Zygoptera completes the two volume work on the order Odonata in the Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects.

The Zygoptera volume encompasses the relatively small dragonflies, often called damselflies. A brief review of the biology of the group includes illustrations of the main morphological features as well as explanations of alternative systems for naming the wing veins and other characteristics commonly used to distinguish the species. This will show the user of the identification keys in the volume the alternative names for the anatomical structures most frequently encountered in the literature. The sections on the morphology of the adults and larvae are followed by brief discussions of ecological and zoogeographical factors influencing the distribution of the dragonflies and instructions on the various methods used to observe, collect, preserve, and examine specimens.

Most of the book is devoted to keys that facilitate identification of both adults and those larvae which have already been described. For the first time, all of the available information needed to identify the adults of all recognized species inhabiting South America has been compiled from a large number of individual taxonomic works written in six languages during the past two centuries. Separate keys are provided to identify all larvae that have been positively identified and described prior to early 2007. In addition to the descriptions of the morphological features used to distinguish the species, the keys provide the known ranges listed by country and by states within Brazil, as well as the synonyms most likely to be encountered in the literature. The publications cited with the species names andin the keys can be found compiled in an extensive bibliography, informing the user where more extensive species descriptions and additional information about each species can be located. Although taxonomic revisions are deliberately avoided, suggestions for additional research and the opinions of experts concerning immanent taxonomic changes are provided where appropriate.

To provide the user of the keys with maximum assistance in making reliable identifications, the book is richly illustrated with pen and ink drawings of thousands of individual morphological structures arranged in 767 figures. It is certain that many significant changes will occur in the systematics of South American damselflies in the future, and this book is meant to provide the impetus needed to accelerate the work of nomenclature and revision. Meanwhile, it will provide a comprehensive overview of the South American Zygoptera that has hitherto remained almost unobtainable to most South American scientists because of the great difficulties in obtaining the numerous publications from numerous countries in which the original descriptions of species and taxonomic revisions have appeared. It also provides student entomologists with a basic text for learning what they need to know to work effectively with the Zygoptera of South America and adjacent regions.

Already published within this encyclopedia:

-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Collembola ISBN: 978-0-7923-6704-8
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Ephemeroptera ISBN: 978-1-4020-0775-0
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Plecoptera ISBN: 978-1-4020-1520-5

-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Odonata-Anisoptera ISBN: 978-1-4020-4801-2

Forthcoming book titles:

-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Orthoptera
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Heteroptera;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Neuroptera, including Megaloptera
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Trichoptera
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Lepidoptera
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Coleoptera
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Diptera
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Hymenoptera

This book is the first to explore in detail the systematics and taxonomy of the digenean fauna of fish in Indian marine waters. It includes morphological descriptions of 648 species in 190 genera and 30 families. The figures from the original publications are enhanced and made more attractive. Each description is accompanied by information on hosts and distribution. Digenetic trematodes, usually known as Digeneans, are the most diverse group of metazoan parasites of marine fishes. They are parasitic flatworms (Phylum Platyhelminthes) with a complex life-cycle and as adults inhabit mainly the alimentary system and associated organs, but also occur in the blood, under the scales, in the body cavity and in the gall and urinary bladders. Keys to families, genera and species are provided, except for a few large and controversial genera, where morphological characters are insufficient for identification. Although there is extensive literature on Digeneans, it is scattered and largely in obscure local journals. Bringing together most of the primary literature on the subject, this book provides a primer for further study and a starting point for the use of modern molecular methods for the fauna of this region. Unique in its scope, it is a valuable resource for students, professional parasitologists and ecologists as well as fishery and wildlife biologists.

Physiological Systems in Insects, Fourth Edition explores why insects have become the dominant animals on the planet. Sections describe the historical investigations that have led us to our current understanding of insect systems. Integrated within a basic physiological framework are modern molecular approaches that provide a glimpse of the genetic and evolutionary frameworks that testify to the unity of life on earth. This updated edition describes advances that have occurred in our understanding of hormone action, metamorphosis, and reproduction, along with new sections on the role of microbiomes, insecticide action and its metabolism, and a chapter on genetics, genomics and epigenetic systems. The book represents a collaborative effort by two internationally known insect physiologists who have instructed graduate courses in insect physiology. As such, it is the ideal resource for entomologists and those in other fields who may require knowledge of insect systems.

