Precision farming is an agricultural management system using global navigation satellite systems, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and data management systems for optimizing the use of nutrients, water, seed, pesticides and energy in heterogeneous field situations. This book provides extensive information on the state-of-the-art of research on precision crop protection and recent developments in site-specific application technologies for the management of weeds, arthropod pests, pathogens and nematodes. It gives the reader an up-to-date and in-depth review of both basic and applied research developments. The chapters discuss I) biology and epidemiology of pests, II) new sensor technologies, III) applications of multi-scale sensor systems, IV) sensor detection of pests in growing crops, V) spatial and non-spatial data management, VI) impact of pest heterogeneity and VII) precise mechanical and chemical pest control.

Mites and ticks are everywhere and acarologists go after them - some explore their bewildering diversity, others try to understand their how and why. For the past 50 years, the International Congress of Acarology has been the forum for worldwide communication on the knowledge of Acari, helping researchers and students to look beyond their disciplines. Many mites and ticks are economic factors as they are pests of agricultural, veterinary and medical importance, and several species have become model organisms in modern biology. The 96 contributions to Trends in Acarology - reflecting fields as molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, pathology, ecology, evolutionary biology, systematic biology, soil biology, plant protection, pest control and epidemiology - have been reviewed and carefully edited. This volume contains a wealth of new information, that may stimulate research for many years to come.

The fIrst draft version of this book, written in systematics of Neoptera) had two different editions English and named "Draft revision of supraspecies in Russian - in 1999 and in 2000 (Kluge 2000). taxa of Ephemeroptera (without Atalophlebiinae)," English version of this fIrst volume is also prepared, was prepared as an Internet publication in 1998; but not published yet. thanks to Dr. Michael Hubbard (Florida A & M Uni versity), it has been available from the web site "Ephemeroptera Galactica" since 1998. The second NEW TERMS, TAXA NAMES AND version, written in Russian and named "Revision of SYNONYMS supra-species taxa of Ephemeroptera (except for Atalophlebialfgl)," was prepared as an Internet publication in 2000; from 2001 till now it has been New terms: plesiomorphon (instead of wrongly available from the web site of Biological Faculty of used "plesion," p. 16); basitornal margin, tornoapical S-Petersburg University, http: //www. bio. pu. ruJwinl margin, amphitornal margin of wing or wing bud entomollKLUGEIEPHEMER -"content_. htm. Both (p. 31); tergalius (instead of formerly used "tergalia" versions contain the systematics of all mayflies or "tergalium," p. 35); caudalius, tricaudale, basitri except for Atalophlebialfgl. The present Volume 1 caudale, cercotractor (p. 38). does not contain the systematics of Turbanoculata For some morphological terms type taxa are (i. e. Baetidae auct. ) nor of all Leptophlebialfg1 (i. e. designated. Till now this was not practised, but in Leptophlebiidae auct."

The history of interest and practice in insect conservation is summarised and traced through contributions from many of the leaders in the discipline, to provide the first broad global account of how insects have become incorporated into considerations of conservation. The essays collectively cover the genesis and development of insect conservation, emphasising its strong foundation within the northern temperate regions and the contrasts with much of the rest of the world. Major present-day scenarios are discussed, together with possible developments and priorities in insect conservation for the future.

New essays in science history ranging across the entire field and related in most instance to the works of Charles Gillispie, one of the field's founders.

Biology of Termites, a Modern Synthesis brings together the major advances in termite biology, phylogenetics, social evolution and biogeography. In this new volume, David Bignell, Yves Roisin and Nathan Lo have brought together leading experts on termite taxonomy, behaviour, genetics, caste differentiation, physiology, microbiology, mound architecture, biogeography and control. Very strong evolutionary and developmental themes run through the individual chapters, fed by new data streams from molecular sequencing, and for the first time it is possible to compare the social organisation of termites with that of the social Hymenoptera, focusing on caste determination, population genetics, cooperative behaviour, nest hygiene and symbioses with microorganisms. New chapters have been added on termite pheromones, termites as pests of agriculture and on destructive invasive species.

