Norwegian Journal of Entomology - Norsk entomologisk forening

Book review – Bokanmeldelse
On the critical side I would have liked to see
more accurate distributional data on the species
in Sweden. For each species only the provinces
have been listed along with a small map where the
relevant provinces have been filled in black. Of
course, it is a daunting and perhaps overwhelming
task to compile all distributional data for a nation
with as long an araneological history as Sweden,
but the omission of such data means that the
book is not ideal for use in faunistical surveys,
although the maps do provide a general indication
of the distribution of the species. Perhaps the
weakest part of the book has to do with the habitat
descriptions. These are very brief and often only
based on a single source (references for these
are frequently not provided) and are of little use
for ecological purposes. The book clearly does
not emphasise the ecology of these fascinating
animals. With such data included this would have
been a perfect book for the spider enthusiast. I
would also have liked to see a small chapter on
the history of araneology in Sweden.
There are also a few minor inconsequential errors
or omissions in the book. In the introduction the
number of known spiders species is given as
34.000, which clearly shows that the author has
been working on this series for a long time! As
56
of January 2005 the number of described spider
species in the world are 39.112! Furthermore,
the male palpal organ of Aculepeira lapponica
is not illustrated, presumably because a male has
not been collected in Sweden. On the other hand,
while no Swedish male of Argiope bruennichi
is known either, a specimen from Germany has
been used as basis for an illustration of its palpal
organ. It is a pity that no male A. lapponica could
be obtained, although the male has been described
from Finland. This applies to a few other species
as well.
These comments, however, are minor points only
which in no way diminishes the fact that this is a
stunning work and an excellent book.