Scorpions of the World - Stockmann/Ythier - July 2010

[Kugellager]

POSITIVE!

This will be a very quick review in which I fully intend to write a more detailed version in the future. My one year old daughter takes up much of my free time but I had to get out my first impressions and opinions on this excellent new text.

Scorpions of the World by Roland Stockmann and Eric Ythier
Forward: Victor Fet
567 pages

http://scorpionsworld.com/

The cost as printed on the cover and at link above is
75 euro which runs about $98US as of my post today.
Published by N.A.P. Editions - France
www.napeditions.com
ISBN 978-2-913688-11-7​

This book is sure to become the definitive scorpion field guide for years to come. This field guide sits right between a Simon and Schusters field guide and a comprehensive scientific text on scorpions.

I have read just about every non-scientific and many scientific books on scorpions and their biology written in the last 40 years and have to say that this is the scorpion book I would have written if I had done it myself.

It has a wealth of biologic, taxonomic, habitat and visual information that anyone who has any interest in scorpions needs to know as well as enough detailed taxonomic and ecologic content for the budding scorpionologist.

The first large section gives an overview of scorpion history, taxonomy, anatomy, collection techniques and tips, general husbandry and even some scorpion myths to start. There are also several well done color plates near the front and many excellent drawings throughout.

The photographic and species description section of the book (nearly half the book) is divided up into geographic regions. The geographic regions are further subdivided up into species groups of which there are three descriptions per leaf. Each left-hand page contains the detailed descriptions of three species with its corresponding photographs on the opposite page of the leaf. The beautiful photographs are sure to make any scorpion enthusiast drool on the pages.

The last major section is composed of lists of species and their distribution in the world followed by a glossary, photo credits and the index.

I will try to expand this as I have more time.

All I can say is that if you like scorpions, invertebrate biology, or animal field guides this is a MUST for even a basic collection.

John
];')

 

[skinheaddave]

"If you want to just keep scorpions in boxes then get Rubio's book, published by Barrons. If you want to know about scorpions with some depth, get The Biology of Scorpions, Polis, 1990. There are lots of books on scorpions but these are the only two you must have." ... this has been what I've been saying for the last decade.

Well this morning when I picked up my mail that all changed. I have to echo what John has said here .. this is an incredible book! I've not read it all but what I have read has been spot on and decently detailed. For those in the hobby and those who straddle the hobby and academia, this is an invaluable reference. Granted, the book is worth the price for the pictures alone .. but the real value here is in the text.

The first half of the text is an overview of the various sections mentioned in John's review. The scope of the material covered here rivals that in Polis, 1990 but with the information having been updated in the last 20 years. That being said, it is not a scientific text and is written in very accesible language.

The second half is almost like a field guide. Beautiful pictures and brief descriptions of the animals which include useful features like pectine tooth counts. Obviously the ID of something like scorpions from this sort of material is an uphill battle .. but given the nature of the challenge I would say they have done remarkably well.

I do appreciate the fact that the text makes reference to its own limitations. It aknowledges where it simply cannot provide the detail one might find elsewhere in specialist papers. While I was disapointed that the text is not fully referenced, this shortcoming is also aknowledged in the references section.

I still recommend that you get the other two books I've mentioned. The Barron's book is under $10 and well worth it. Polis, 1990 is stil indispensable. I would have to say, though, that nobody's library is going to be complete without this text by Stockman and Ythier. If you had to buy only one of the three, this would be the one I recommend at this time. Yes, you heard me. Buy this book.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Ythier]

Wow guys...:8o
Thanks very much.
It took us 3 years to write this book, but it seems we did not loose our time, that is great. This is a book without any pretension and reading such kind words is our best recompense.
Thanks
Eric