Description
Book SynopsisAcross the prairies and west to the Pacific, man has had to fight a constant battle against insect pests. He has had to learn about these enemies, and then how to control them. This is the story of entomology in western Canada from the time of the explorers to the outbreak of the Second World War – a history of a science, but also of a war.
Riegert describes the impact of insect hordes; from the mosquitoes which assaulted the Danish explore Jens Munk on the shores of Hudson Bay in 1619, to the devastating plagues of grasshoppers of the 1930s.
He tells of the experiences and contributions to entomology of early collectors and naturalists, both professional and amateur. In the face of insect threats to lives and fortunes, however, the task of the entomologist moved beyond identification and description into insect control. To suppress or eliminate certain species, quarantine and control laws were passed, chemical poisons used, predatory or parasitic species brought into act
