California Beetles, now more than three years in print, is indeed an introduction to the subject of beetles and California. Following a brief Introduction, there are seven chapters to this first book. The first is “A Brief History of Beetle Study in California,” which looks at the encounters with and uses of beetles by native Americans, events during early European colonization, natural history studies by Russian explorers, and subsequent entomological exploration via military outposts. Next is a short discussion of four California centers for beetle study, and the chapter concludes with brief entomological biographies for eight California beetle workers: LeConte, Horn, Casey, Fall, Blaisdell, Van Dyke, Leech, and Linsley.

The chapters following this historical introduction focus on a wide range of topics pertinent to modern coleopterology. A chapter on the anatomy, morphology, and taxonomic and systematic relationships of beetles kicks things off. Other chapters discuss various aspects of the life history of beetles (metamorphosis, mating, feeding, symbiosis, and defensive strategies), and the biogeography of California as it relates to beetles. These topics become quite important during the in-depth discussion of the most speciose and frequently encountered 23 families of beetles provided in the sixth chapter. In a hodge-podge of interesting topics, the chapter “Beetles of Special Interest” informs the reader on diverse topics ranging from fossil beetles to modern sensitive species, with diversions into forest and urban pests and invasive species that Californians should be on the lookout for.

The text of the first book is wrapped up in the final chapter with the topic of “Studying Beetles.” This chapter discusses the practical aspects associated with beetle study, including the seasonality, habitat and locality, ethics of collecting, equipment for observing and collecting beetles, records and notes, making a collection or keeping them alive in captivity, pet store beetles, photography, and beetle-watching with binoculars. The final 44 pages are appendices that include: 1) a checklist of beetle families known in North America; 2) sensitive beetle species in California; 3) collections, societies, and other resources; 4) selected references by chapter and 5) an index. This volume has 61 color photographs (51 beetles and 20 habitats), 10 black-and-white photographs, seven line illustrations, and one map, which is not an overwhelming amount of illustrative support. However, this low level of illustration seems adequate considering the introductory nature of the topic, and the fact that Volume 2 is not only much more specific, but also more generously filled with beetle photos.

 The second volume, Field Guide to California Beetles, is exactly what its title suggests. But with only 362 pages and 300 color plates, the depth of coverage only introduces the tip of the beetle iceberg found in this state. The introduction is largely repetitive of the first volume, and is followed by three important pages (How to Use This Book; pp. 25-27), which advise readers about using the book in the field. This section also instructs readers how to make identifications via the illustrated key that follows as well as how to interpret the subsequent 56 beetle family accounts (115 of 127 beetle families that occur in North America are found in California).

The Illustrated Key to Families of California Beetles is an interesting attempt to provide a quick pass through obvious morphological features that help the reader to narrow a putative identification down to a family or group of families. The line drawings that illustrate the couplets are clear, which makes navigating the key easy. But each of the 22 couplets in the key provides multiple choices as to what a specimen could be, and I think that this may lead to confusion for the reader. This is particularly so when the reader collects one of the 56 families that are not treated in the key.

The Family Accounts are arranged phylogenetically (more or less), starting with Cupedidae and ending with the weevils (including bark and ambrosia beetles). Each family account gives both the common and scientific family names, and brief discussions of a) identification, b) similar California families, c) California fauna and d) collecting methods. The center of the field guide contains 300 color plates, with 2 to 4 plates per page, arranged by family in the same order presented in the text. In addition to the color plates, 110 drawings illustrate the introduction and key. The field guide concludes with similar information to that of the first volume, detailed above. The quality of the color plates is mixed; for those species captured in situ, the photographs are uniformly very good. However, for those beetle species not willing to linger and pose for Jim Hogue (and colleagues) along the way, photos of museum specimens are included, and these photos are neither uniform in quality nor particularly useful. However, all is not lost since they do add to the diversity of taxa that are discussed.

In the most honest and obvious statement these authors could make, they write on page 25, “There is a real possibility that the beetle before you may not appear in the book.” To summarize the contents, this volume covers 569 species in 56 families, obviously far below the estimate of 10,000 beetle species thought to occur within California. Clearly, the authors faced a dilemma when selecting which species to detail and illustrate from this vast fauna. Thus, the chances of a few users living, collecting, or traveling through widely divergent regions or localities in California during any given year or season and trying to identify a certain beetle species are slim. For example, the largest beetle family in California is Staphylinidae (rove beetles) with an estimated 1,200 species, but only three species are illustrated in color and discussed in detail in the field guide. Anyone who has done much general insect collecting knows that rove beetles are conspicuous and often abundant, but since most species are small, dark-colored, and difficult to identify below subfamily or tribal ranks, how many more species accounts or color photos would have been needed in this group? The scarabs and their familial relatives have slightly more than 300 species in California and are illustrated on 34 plates; cerambycids: 316 species, 41 plates; click beetles: 300 species, 13 plates; tenebrionids: 445 species, 17 plates; leaf beetles: 534 species, 17 plates; weevils and their relatives: 600 species, 14 plates; buprestids: 271 species, 15 plates.  Frankly, I don’t know a fairer treatment than to illustrate and detail the more common and speciose families, as was done in this guide. As an aside, I’m grateful that one of California’s rare jewels, Juniperella mirabilis (Buprestidae) is added on Plate 94. This is the first published photo of a species that has been seen alive by fewer than 10 people since its description in 1947, and I’d be surprised if anyone that purchases this guide will ever see a live specimen! To conclude, if this guide can be viewed as the greatest hits of the band “California Beetles,” each of us might wonder why their particular favorite was left out. But with this in mind, what species would we scratch from the 362 pages to make room our omitted favorites?

For some reason, the soft-bound companion volumes are of different cover styles, sizes, and bindings, in spite of both volumes being published by UC Press. This is awkward for those who prefer an organized book-shelf, but the soft-bound versions are economically priced. Otherwise, I found no flaws in production and no errors, while I noted that the choice of paper is very good. I would recommend these books to anyone interested in beetles, in general entomology, and in California or North American natural history. Also, I recommend it to those simply wishing to learn about real biodiversity and who may be tired of the redundant guides to birds, reptiles, and mammals which spend far too much effort on too small a part of our native biota.

C. L. Bellamy
Plant Pest Diagnostics Center
California Department of Food and Agriculture
Sacramento CA
E-mail: cbellamy@cdfa.ca.gov
American Entomology
Vol. 53, No.3, Falll 2007