Mosquitoes are small two-winged flies belonging to the order of Diptera, family Culicidae, subfamily Culicinae. The species are distributed all over the world, from the Arctic regions to the Tropics, but different species and genera are concerned in different faunal regions. The United States as here considered embraces the region between the Canadian and Mexican boundaries, including southern Florida and Alaska.

Insect collectors, breeders, photographers, and other nature hobbyists will find this book useful when searching for the walkingsticks of North America. The masterful camouflage of stick insects intrigues anyone who is fortunate to find and recognize one in the field. This guide provides data on known regions of inhabitation, host plant preferences, and characters to distinguish the various species. Also included are reprints of classic entomological studies on our native stick insects: systematics, natural history, and behavior.

With the double support of its back and belly, with alternate puffings and shrinkings, the animal easily advances or retreats along its gallery, a sort of mould which the contents fill without a gap. But if the locomotory pads grip only on one side progress becomes impossible. When placed on the smooth wood of my table, the animal wriggles slowly; it lengthens and shortens without advancing by a hair's-breadth.

The victim, a Beetle, is covered at all points with a suit of armour which the sting is unable to penetrate. The joints alone will allow the poisoned lancet to pass. Those of the legs do not in any way comply with the conditions imposed: the result of stinging them would be merely a partial disorder which far from subduing the insect, would render it more dangerous by irritating it yet further.

Although some 225 butterfly species occur in the Western Cape, relatively few can be regarded as common garden, park or wayside species. This is an informative, user-friendly guide that assists gardeners and nature lovers alike in identifying and enjoying the 53 species of butterfly that are common in urban areas in the region, and offers a brief, illustrated guide to the families to which these species belong. Both sexes of each of the 53 species are beautifully illustrated and in some cases, so is the relevant larva or pupa. The photographs are accompanied by informative text, detailing each species' life cycle, distribution, habitats and habits, and the larvae's most common food plants (including the Lycaenids' association with ants). Interesting snippets of information regarding the world in which these creatures live round off this unique guide to the butterflies of the Western Cape's gardens, parks and waysides.

A valuable new reference on insect behavior, this exceptional new text delves into the primary sensory communication system used by most insects -- their sense of smell. This important text covers how insects produce pheromones and how they detect pheromones and plant volatiles. Since insects rely on pheromone detection for both feeding and breeding, a better understanding of insect olfaction and pheromone biosynthesis could help curb the behavior of pests without the use of harmful pesticides and even help to reduce the socio-economic impacts associated to human-insect interactions.
* Covers biochemistry and molecular biology of insect pheromone production
* Explains pheromone production in moths, beetles, flies, and social insects
* Describes pheromone and plant volatile reception

Life scientists are increasingly drawn to the study of comparative evolutionary biology. Insect Development and Evolution is the first synthesis of knowledge of insect development within an evolutionary framework and the first to survey the genetic, molecular, and whole organism literature. Bruce S. Heming provides a detailed introduction to the embryonic and postembryonic development of insects. Topics include: * reproductive systems, * male and female gametogenesis, * sperm transfer and use, * fertilization, * sex determination, * parthenogenesis, * embryogenesis, * postembryogenesis, * hormones, * and the role of ontogeny in insect evolution.Summaries for each of these topics cover structural events; comparative aspects (inserted on a phylogeny of the insect orders); and hormonal, genetic, and molecular causal analyses.Insect Development and Evolution treats examples throughout the hexapods with frequent reference to the evolution and development of other invertebrates. It also compares insects to vertebrates and places insect development into context with fossil evidence and earth history. Heming's book will become an essential tool for students and teachers of entomology. It will also interest insect systematists and paleontologists, insect behavioral ecologists, insect pathologists, applied entomologists, developmental and invertebrate biologists, and all scientists who use Drosophila as a model

Insects are the most interesting and diverse group of organisms on earth, many of which are useful as pollinators of crops and wild plants while others are useful as natural enemies keeping pestiferous insects in check. It is important to conserve these insects for our survival and for this the diversity of insect species inhabiting the different ecosystems of our country must be known. The cornerstone to studies of any kind of organismal diversity is their taxonomic identity. Even after over two and half centuries of studies, so little is known of the insect wealth of our country. It has contributions from taxonomists who have been studying Indian insects for long, this book offers up to date information on many important groups of Indian insects seeking to fill the lacuna of a long felt need for a comprehensive work on the taxonomy of Indian insects. Salient features: Provides an up-to-date taxonomy of major insect groups of India Presents identification keys with illustrations of several important groups of Indian insects Gives a new insight into why insects are so abundant Addresses fundamental questions in mechanoreception and cross kingdom interactions using insects as model systems Indian Insects: Diversity and Science is a festschrift to Professor C. A. Viraktamath, an insect taxonomist par excellence. It has been designed to cater to the needs of academicians, researchers and students who wish to identify insects collected from local environments and will be an invaluable aid for those working in the areas of systematics, ecology, behaviour, diversity and the conservation of insects.