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.

~o working hypothesis amounts to much until it has been tested on suitable material. Indeed, the choice of an appropriate experimental system has often been the key to the solution of a problem. The present volume is devoted to insect imaginal disks. These groups of larval cells are the primordia of precisely characterized adult counterparts, without apparent function in larvae. At the onset of metamorphosis, the subtle interplay of hormonal signals brings growth to a halt, and differentiation begins. In the fruitfly, a host of mutations are known to affect the development of disks; these provide ample material for analysis. It was largely ERNST HADORN'S ingenuity that directed the attention of many scientists around the world to this promising experimental system, and to him this volume is dedicated. All the contributors have been associated with him at one time or another, as graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, or colleagues. Each author has attempted to cover comprehensively the topic assigned to him. This has inevitably led to some overlapping, for which the editors should be blamed, not the authors, as this results from the way the topic was subdivided at the outset. We believe this volume will be a welcome sourcebook for the specialist in the field, and a provocative monograph for the uninitiated scientist interested in the exciting area of cell determination.

A survey of the development and practice of butterfly conservation in south east Australia, tracing evolution of the science through a series of cases from focus on single subspecies through increasing levels of ecological complexity to critical biotopes and communities. The book summarises much previously scattered information, and provides access to much regional information of considerable interest to practitioners elsewhere.

The book is a sequel of a similar book, edited by Randolf Menzel and Alison Mercer, Neurobiology and Behavior of Honeybees, published in 1987. It is a Festschrift for the 70th birthday of Randolf Menzel, who devoted his life to the topic of the book. The book will include an open commentary for each section written by Randolf Menzel, and discussed with the authors. The written contributions take their inspiration from a symposium on the topic, with all the authors, that was held in Berlin in summer 2010"

Two Symposia on speciation in insects held at the Fourteenth International Congress of Entomology (Canberra, Australia, August 22-30, 1972) are included in this volume. The first, on the more general topic of Genetic Analysis of Speciation Mechanisms, includes four papers on speciation in various groups of Diptera and Orthopteroid insects. The second symposium was devoted to the topic of Evolution in the Hawaiian Drosophilidae; it deals with the explosive speciation of a group of flies with specialized ecological requirements in the complex ecolOgical habitats provided by a recent tropical volcanic archipelago. The Hawaiian Symposium, organized by Professor D. Elmo Hardy, is the latest outcome of a major collaborative research project involving over 20 scientists and about 125 technical assistants over a period of ten years. Some recent books on evolution have taken the standpoint that the funda mental genetic mechanism of speciation is relatively uniform and stereotyped and, in particular, that the 'allopatric' model of its geographic component is universally valid. Certainly, this has been a rather generally accepted viewpoint on the part of students of vertebrate speciation. Workers on speciation in insects have tended, in general, to be less dogmatic and more willing to consider a variety of alternative models of speciation. Thus, in the present volume, several contributions adopt viewpoints which are unorthodox or novel. Only time will tell whether their conclusions will turn out to have been soundly based."

The crustaceans are ecologically and economically important organisms. They constitute one of the dominant invertebrate groups on earth, particularly within the aquatic realm. Crustaceans include some of the preferred scientific model organism, profitable aquaculture specimen, but also invasive nuisance species threatening native animal communities throughout the world. Chemoreception is the most important sensory modality of crustaceans, acquiring important information about their environment and picking up the chemical signals that mediate communication with conspecifics. Significant advances have been made in our understanding of crustacean chemical communication during the past decade. This includes knowledge about the identity, production, transfer, reception and behavioral function of chemical signals in selected crustacean groups. While it is well known that chemical communication is an integral part of the behavioral ecology of most living organisms, the intricate ways in which organisms allocate chemicals in communication remains enigmatic. How does the environment influence the evolution of chemical communication? What are the environmental cues that induce production or release of chemicals? How do individuals economize production and utilization of chemicals? What is the importance of molecule specificity or mix of a molecule cocktail in chemical communication? What is the role of chemical cues in multimodal communication? How does the ontogenetic stage, the sex or the physiological status of an individual affect its reaction to chemical cues? Many of these questions still represent important challenges to biologists.