What exactly is our relationship with insects? Are they more beneficial or harmful? What role do they play in the world? What are the effects of climate change: Will the number of insects continue to increase? This book discusses the beneficial and harmful effects of insects and explains their development and significance for biodiversity. This second, fully reviewed and enlarged, edition provides new insights, especially about the value of specific insect species that are generally seen as pests (e.g. ants and moths), as well as an extended chapter on the development of insects and especially their decline in different regions in the world, the industrialized countries in particular. Numerous info graphics show connections between changes in the environment due to human expansion and the number of insects and species. Studies from the US, Canada, Asia, Africa, Europe and Switzerland are used to point out the dramatic reduction of biodiversity. New tables illustrate these developments. The glossary as well as the insects index is extended, the text, tables, pictures and graphs provide even more well-rounded image. Readers will find the argumentation even more clearly and detailed.

Leading experts in the field bring together diverse aspects of insect timing mechanisms. This work combines three topics that are central to the understanding of biological timing in insects: circadian rhythms, photoperiodism, and diapause. The common theme underlining each of the contributions to this book is an understanding of the timing of events in the insect life cycle. Most daily activities (emergence, feeding, mating, egg laying, etc.) undertaken by insects occur at precise times each day. Likewise, seasonal events such as the entry into or termination from an overwintering dormancy (diapause) occur at distinct times of the year. This book documents such events and provides an up-to-date interpretation of the molecular and physiological events undergirding these activities.

The study of circadian rhythms has undergone a flowering in recent years with the molecular dissection of the components of the circadian clock. Now that many of the clock genes have been identified it is possible to track daily patterns of clock-related mRNAs and proteins to link the entraining light cycles with molecular oscillations within the cell. Insect experiments have led the way in demonstrating that the concept of a "master clock" can no longer be used to explain the temporal organization within an animal. Insects have a multitude of cellular clocks that can function independently and retain their function under organ culture conditions, and they thus offer a premier system for studying how the hierarchical organization of clocks results in the overall temporal organization of the animal. Photoperiodism, and its most obvious manifestation, diapause, does not yet have the molecular underpinning that has been established for circadian rhythms, but recent studies are beginning to identify genes that appear to be involved in the regulation of diapause. Overall, the book presents the rich diversity of challenges and opportunities provided by insects for the study of timing mechanisms.

The Sirex woodwasp, Sirex noctilio, is the most important invasive alien insect pest of Pinus plantations in the Southern Hemisphere. It now also threatens pines in North America. This book brings together the worldwide knowledge of researchers from Universities and Government institutions, as well as forest industry practitioners that have worked on the pest. Importantly, it is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject since S. noctilio was discovered outside its native range around 1900. The book covers all aspects of the biology and management of S. noctilio, including aspects of the insects' taxonomy, general life history, host-plant relationships, population dynamics, chemical ecology and symbiosis with the fungus Amylostereum areolatum. The book also contains a comprehensive synthesis of the history and current status of the pest and worldwide efforts to control it, including biological control, silviculture and quarantine.

The fifth and last Volume of this IPMD series reviews, in a multi-disciplinary approach, recent achievements in crop protection and integrated management of arthropod pests. The volume is organized in a first Section covering IPM in citrus productions, a Second one dealing with advacements in the integratioon of management technologies and a last Section covering mites and their biological control agents. As for the previous volumes, we attempted to provide an informative coverage for a broad range of agricultural systems and situations. The chapters are mainly organized and centered on crops, with a particular emphasis on citrus. This is one of the main crops in which biological control and IPM approaches were tested successfully, and the experience gained herein may indeed result helpful for IMP efforts deployed worldwide on other crops and/or cropping systems. Chapters in Section 2 review the integration of insect and disease management options in pecan crops, the application of remote sensing technologies, the status of knowledge about plant defense compounds and their potentials. For IPM of invasive species, an update is provided on the experience gained on the Red Palm Weevil (RPW) in Egypt. Long-term technological solutions for IPM in forests and park areas through aerial treatments with Bt spores concludes this Section. Finally, in Section 3, updated reviews about biological control agents of mites are provided.

