Pollinators, predators and parasites: the ecological roles of insects in Southern Africa by Clarke Scholtz, Jenny Scholtz and Hennie de Klerk.

The recently-published book ‘Pollinators, predators and parasites: the ecological roles of insects in Southern Africa’ had its genesis in the various insect biology courses Clarke Scholtz taught in the Department of Zoology and Entomology over the past 40 years and after teaming up with his conservationist wife, Jenny, and metallurgist-trained (also a UP graduate) passionate natural history photographer, Hennie de Klerk, started on a 10-year journey to review, research and photograph the insect fauna that culminated in the book.

It was planned to fill a gap on local insect biology and that it would be useful as a student textbook since most of the ecological attributes of the dominant insect groups in the region are covered, but also that it would appeal to a wide variety of entomologists, naturalists, agriculturalists, farmers and veterinarians. The 1 600 beautiful photos in the book should also appeal to anyone who appreciates the aesthetic splendour of the region’s (and the world’s) most abundant and ecologically important animals.