Page 17 - Dainfern Precinct October 2021

BOOK REVIEW

The book’s 40-page introductory section on the anatomy
and ecological role of insects is helpful in understanding
insect diversity, their anatomy, their habitats and their
individual ecological significance. The chapters that follow
examine, separately and in detail, the insect populations in
each of our nine biomes from coastal forest in the east to
our desert in the west. The region covered goes right up to
The citrus swallowtail butterfly pollinates fruit-bearing citrus
plants. Photo by Hennie de Klerk the Cunene/Zambezi line.
In a sense, this is an encyclopaedic book, though, It took the three authors 10 years just to assemble the
understand, it is far from being an encyclopaedia. It is material in an orderly and appealing way. They are Clarke
designed to flow as it intricately explores southern Africa’s Scholtz, professor of entomology at Pretoria; Jenny
various habitats and their insect dynamics, biome by biome. Scholtz who, for years, has been associated with nature
conservation; and Hennie de Klerk a metallurgist with a
As I burrowed through Pollinators, Predators & Parasites, life-long interest in insects and wildlife photography.
I felt strongly it should be in every school and university Between them, they have produced a landmark book on
library for it must rate among the top half-a-dozen important the natural history of southern Africa.
books on South Africa’s biological wonderland and, by far,
be the most comprehensive book we have on insects.

Nature could not function without insects. Just as South
Africa‘s variety of plants, mammals and birds is among
the richest in the world so is our variety of insects.
Without that variety, the Cape’s world-renowned floral
kingdom would not exist. And that’s just one incidental
aspect. Our beautiful variety of butterflies, the second
most important pollinators after the bees, is among the

world’s most diverse. African big-headed ant. Photo by Hennie de Klerk

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