Covering 100 years of zoological research, the Handbook of Zoology represents a vast store of knowledge. Handbook of Zoology provides an in-depth treatment of the entire animal kingdom covering both invertebrates and vertebrates. It publishes comprehensive overviews on animal systematics and morphology and covers extensively further aspects like physiology, behavior, ecology and applied zoological research. Although our knowledge regarding many taxonomic groups has grown enormously over the last decades, it is still the objective of the Handbook of Zoology to be comprehensive in the sense that text and references together provide a solid basis for further research. Editors and authors seek a balance between describing species richness and diversity, explaining the importance of certain groups in a phylogenetic context and presenting a review of available knowledge and up-to-date references. New contributions to the series present the combined effort of an international team of editors and authors, entirely published in English and tailored to the needs of the international scientific community. Upcoming volumes and projects in progress include volumes on Annelida (Volumes 1-3), Bryozoa, Mammalia, Miscellaneous Invertebrates, Nannomecoptera, Neomecoptera and Strepsiptera and are followed later by fishes, reptiles and further volumes on mammals. Background The renowned German reference work Handbook of Zoology was founded in the 1920's by Professor Willi Kukenthal in Berlin and treated the complete animal kingdom from single cell organisms to mammals in eight thematic volumes: Volume I Protozoa, Porifera, Colenteratea, Mesozoa (1925); Volume II Vermes (1933/34); Volume III Arthropoda ex. Insecta (1927/1932); Volume IV Arthropoda: Insecta; Volume V Solenogastres, Mollusca, Echinoderma (1925); Volume VI Pisces / Amphibia (1930); Volume VII Reptilia / Aves (1931); Volume VIII Mammalia. The Volumes IV Arthropoda: Insecta and VII Mammalia continued publication into the present with the most recent contributions in English language. Adapting to the accelerating speed of scientific discovery in the past decades the Handbook of Zoology entered a next phase in 2010. In the new edition of the Handbook of Zoology, the original eight thematic volumes gave way for smaller and more flexible groupings that reflect the current state of phylogenetic knowledge. All subsequent volumes were published in print as well as e-book format. The Handbook of Zoology is additionally offered as a database, the Handbook of Zoology Online, which can easily be searched and rapidly updated. Original Handbook material (ca. 28 000 pages) has been reordered along taxonomic (instead of bibliographical) categories and forms the historical basis of this Online Reference Work. As a living Online Reference, the content is continuously updated and new content added. The material can be accessed through taxonomic and subject categories as well as free text, with a diversity of linking and search options. Faster publication times through online-first publication, reference- and cross-linking, and make the Handbook of Zoology highly attractive to both authors and users.

Insect and disease issues are often specific to the Mediterranean forest systems rather than shared with the temperate forests. In addition to the specific native insects and diseases, the forests are subject to the invasion of exotic species. The forests are also at risk from high degrees of human activity, including changing patterns of forest fires, land management activities, intensive plantation forestry using introduced timber species from other Mediterranean climate zones, and atmospheric deposition. Combined with elements of global climate change that may disproportionately affect Mediterranean climate systems, this creates a number of significant management issues that are unique to the Mediterranean forests. It is our goal that the information contained in this volume will contribute to understanding the unique aspects of Mediterranean forest systems and to protecting these critical resources.

This book will help beekeepers understand the fundamentals of beekeeping science. Written in plain and accessible language by actual researchers, it should be part of every beekeeper's library. The respective chapters not only present raw data; they also explain how to read and understand the most common figures. With topics ranging from honeybee nutrition to strains of Varroa resistant bees, from the effects of pesticide chemicals to understanding diseases, and including a discussion of venom allergies, the book provides essential "knowhow" that beekeepers will benefit from every time they inspect their hives. Further, each chapter ends with the author explaining how beekeepers can (or cannot) directly utilize the information to enhance their beekeeping operation. The text is structured to facilitate ease of use, with each author addressing the same four issues: 1) What are the specific purposes or goals of these experiments? Or more simply: what have these studies taught us? 2) How should a non-scientist read the data generated? 3) What are the key points in relation to practicing beekeepers' goals? 4) How can the data or techniques discussed be applied by beekeepers in their own apiaries? This approach allows readers to look up specific information quickly, understand it and even put it to use without having to read entire chapters. Further, the chapters are highly readable and concise. As such, the book offers a valuable guide and faithful companion for all beekeepers, one they can use day in and day out.

