Tiger Beetles of Alberta: Killers on the Clay, Stalkers on the Sand

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

Written by noted naturalist and television personality John Acorn
(a.k.a. The Nature Nut), this is the first in a planned series of
volumes about Alberta’s insects. Tiger beetles are large as beetles go
and have beautiful markings and colors on their wing covers. There are
19 species of tiger beetles in Alberta, and Acorn wants the reader to
get to know and love every one of them. He has designed his book, which
includes excellent photographs and lucid distribution maps, to be of use
to everyone from “beetle-loving kids to working entomologists.”

The text is approachable and goes beyond the usual field guide content
to include information on tiger beetle classification, how to photograph
them, and conservation issues. It also contains personal and anecdotal
stories involving members of the rather small community of tiger beetle
lovers in Alberta. The book concludes with a checklist, a key, a source
list, a bibliography, a glossary, and a gallery of tiger beetles.
Recommended for all libraries supporting entomological research and for
the natural history collections of public- and high-school libraries in
the Prairie provinces.