1 Fleas are wingless insects with a laterally compressed body of about 1.5-4 mm length. Like all insects they possess six legs and three body segments. Taxonomically they belong to the order Siphonaptera (Eckert et al. 2000) (Table 1). This family contains several species and subspecies. Fleas represent one of the most important ectoparasites (Mehl- horn 2000; Mehlhorn et al. 2001b). At the moment there are more than 2000 described species and subspecies throughout the world (Borror et al. 1981). These species belong to the families Pulicidae, including Pulex spp., Ctenocephalides spp., Spilopsyllus spp. and Archaeopsyllus spp., or the familia Ceratophyllidae with the genuses Ceratophyllus or Nosopsyllus to mention only some of the most important veterinary and human representatives. Fleas have a history of about 60 million years and were already found on prehistoric mammals. While becoming parasitic the original exterior of the two-wing insects, also designated as the order Diptera, has changed by losing the wings in the adults, whereas the larval form still has similarity with the larva of the order Diptera (Strenger 1973). About 95% of the -2000 different flea species parasitize on mammals, 5% live on birds. Table 1. Taxonomy of fleas Systematic Taxonomy Phylum Arthropoda Tracheata (=Antennata) Subphylum Classis Insecta (Hexapoda) Ordo Siphonapterida Familia Pulicidae Familia CeratophyUidae Genus Ctenocephalides. Genus Ceratophyllus. Nosopsyllus Pulex.

This book introduces recent progress in the study of species diversity and community structures in terrestrial organisms conducted by three groups at Kyoto University. First, it explains species diversity and the functioning of fungi in Asian regions as outlined by metagenomic approaches using next-generation sequencing technology. The advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies accelerate the speed of species inventorying, especially for microorganisms. Second, the study of complex interactions between herbivorous insects and plants in the community and ecosystem contexts is presented. Recent studies in community and ecosystem genetics shed light on these complex interactions with novel approaches incorporating genetic perspectives including genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity in plant defenses against herbivores. Finally, recent studies on speciation processes in insects are described, processes that are related to the evolution of particular life history strategies. Included is an examination of two hypotheses that may be important in understanding diversification of insect species in heterogeneous environments in space and time. This book is a valuable resource especially for ecologists who are interested in species diversity and community structure.

How organisms come to possess adaptive traits is a fundamental question for evolutionary biology. Although it is almost impossible to demonstrate evolution in the laboratory, this issue can be approached by using an unusual organism, Dark-fly: "Drosophila melanogaster" kept in complete darkness for 57 years through 1,400 generations, which corresponds to 28,000 years in terms of human generations. Has Dark-fly adapted to an environment of total darkness? If so, what is the molecular nature of the adaptation? In "Evolution in the Dark," the remarkable findings from the Dark-fly project performed at Kyoto University are presented. It was found that Dark-fly did not have poor eyesight, but rather exhibited higher phototaxis ability and displayed lengthened bristles on the head that function as tactile receptors. Circadian rhythms were weakened but still retained in Dark-fly. With recent progress in genome science enabling researchers to perform whole genome sequencing for Dark-fly, a large number of mutations were identified including genes encoding a light receptor, olfactory receptors, and enzymes involved in neural development. The Dark-fly project is a simple but very long-term experiment. Combined with advanced techniques in genetics and genomics, it is a valuable tool for understanding the molecular nature of adaptive evolution."

The offered volume intends to review the biological control theme of phytonematodes from several prospects: ecological; applicative as well as commercial state of the art; understanding the mode-of-action of various biocontrol systems; interaction between the plant host, nematodes surface and microorganism s; candidates for biocontrol; extrapolation of the wide knowledge existed in another systems for understanding biocontrol processes: "C. elegans" as a model and lessons from other natural systems; and exploiting advanced genomic tools to promote understanding biocontrol processes and thereafter improve specific biological control agents.