A Systematic Catalogue of Soft-Scale Insects is a synthesis and catalogue of all the information published on eight families of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) worldwide from 1758 to the present. Data is provided on their correct scientific names, common names, synonyms, taxonomy, host plants, distribution, natural enemies, biology, and economic importance.
This book will be a valuable compendium of biological and systematic information for zoologists, entomologists, crop protection specialists, quarantine officers, students studying entomology and related disciplines, and others who require information about scale insects for research and control projects.
Families covered:
* Aclerdidae - 57 species in 5 genera
* Asterolecaniidae - 229 species in 21 genera
* Beesoniidae - 15 species in 6 genera
* Carayonemidae - 4 species in 4 genera
* Conchaspididae - 29 species in 4 genera
* Dactylopiidae - 10 species in 1 genus
* Kerriidae - 97 species in 9 genera
* Lecanodiaspididae - 82 species in 12 genera

Insects are great classroom study organisms. They are easy to collect and raise and have a fascinating array of life histories. Because they are small and have tremendous reproductive capacity ecological studies of dispersion, predation, parasitism and reproduction can be studied in compressed timeframes and small areas relative to similar studies of larger organisms. Insects are also important bioindicators of the health of ecosystems. In a small space and with very little cost colonies of insects can be raised in classrooms for use in behavioral and physiological studies. The purpose of this book is to explain how to build and use insect collecting and rearing devices and through explanations of the various techniques stimulate educators to explore the study of insects in their classrooms. Insects are often given little consideration with regard to humane handling practices. Please remember that insects are living creatures and, as such, are entitled to the same treatment as other living creatures. Teachers should remember that students look to them for clues to the proper way of behaving in new situations. When collecting and working in the "field" educators should teach students to respect the environment. Do not collect more organisms than needed, treat all of the organisms you collect with care, and try not to leave signs of your presence in an area by returning rocks, logs, etc. to their original locations. If you must kill animals you've collected, do so quickly and humanely.

Principles of Insect Pathology, a text written from a pathological viewpoint, is intended for graduate-level students and researchers with a limited background in microbiology and in insect diseases. The book explains the importance of insect diseases and illuminates the complexity and diversity of insect-microbe relationships. Separate sections are devoted to the major insect pathogens, their characteristics, and their life cycles the homology that exists among invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant pathogens the humoral and cellular defense systems of the host insect as well as the evasive and suppressive activities of insect disease agents the structure and function of passive barriers the heterogeneity in host susceptibility to insect diseases and associated toxins the mechanisms regulating the spread and persistence of diseases in insects. Principles of Insect Pathology combines the disciplines of microbiology (virology, bacteriology, mycology, protozoology), pathology, and immunology within the context of the insect host, providing a format which is understandable to entomologists, microbiologists, and comparative pathologists.

Following the original initiative of the International Organisation for Biological Control some 15 years ago, research groups and agrochemical companies have been investigating the effects of pesticides on beneficial organisms, devising laboratory and field test methods and lately developing protocols for regulatory testing requirements in Europe. This work, and the application of agreed protocols for testing, is of crucial importance to the environmentally acceptable use of pesticides and to the further development of Integrated Pest Management systems, and the objective of this book is to review the origins and progress of the research - what has been accomplished, what is the current position and what still needs to be done.

Through Green Revolution in late 1960s, India achieved self-sufficiency in food production, but still the country has not achieved self-sufficiency in production of horticultural crops. Most of the growth in food production during the green revolution period is attributed to the use of higher levels of fertilizers and pesticides which are continuing to destroy stable traditional ecosystems. The challenge before the crop protection scientist is to increase yields from the existing land without harming the environment and resource base. This can be achieved by adopting eco-friendly Biointensive Integrated Pest Management (BIPM) strategy.

