Dragonflies of Taiwan
By Liang-Jong Wang – (2000)
349 pages; gloss art paper, with 660 colour photos.
Soft Cover: 20cm x 21cm.
ISBN: 957-30885-1-7
Jem Jem Calendar Co. Taiwan.
Language: Chinese/English
I had searched high and low for a copy of this book but to no avail, as it is now out of print and the company that published it apparently no longer exists. However, by a stroke of immeasurable good fortune, Fang-Ying Huang of Insect-Sale Taiwan, sent me their personal copy as a gift for which I will be forever grateful.
This is quite an interesting book, of which, the bulk of the text is in Chinese and so for me personally, not a Chinese speaker let alone reader of that language can make little use of the text. However, all photos are labelled with their scientific name in English and there is with each species under the sub headings ‘Natural History’ and ‘Distribution’ very useful data in English. The listing of literature references in the back is also in English, with the contents page and Taiwan odonata checklist bilingual Chinese/English.
The opening introduction contains notes on the two suborders of the Odonata, habitat and environs, morphology, life history, ecological behavior, thermoregulation, reproductive behavior inclusive of courtship, sperm transfer, mating and oviposition etc. With the exception of the subheadings, the text is in Chinese. Yet, there are many nice colour photos within those opening pages where the captions for each photo, often with helpful notes and observations besides the scientific name, are in English.
The book is divided into two main chapters the suborders Zygoptera and Anisoptera. The species are presented in their genera within the families that occur in Taiwan. Again, the bulk of the text and all measurements etc. are in Chinese. However, as already stated above, the notes on natural history and distribution are in English and there are some very useful observations here on habitat and altitudinal occurrence. Each species has at least one colour photo, some species have many.
The greatest appeal of this book (not reading or speaking Chinese) is the amazing array of photos, most of which are very nice quality and close up in view allowing observation of finer detail. Although this book is predominantly Chinese text, the many fantastic photos, Taiwanese Odonata checklist along with good notes on natural history and distribution in English with the informative captioned photos in English in the introductory pages, makes it an excellent source on the Taiwanese Odonata and for cross reference with other books on Asian odonates and other geographic ranges.
Even though this book is very useful, I do have one criticism and that is the incomplete distributional notes of some species. For the immediate region i.e. Taiwan, China and Japan, the notes are consistent with each species. But some species occurring further afield, in some cases distribution is incomplete, such as Lestes praemorsus distribution is listed as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea – but no mention of Thailand, Malaysia or Indochina. There are a few other species where the distribution information is also incomplete. Further, the book itself is a little weighty and a not so user friendly size for the field and no doubt best kept at home or in the car while out in the field.
Those things aside, this is a good book and should a copy second hand or otherwise become available from any source, then grab it while you can, as it is very useful and the many wonderful colour photos makes it worth purchasing alone.
Rod Rice
Principal Reviewer
Nature & Travel Books