"

Insects conquered the Earth long before we did and will remain here long after we’re gone.

They outnumber us in the billions and are essential to many of the natural processes that keep us alive and that we take for granted. Yet, despite this, very few of us know much about the hidden world of insects.

In this fascinating new book, entomologist and broadcaster George McGavin takes a deep dive to reveal the unknown truths about the most successful and enduring animal group the world has ever seen, and to show the unseen effects this vast population has on our planet, if only we care to look.

McGavin explores not only the incredible traits that insects have evolved to possess, such as dragonflies that can fly across oceans without resting or beetles that lay their eggs exclusively in corpses, but also the vital lessons we have learnt from them, including how therapy using maggots can save lives and how bees can help grow rich tomato yields.

The Hidden World reveals the wonderful complexity of our relationship with insects, how they have changed the course of our history and how, if we continue to learn from them, they could even be the key to our future and survival.

Oar Feet and Opal Teeth is about free-living copepods and the copepodologists who study them. Copepods are a subclass of the arthropod class Crustacea. They act as dominant herbivores and small predators in the planktonic ecosystems of oceans, estuaries, and lakes. Copepods are likely the largest assemblage of complex animals on earth. These strikingly beautiful small crustaceans are of wide ecological significance and as complex and precisely adapted as insects. Yet few biologists and others interested in animals are familiar with them. In Oar Feet and Opal Teeth, Charles B. Miller introduces these small crustaceans and the scientists devoting their careers to revealing their biology. In twenty-one chapters, Miller details the defining features and general biology of copepods. They typically have four or five pairs of oar-like feet to drive escape jumps. Teeth on mandible extensions are formed with siliceous minerals akin to opal. The first two chapters of the book closely examine the oar feet and mouth parts. Subsequent chapters describe internal anatomy, taxonomy, and many aspects of copepod natural history. Recent evolutionary insights about them are reviewed; those are based on molecular genetics and reach back to the Cambrian explosion. Oar Feet and Opal Teeth includes over twenty biographical sketches of copepodologists from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Among them, Russell Hopcroft, a premier photographer of plankton, has full-color copepod images featured throughout the book. Jeannette Yen learned how Euchaeta marina detects prey and studies how ready-for-mating copepods find each other. Shinichi Uye of Hiroshima University studied the production by copepods of resting eggs and their delayed development. Grace Wyngaard is studying the special embryonic cell-divisions of some lake copepods for eliminating "junk DNA." Miller based most of the profiles featured in the book on personal interviews he conducted.

The purpose of this and future volumes of the Handbook of Genetics is to bring together a collection of relatively short, authoritative essays or annotated compilations of data on topics of significance to geneticists. Many of the essays will deal with various aspects of the biology of certain species selected because they are favorite subjects for genetic investigation in nature or the laboratory. Often there will be an encyclopedic amount of information available on such a species, with new papers appearing daily. Most of these will be written for specialists in a jargon that is be wildering to a novice, and sometimes even to a veteran geneticist working with evolutionarily distant organisms. For such readers what is needed is a written introduction to the morphology, life cycle, reproductive be havior, and culture methods for the species in question. What are its par ticular advantages (and disadvantages) for genetic study, and what have we learned from it? Where are the classic papers, the key bibliographies, and how does one get stocks of wild type or mutant strains? The chapters devoted to different species will contain information of this sort. Only a few hundreds of the millions of species available to biologists have been subjected to detailed genetic study. However, those that have make up a very heterogeneous sample of the living world."

Biocontrol is among the most promising methods for a safe, environmentally benign and sustainable pest control. Microbial pesticides offer a great potential, and it is anticipated that they will become a substantial part of the use of all crop protection products. Their development and commercialization, however, has been difficult and with many failures. In this book a rational and structured roadmap has been designed for the development and commercialization of microbial pest control products for the control of arthropod pests. The building blocks of the entire process are identified and essential aspects highlighted. Biopesticides based on entomopathogenic bacteria, fungi, viruses and nematodes are elaborately discussed. This systematic roadmap with a strong focus on economics and market introduction will assist academic researchers and industrial developers of biopesticides in accomplishing their goal: the development of successful cost-effective microbial pesticides.