BIPM incorporates ecological and economic factors into agricultural system design and decision making, and addresses public concerns about environmental quality and food safety. The benefits of implementing BIPM can include reduced chemical input costs, reduced on-farm and off-farm environmental impacts, and more effective and sustainable pest management. An ecology-based IPM has the potential of decreasing inputs of fuel, machinery, and synthetic chemicals-all of which are energy intensive and increasingly costly in terms of financial and environmental impact. Such reductions will benefit the grower and society.

The present book deals with the most recent biointensive integrated approaches for pest management utilizing components such as bioagents predators, parasitoids and pathogens (bacteria, fungi, viruses)], botanicals (biofumigation, oil cakes, FYM, compost, crop residues, green manuring and other organic amendments), arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, physical methods (hot water treatment of planting material, soil solarization), cultural methods (crop rotation, summer ploughing, fallowing, intercropping, pruning, mulching, spacing, planting date, trap cropping, "etc."), biorational chemicals (pheromones) and resistant cultivars. This book can serve as a useful reference to policy makers, research and extension workers, practicing farmers and students. The material can also be used for teaching post-graduate courses."

In the past two decades, an increasing number of ecologists have started to investigate the importance of biodiversity for ecological processes such as energy flow and nutrient cycling, often referred to as 'ecosystem functioning'. Insects are a dominant component of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role in mediating the relationship between plants and ecosystem processes. This volume is the first to summarize their effects on ecosystem functioning, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on herbivorous insects. Renowned authors with extensive experience in the field of plant-insect interactions, contribute to the volume using examples from their own work. In addition to providing concise reviews of the field, this volume discusses in detail the advantages and disadvantages of various techniques of manipulating insect herbivory. Thus, the text provides both a theoretical basis as well as practical advice for future manipulative studies of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning.

The central nervous system (CNS) represents the organ with the highest struc- tural and functional complexity. Accordingly, uncovering the mechanisms leading to cell diversity, patterning and connectivity in the CNS is one ofthe major chal- lenges in developmental biology. The developing CNS of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model system to study these processes. Several principle questions regarding neurogenesis (like stem cell formation, cell fate specification, axonal pathfinding) have been addressedinDrosophilaby focusing on the relatively simply structuredtruncal partsofthe nervous system. However, informationprocess- ing (e. g. , vision, olfaction), behavior, learning and memory require highly special- ized structures, which are located in the brain. Owing to much higher complexity and hidden segmental organisation, our understandingofbrain development is still quite rudimentary. Considerable advances have been made recently in bringing the resolution ofbrain structures to the level ofindividual cells and their lineages, which significantly facilitates investigations into the mechanisms controlling brain development. This book provides an overview of some major facets of recent research on Drosophila brain development. The individual chapters were written by experts in each field. V. Hartenstein et al survey the generic cell types that make up the developing brain and describe themorphogenesisofneural lineages and theirrelation- ship to neuropil compartments in the larval brain. Recent findings on anteroposterior regionalization and on dorsoventral patterning in the embryonic brain are reviewed in the chapters by R. Lichtneckert and H. Reichert and by R. Urbach and G. Technau, respectively. Both processes show striking parallels betweenDrosophila and mouse.

This book is the second in a series designed to facilitate identification of South American insects likely to be encountered in, on, or near water and wetlands. After a general introduction to the study of Ephemeroptera, the mayflies, it provides illustrated keys for the identification of all species in South America that were described by the beginning of 2002. It is the only up-to-date comprehensive work of its kind encompassing the entire South American continent. The many illustrations facilitate identification of a mayfly specimen to species with reasonable certainty if the life stage has been described. If it has not been described, that is also clear from the information in the keys, letting taxonomists know where future studies would be fruitful. The book will be indispensable to all scientists and students investigating the mayflies of South America.
Already published within this encyclopedia:

-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Collembola ISBN: 0-7923-6704-9;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Ephemeroptera ISBN: 1-4020-0775-2;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Plecoptera ISBN: 1-4020-1520-8. Forthcoming book titles:

-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Odonata;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Orthoptera;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Heteroptera;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Neuroptera, including Megaloptera;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Trichoptera;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Lepidoptera;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Coleoptera;
-Encyclopedia of South AmericanAquatic Insects: Diptera;
-Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects: Hymenoptera

