BOOK REVIEW

By Carl Portman

“Mygales, Découverte Élevage”

by Jean-Michel Verdez and Frédéric Cléton

ISBN 2 85182 629 8

Price 249 F or 37,96 €

Available from Jean Michel Verdez

6 Rue Jean Couzy 62800 Liévin FRANCE

I am not a book reviewer by profession - indeed this is the first review I have ever written, but I feel compelled to say a few words about this publication.

First thing first, the book is written in French and the title literally means “Tarantulas, breeding and discovery”. It is prefaced by the renowned Dr Günter Schmidt who is synonymous with detailed work on theraphosid spiders. It is hardback, 190 pages long (or short depending on your point of view) and is filled from cover to cover with superb photographs of a wide range of tarantulas and related topics. Frédéric Cléton took most of the photographs and they are some of the best you will ever see. However others have contributed (Including BTS members) to make this book a real ‘must have’.

Jean-Michel Verdez is very well known throughout Europe and I suspect much further beyond. He has an infectious enthusiasm for tarantulas that knows no bounds and that is evident in the way the book has been professionally presented. Unfortunately I speak almost no French (English and German being all my brain can absorb!) so cannot accurately detail all the chapters. Suffice to say there is extensive text supported by photographs relating to habitat, biology, taxonomy, breeding and the general keeping of tarantulas. I have never even heard of some of the species shown within the pages of this publication. Could you recognise Tmesiphantes spinopalpus, Cyrtopholis pernix or Oligoxystre auratum?  

What do I not like about the book? Well I must be honest and say that it is only the language barrier that frustrates me but that is my fault and not the authors. 

However, do not let the fact that this book is in French put you off. One cannot help but be delighted with the quality of the photographs alone, some of which are rare indeed. Credit to the authors for involving other people in the tarantula fraternity to make this book possible.

Either learn French or keep this as a lovely reference work and hope one day that it is published in English. 

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