P. McEwen, T. R. New, and A. E. Whittington, Editors
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
2001, 546 pp.
Price: $130, hard cover
ISBN: 9-780521-772174

Generalist predators are an important source of mortality to numerous crop pests and are an integral and often underestimated component of agroecosystems. Lacewings are a major constituent of most generalist predator communities in cropping systems, and an understanding of their ecology and natural history is critical to their use in biological control. Lacewings in the Crop Environment is the most complete and impressive treatment available on biological control with lacewings. It ties aspects of the phylogenetics, physiology, and natural history of Chrysopidae, Hemerobiidae, and Coniopterygidae together with the underlying theme of biological control.

Although the applied aspects of lacewing ecology are implicit in the title, many of the chapters focus on basic principles of the insects’ physiology and ecology that would appeal to scientists with a more general interest in the biology of this group. The book is divided into four general sections that are devoted to the natural history of lace
wings, surveys of lacewing assemblages in agroecosystems, practices involved with biological control using lacewings, and case studies of biological control using lacewings.

The first part of this book is devoted to the systematics and ecology of lacewings, complete with keys and illustrations to the subfamilies of Coniopterygidae, Hemerobiidae, and Chrysopidae. Furthermore, general descriptions and distributions for adults in genera associated with biological control are provided and occasionally are accompanied by illustrations. Although this book does not contain keys to the genera and species of lacewing adults, this section is well referenced and provides an excellent first step for identifying specimens. Larvae are addressed in a separate chapter, and illustrations and keys are available for the limited number of species for which the preimaginal stages have been described. The final chapters of this section focus on many aspects of ontogeny, diet, habitat requirements, and general ecology of this group. This is the least "applied" section of the book and provides an excellent background on lacewing natural history, information that ultimately forms the basis of good biological control.

A significant effort must have gone into preparing the next section of the book, which addresses the presence and prevalence of lacewing species in many of the world’s crops and forests. Biological control in field crops is addressed in the first chapter, and important characteristics of lacewings that frequently occur in field crops are discussed. Just about everything that is grown commercially, but not considered a field crop, is presented in amazing detail by Ferene Szentkirályi in the next two chapters. For each system, a list of lace-wings species that occur in the crop is presented, as well as the relative abundance of each species. Also, biological control programs and the impact of lacewings on key pests of each system are discussed whenever information was available.

Factors and practices that influence the success and failure of biological control programs with lacewings are outlined in the third part of the book. Detailed reviews of mass production and release techniques, nutritional requirements and artificial diets, interactions of released lacewings with elements in the agroecosystem, and their compatibility with other pest management strategies are included here. This section of the book balances the discussion between the results of past research and identification of key areas that will shape the future of biological control with lacewings. For example, considerable attention is given to the mass production of lacewings for augmentation biological control and the interactions of lacewings with transgenic insecticidal crops.

Although considerable literature on biological control using lace-wings is available, there are still informational gaps about the importance of certain groups (more or less any lacewing not bearing the generic epithet Chrysoperla), and the role of lacewings as predators in certain important crop systems. The fourth section of the book addresses that informational void with detailed discussion of recent research involving the behavior and ecology of lacewings and their implementation as biological control agents. Most studies reported here focus on determining the biological control potential of lacewings (primarily endemic species) on crops or in geographic regions where their assemblages are not well studied. In many ways, this section of the book outlines research that will serve as the basis for future biological control programs.

Practitioners of biological control and integrated pest management should strongly consider adding Lacewings in the Crop Environment to their libraries. This book would also be a valuable reference for entomologists with a general interest in lacewings because many chapters focus on aspects of lacewing biology that only indirectly pertain to biological control. Another aspect of this book that I found particularly useful was its international perspective. Information on lacewing biological control programs and natural history has been compiled for many regions of the world, adding to the relevance of this composition.

In conclusion, I commend the authors and editors for the tremendous effort that must have gone into producing this magnificent review. This book is likely to be indispensable to neuropterists and the biological control community for many years to come.

Jonathan G. Lundgren
Department of Entomology
University of Illinois
320 Morrill Hall
505 S. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, IL 61820
American Entomologist
Vol. 49, No.3, Fall 2003