John H. Acorn
The University of Alberta Press, Edmonton,
Alberta 2001, 120 pp.
Price: $19.95, ISBN 0-88864-345-4

When a person with the self-assuredness and wit needed to present himself to the world as "The Nature Nut" on television turns to produce a series of field guides, you should be prepared for something different. This is exactly what John "The Nature Nut" Acorn has delivered in the first of what is promised in the Preface to be a series of Alberta insect guides. The subtitle is the first clue that something different lurks within The Tiger Beetles of Alberta: Killers on the Clay, Stalkers on the Sand. A quick look at the Table of Contents confirms this suspicion, as my eye was drawn immediately to the heading Chicken Chokers and Anchor Backs: An Introduction to Tiger Beetles. Be warned at this point that this is NOT going to be the standard review of a standard entomology book.

For many years I, and others, have despaired that the beautiful language, wit, and insight of early twentieth century entomologists and naturalists have been subsumed in a culture that requires bland, dry and dispassionate prose laden with as much jargon as possible. John Acorn has identified this to be a reason for our lack of success in attracting avocational adherents to the beauty and wonder of the insect world. He refuses to talk down to his audience. Tiger Beetles of Alberta is not a simplified and pedantic farce, which we too often see in "popular guides," but a new way of presenting detailed, accurate information.

This slim volume is Acorn’s shot across our professional bow. He has produced a meticulously accurate and beautifully illustrated work on a group of engaging but under-appreciated beetles from what many would assume to be a nearly abiotic region. However, he has done it with as many departures as he dares (and this is a daring man) from the stuffy style we usually see in insect faunal works. If this book succeeds in attracting any significant portion of the Alberta public to the appeal of insect study, it may eventually be considered a groundbreaking classic on the scale of Roger Tory Peterson’s Field Guide to the Birds (Peterson 1939).

Acorn presents chapters on cicindeline life cycles, habitat, and taxonomy, collecting and watching tiger beetles, and conservation issues; but none of the phrases from this list of standard topics appears in the chapter headings. Instead, the reader is invited to visit the topics: "Life of a Tiger Beetle, Why Would They Want to Live There", "The Tiger Beetles of Alberta", "A Few Reassuring Words About Tiger-Beetle Classification," "The Joys of Tiger Beetling," and "Should We Be Protecting the Tiger Beetles of Alberta?" As a professional Coleopterist based in the northern Rockies and Great Plains region, I felt that the information he presented was detailed and accurate—just far more interesting to read and better illustrated than normal, with fantastic photos that include the whimsical and personal with the scientific.

In the introduction, Acorn introduces "Chicken Chokers and Anchor Backs" with a diagnosis and discussion of easily confused groups, folk-lore associated with tiger beetles, a discussion of the goals and geographic coverage of the book, short profiles of important Alberta tiger beetlers, and a heads-up on the dangers of expeditions in search of big-time small game (don’t laugh, there are mountain lions, cliffs, rattlesnakes, grizzly bears, and armed ranchers out there in the wilds of Alberta).

The first chapter introduces tiger beetle life cycles in a "day in the life" style. Photos of the life stages in natural habitats, feeding and reproductive behaviors, and parasitoids illustrate the text. Because only 20 species, all members of Cicindela, occur in Alberta, this chapter is relatively brief. Chapter 2, "Why Would They Want to Live There?" covers tiger beetle habitat, and is illustrated with some of the least scenic photos of beautiful Alberta ever published. No one is going to be disappointed when they get to one of these places and it isn’t what they expected!

The next chapter, "The Tiger Beetles of Alberta" takes up half the book. It introduces basic morphology needed to identify the species, maps of the best sites for observing and collecting in the province, and divides the species into four groups: the tiny tiger beetles (subgenus Cylindera), curlicue tiger beetles (Ellipsoptera), American tiger beetles (subgenus Cicindelidia, apparently allowed into Canada without passports), and temperate tiger beetles (subgenus Cicindela). Each of the 20 species known from Alberta is introduced with a descriptive haiku—yes, I am serious, and yes, they are good. Also provided is a common name, the scientific name with a pronunciation guide, a photo, range map for both Alberta and North America, and text on identification, name, classification, ecology and personal, often very personal, anecdotes. Each time I read one of these, I had an urge to head north with my net.

Chapter 4, "A Few Reassuring Words About Tiger-Beetle Classification," gives a straightforward treatment on the proper job of the scientific naming system, and on the different views about the correct taxonomic levels assigned to this group (family or subfamily, one genus or many). This treatment heads off one of the obvious places that a pretentious "expert" might intimidate the newbie. The information is amazingly complete in terms of distilling the debate to its need-to-know basics, but only takes two pages.

In "The Joys of Tiger Beetling," Acorn discusses the activities of the tiger beetler—photographing, capturing, handling, rearing, and observing with the "Carroll Perkins Gizmo," a unique close-focusing binocular. This chapter provides my main complaint with the book. On page 89, there is a photo of what is termed the proper form for netting tiger beetles, a sort of squatting Tai-Chi system most useful for cold or distracted specimens. In my experience, this is clearly less effective and sporting than the over-the-shoulder-spring-crouch method, which is unexplainably not covered at all.

The last chapter abandons the lighthearted tone of the earlier sections and eloquently discusses the challenges of tiger beetle conservation in the context of general insect conservation and political realities. Acorn places the problem correctly as one of habitat loss and the need to develop human interest and awareness. After an even-handed discussion of the value of insect collecting, Acorn ends with these thoughts: "There is a place for insect collecting, but its ability to inspire large numbers of people to a deep appreciation of nature has proven itself to be limited. It is therefore time to broaden our approach. …. In other words, it is time for us to try insect-watching, and what better place could there be to start than by admiring a few good tiger beetles?"

Three appendices offer a checklist, a key to species (a bone thrown to traditionalists, but not needed for actual identification in the face of all the small, well-illustrated fauna), and a list of sources of equipment and information. These are followed by a glossary, bibliography and gallery of standardized illustrations of all Alberta species and their various morphs.

The entire book is well-produced, with clear crisp photos on high-quality paper, excellent editing and a general lack of mistakes, both factual and typographical. The volume is clearly aimed at the amateur naturalist, but anyone looking for the best information on tiger beetles in or near Alberta will find this book useful. Although the book is taxonomically useful only in a limited area (well, actually an area about the size of Texas, but an off-the-beaten-path area), I suggest that every entomologist who has fond memories of entomology field trips to do things you just couldn’t explain to your grandmother will enjoy reading this book. And, for every author that wants to write for a broad public, keep an eye on this title. Clearly, I loved it as much as literature as for the entomological aspects.

If you are still wondering what a Chicken Choker is, I won’t spoil it for you. You need to read this book.

Michael A. Ivie
Department of Entomology
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
e-mail: mivie@montana.edu
American Entomologist
Vol. 48, No.2, Summer 2002