Because of its peculiar biology, its negative impacts on forestry, and its urticating larvae affecting human and animal health, pine processionary moth has largely been studied in many European countries during the last century. However, knowledge remained scattered and no synthesis has ever been published. Since the IPCC retained the moth as one of the two insect indicators of climate change because of its expansion with warming up, filling this gap became increasingly important. Led by INRA, this book associates 101 authors from 22 countries of Europe, Minor Asia and North Africa, combining all the concerned research fields (entomology, ecology, genetics, mathematical modelling, medical and veterinary science, pest management) in a multidisciplinary approach to understand and model the processes underlying past, present and future moth expansion and to propose adapted management methods. Besides, the major biological patterns of the related processionary species are also detailed.

This volume on insects introduces the hearing research community and entomologists to the extensive but often unfamiliar literature on the ways that insects detect and process sounds. Each of the chapters is written by a leading expert in the field, and together they comprise the first comprehensive treatment of insect hearing. Starting with a discussion of insect taxonomy and an overview of the insects that are known to hear and use sound in communication, Comparative Hearing: Insects goes on to provide reviews of the behavior, physiology, mechanics and biophysics of insect hearing. All of the chapters are conceptual, providing not only an appreciation of insect hearing but also discussion of major questions for the future. This volume gives the reader considerable insight into insect hearing as well as applications to other animal models.

Insect pests are becoming a problem of ever-more biblical proportions. This new textbook collates a series of selected papers that attempt to address various fundamental components of area-wide insect pest control. Of special interest are the numerous papers on pilot and operational programs that pay special attention to practical problems encountered during program implementation. It 's a compilation of more than 60 papers authored by experts from more than 30 countries.

Many mites possess extremely intricate life styles in close association with plant and animal hosts. Their polymorphism has made classification a challenge, and their ability to reproduce both sexually and asexually has made efforts to control their populations difficult. This, however, has given rise to theories to explain the origin and function of sexual reproduction in general. In numbers of species and geographic distribution, mites may even surpass the insects. In soils, they are a major component in the system for cycling nutrients. Unlike insects, they have invaded the marine environment. These and a number of other topics are explored in Mites. Because of their extremely small size, mites have been ignored during the development of major evolutionary and ecological theories. Yet mites routinely violate fundamental concepts such as heterochrony, sexual selection, the evolution of sex ratio, and ontogeny. Recent research methodologies have made it practical for the first time to perform experimental work with mites, and since they offer short generation times and rapid research results, they are excellent model systems. Mites announces these results and should appeal to professionals in entomology, acarology, ecology, population genetics, and evolutionary biology.

This second edition covers the evolution of aphids and their development in relation to specific plants, thoroughly revised and expanded since the first highly successful edition. Increasing knowledge of aphids has revealed that they are ideal organisms to use when studying many topical ecological issues.

Insects are the most numerous and diverse group of animals on earth, not only in number of individuals, but also in number of species. They inhabit virtually all terrestrial and freshwater environments, where they must protect themselves from an array of commensal, pathogenic and parasitic organisms that share the same ecological niches. Since the early 20th century, scientists have been intrigued by how insects defend themselves against microbial attack. We are currently witnessing a break-through in our understanding of the mechanisms governing immune reactions in insects. Molecular Mechanisms of Immune Responses in Insects covers various aspects of these mechanisms starting with a historical chapter on the origins of insect immunity. There are also chapters that cover antibacterial peptides from insects and their mode of action, relationships between insect defense proteins and development and immune mechanisms in vectors of transmissible disease. Other key areas covered include antibacterial peptides of the insect reproductive tract, regulation of insect immune genes and immune protein cascades, as well as a chapter on the cellular tools that revolutionized the study of molecular mechanisms of the insect immunity. Molecular Mechanisms of Immune Responses in Insects is written for a broad audience ranging from specialists in the field of innate immunity to informed biologists and graduate students fascinated by the simplistic efficiency of a primitive' immune system. Fully up-to-date, this volume presents the reader with the most significant work from the major laboratories throughout the world. The contributors to the book reflect, both in concept and style, the internationaldimension of this area of science.