Understanding invasion biology, and the dynamics of biological control practices, requires a multidisciplinary approach, embracing and integrating all the research tools at our disposal, particularly modern molecular and modelling techniques. This book provides a comprehensive and current overview of invasive alien arthropod predators and parasitoids through 20 chapters, contributed by 69 internationally renowned scientists (previously published as peer-reviewed papers in BioControl - August 2011), ranging from broad reviews of key topics on invasive alien species (IAS) to taxon-specific chapters. The context of invasion biology is given through nine chapters focusing on current themes but highlighting future directions and knowledge gaps. Concepts are explored in detail through ten chapters focusing on a taxonomically diverse range of arthropods. The concluding chapter presents an objective approach to considering the benefits and risks of exotic biological control agents.

The prerequisite to investigating the underlying causes behind mass extinction is a profound understanding of the evolutionary history of both living and dead species. It is especially important to appreciate the significance of such studies in extinct organisms; especially in organisms that were abundant in a certain geologic era, but have subsequently dwindled or become extinct. Such studies should help to accurately evaluate patterns of evolution in extinct species lineages and help predict the same in its modern analogs. The book includescutting edge research in evolutionary biology that should serve as a starting point for conservation.

between the organ systems of cephalopods and those of less ambitious molluscs. Octopus does, as we would predict, live close to the limits set by its own physiology. The circulation, to take one example, is barely adequate for such an active animal, mainly because of the absence of any system for pack aging the blood pigment; haemocyanin in solution is a poor oxygen carrier. Cephalopod blood can transport less than 5 millilitres of oxygen per 100 ml of blood (compared with about 15 vol% in fish) and the whole supercharged system of triple hearts, high blood pressure and pulsating blood vessels succeeds only in returning blood that retains less than 30% of its dissolved oxygen by the time it reaches the gills. This at rest; the effect of exercise is immediate and surprisingly long lasting even in octopuses as small as 300 g, which must very swiftly run into oxygen debt when they flee from predators or pursue their prey (Sections 3.2.2, 3.2.4). Digestion, too would seem to be limiting. As with other molluscs, digestion in Octopus is based on secretion absorption cycles by a massive diverticulum of the gut, an adequate system in a less hectic past, but scarcely appropriate in a predator that must be an opportunist in the matter of feeding. Octopus feeds mainly at night, and spends a great deal of every day sitting at home.

Many modern geneticists attempt to elucidate the molecular basis of phenotype by utilizing a battery of techniques derived from physical chemistry on subcellular components isolated from various species of organisms. Volume 5 of the Handbook of Genetics provides explanations of the advantages and shortcomings of some of these revolutionary tech niques, and the nonspecialist is alerted to key research papers, reviews, and reference works. Much of the text deals with the structure and func tioning of the molecules bearing genetic information which reside in the nucleus and with the processing of this information by the ribosomes resid ing in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. The mitochondria, which also live in the cytoplasm of the cells of all eukaryotes, now appear to be separate little creatures. These, as Lynn Margulis pointed out in Volume 1, are the colonial posterity of migrant prokaryotes, probably primitive bacteria that swam into the ancestral precursors of all eukaryotic cells and remained as symbionts. They have maintained themselves and their ways ever since, replicating their own DNA and transcribing an RNA quite different from that of their hosts. In a similar manner, the chloroplasts in all plants are self-replicating organelles presumably derived from the blue-green algae, with their own nucleic acids and ribosomes. Four chapters are devoted to the nucleic acids and the ribosomal components of both classes of these semi-independent lodgers. Finally, data from various sources on genetic variants of enzymes are tabulated for ready reference, and an evaluation of this information is attempted."