To those who for the first time visit a tropical country nothing is more striking than the extraordinary profusion of insect life. Some by their abundance, others by their bizarre form, others again by the brilliance of their colouring or through some suggestive vague resemblance to familiar northern forms, stimulate curiosity and excite a longing to learn more of their strange lives. This need the authours have attempted to satisfy in so far as it can be done within the limits of a single volume. Such a work must of course be sketchy, and probably no one realises this better that the authors themselves. Insects are already responsible for 14 volumes of the Fauna of British India and the tale is yet to run.