“This insidiously charming book teaches readers about the place of lepidoptery in the life sciences and the kinds of questions that natural scientists seek to answer....Like Nabokov himself, this volume exemplifies some of the virtues shared by art and science: wit, intelligence, and, above all, meticulousness.”-—The New Yorker

“Charming...In a world that often separates science and culture like church and state, this book reminds us that, for Nabokov, butterflies helped shape ‘a habitual way of looking at the world’ that was ultimately conducive to great literature and to great lepidoptery alike.”-—New York Times Book Review

“...a grand book: erudite, generous, and wise. It is written with a grace and intelligence worthy of its eponymous subject.”-—Boston Globe

“Readers with a taste for science and literature will love this book, which is both entertaining and polymathically informative—rather like the English/Russian, naturalist/novelist/scholar/artist Nabokov himself.”---Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Dinosaurs, however toothy, did not rule the earth--and neither do humans. But what were and are the true potentates of our planet? Insects, says Scott Richard Shaw--"millions" and "millions" of insect species. Starting in the shallow oceans of ancient Earth and ending in the far reaches of outer space--where, Shaw proposes, insect-like aliens may have achieved similar preeminence--"Planet of the Bugs" spins a sweeping account of insects' evolution from humble arthropod ancestors into the bugs we know and love (or fear and hate) today.
Leaving no stone unturned, Shaw explores how evolutionary innovations such as small body size, wings, metamorphosis, and parasitic behavior have enabled insects to disperse widely, occupy increasingly narrow niches, and survive global catastrophes in their rise to dominance. Through buggy tales by turns bizarre and comical--from caddisflies that construct portable houses or weave silken aquatic nets to trap floating debris, to parasitic wasp larvae that develop in the blood of host insects and, by storing waste products in their rear ends, are able to postpone defecation until after they emerge--he not only unearths how changes in our planet's geology, flora, and fauna contributed to insects' success, but also how, in return, insects came to shape terrestrial ecosystems and amplify biodiversity. Indeed, in his visits to hyperdiverse rain forests to highlight the current insect extinction crisis, Shaw reaffirms just how crucial these tiny beings are to planetary health and human survival.
In this age of honeybee die-offs and bedbugs hitching rides in the spines of library books, "Planet of the Bugs "charms with humor, affection, and insight into the world's six-legged creatures, revealing an essential importance that resonates across time and space.

Melanism: Evolution in Action describes investigations into a ubiquitous biological phenomenon, the existence of dark, or melanic, forms of many species of mammals, insects, and some plants. Melanism is a particularly exciting phenomenon in terms of our understanding of evolution. Unlike many other polymorphisms, the rise of a melanic population within a species is a visible alteration. Not only this, but melanism may sometimes occur dramatically quickly compared to other evolutionary change. Examples of melanism include one of the most famous illustrations of Darwinian natural selection, the peppered moth. This book, the first written on melanism since 1973, gives a lucid and up-to-date appraisal of the subject. The book is divided into ten chapters. The first four chapters place melanism into its historical and scientific context, with illustrations of its occurrence, and physical and genetic properties. Chapters 5-9 look in more detail at melanism in moths and ladybirds, explaining the diversity of evolutionary reasons for melanism, and the complexities underlying this apparently simple phenomenon. The final chapter shows how the study of melanism has contibuted to our understanding of biological evolution as a whole. Written in an engaging and readable style, by an author whose enthusiasm and depth of knowledge is apparent throughout, this book will be welcomed by all students and researchers in the fields of evolution, ecology, entomology, and genetics. It will also be of relevance to professional and amateur entomologists and lepidopterists alike.

Interest in the way in which symbiotic bacteria can manipulate reproduction in their invertebrate hosts has risen rapidly in recent years. Discoveries have ranged from bacteria that can determine the likelihood of their fruitfly hosts finding a partner to mate with to bacteria infecting woodlice that can cause sex changes in offspring. This unique book is the first comprehensive and systematic review of the 'reproductive parasites'. Written by leading experts in the field, it explores not only the intriguing theoretical questions raised by the relationships between symbiotic bacteria and their hosts, but also discusses a number of exciting practical applications, such as potential for controlling the reproduction of disease transmitting insects. Chapters on sex reversal, sex-ratio distortion, and evolution are also included. This timely and up-to-date volume will be important reading for researchers and students in the fields of entomology, evolution, ecology, genetics, and microbiology.

In this book, Ito presents data on tropical wasps which suggest that kin-selection has been overemphasized as an evolutionary explanation of sociality. He concentrates on the Vespidae (paper wasps and hornets), a group much discussed by evolutionary biologists because it exhibits all stages of social evolution: subsociality, primitive eusociality, and advanced eusociality. The author reports field observations by himself and others in Central America, Asia, and Australia, showing that multiple egg-layers in a nest are not uncommon. Because coexistence of many 'queens' leads to lower relatedness among colony members than in single-queen colonies, he suggests that kin-selection may not be the most powerful force determining observed social patterns. Instead, subsocial wasps may first have aggregated for defense purposes in habitats with a high risk of predation, with mutualistic associations among many queens. Through parental manipulation and then kin selection, differentiation into within-generation castes may have followed. Of interest to all students of ecology, evolution, and behavior, this book beautifully demonstrates the author's ability to combine wide-ranging data with thoughtful questions.

Introduces the world of insects, their body parts, behavior, life cycles, and orders of classification. Includes activities such as capturing live insects.

This comprehensive handbook, acclaimed when it was first published in 1976 as "one of the most useful reference manuals on diagnostic entomology yet produced," has now been completely revised and expanded to reflect recent advances in technology and the wealth of new information affecting the "Green Industry."Augmented by 241 full-color plates, it gives the essential facts about more than 900 species of insects, mites, and other animals that injure woody ornamental plants in the United States and Canada, and provides means of quick visual identification of both the pests and the damage they cause.

"This paperback revision will be especially helpful to specialists working among the forest of ill-defined and undescribed Ichneumonidae (the most speciose insect family). Luhman adopts a particularly modern presentation: a model for future ichneumonid revisions with good discussions of character analysis and phylogeny supporting his detailed diagnoses and thorough morphological descriptions." (Foster Purrington, Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, From Annuals of the Entomological Society of America, Vol. 84, no. 5).

This balanced, comprehensive account traces the alterations in body form that insects undergo as they adapt to seasonal change, exploring both theoretical aspects and practical issues, such as the impact of seasonality on insect pest management.