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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > Invertebrates
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.
This guide is a compilation of the available descriptions of the zoeal and megalopal stages of anomuran (Families Porcellanidae, Albuneidae, and Hippidae) and brachyuran crabs found off of North Carolina, USA. Descriptions of the zoeae of 44 species and the megalopae of 34 species are included, along with keys for their identification. The purpose of the key is to allow investigators with minimal taxonomic background to identify crab larvae to the species level. To this end, lengthy and complex morphological descriptions have been avoided and the focus has been on gross morphological differences among taxa.
Brentid beetles are in Northern Europe practically equivalent to the speciose genus "Apion," a group of small, rostrate, phytophagous beetles of weevil-like appearance, but easily separated from genuine curculionid weevils by the short scape to the antennae. This book, written by one of the foremost experts on European Apion, identifies and describes the 134 species of brentids known from the British Isles and Continental Europe north of 52 (0)N. For each species is given up-to-date information on the taxonomy, nomenclature, distribution, life habits, food plants and parasites. Occurrence by provinces is documented for the 94 species found in Fennoscandia and Denmark. The introductory part provides general information on the group's taxonomic history, morphology of all life stages, life history and economic importance, and some practical hints on how to collect, preserve and identify specimens. The book is richly illustrated with original line drawings by the author and eight plates showing no less than 58 representative species skillfully depicted in colour by the coleopterist, Dr Michael Hansen. Additional features include lists of food plants and parasites, an extensive list of literature and an index.
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.
This volume of the Handbook of Zoology summarizes "small" groups of animals across the animal kingdom. Dicyemida and Orthonectida are enigmatic parasites, formerly united as "Mesozoa" and their position among the multicellular animals is still not known with certainty. Placozoa are small, flat marine animals which provide important information on metazoan evolution. Comb jellies (Ctenophora) are esthetically fascinating animals which cause considerable discussion about their phylogenetic position. Seisonida are closely related to rotifers and acanthocephalans. Cycliophora were discovered and described as one of the last higher taxa and surprise by their complex life cycle. Kamptozoa (= Entoprocta) are small sessile animals in the sea and sometimes also in freshwater. Arrow worms (Chaetognatha) play an important role as predators in the plankton, but they also include benthic forms. Pterobranchia and acorn worms (Enteropneusta) belong to the deuterostomia and are related to echinoderms. In particular enteropneusts play an important role in understanding deuterostome evolution. These chapters provide up to date reviews of these exiting groups with reference to the important literature and therefore serves as an important source of information.
This Naturalists' Handbook aims to attract more people to the study of solitary wasps by describing the ecology, distribution and natural history of these insects, including all relevant research in one convenient volume. Contents include an overview of the natural history of the solitary wasp, guidelines on identification, and advice on techniques and approaches to study. Further reading, a systematic checklist of genera and an alphabetical checklist of species and their distributions are included. Detailed keys to the identification of the species form the centre of the book and the text is accompanied by clear illustrations throughout, making this an invaluable practical guide for anyone seeking to broaden their knowledge of these fascinating, diverse creatures. Smaller, gentler and less intimidating than the black and yellow social wasps, the solitary wasps are attractive because of their bright colours and their fascinating behaviour. A female wasp will construct a nest, excavating it from wood or sand or building it from mud. She provisions the nest with prey, hunting down a suitable creature, perhaps a caterpillar or a fly, which she will paralyse before dragging it home to the nest. She lays her egg on the paralysed prey, and the larva when it hatches feeds on the prey. On a sunny day it is easy to observe the apparently purposeful behaviour of female wasps as they prepare their nests and stock them with food for the next generation. This book is a digital reprint of ISBN 0-85546-295-7 (1995). Naturalists' Handbooks encourage and enable those interested in natural history to undertake field study, make accurate identifications and to make original contributions to research.
The diversity of social behavior among birds and primates is surpassed only by members of the Hymenopteran insects, including bees, ants, and the genus Polistes, or paper-wasps. This volume combines incisive reviews and new, unpublished data in studies of paper-wasps, a large and varied group whose life patterns are often studied by biologists interested in social evolution. While this research is significant to the natural history of paper-wasps, it also applies to topics of general interest such as the evolution of cooperation, social parasitism, kin recognition, and the division of labor.
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.
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.
Bemisia tabaci (Gennedius) has distinguished itself from the more than 1,000 whitefly species in the world by its adaptability, persistence and potential to damage a wide range of agricultural and horticultural crops in all six of the world s inhabited continents. B. tabaci inflicts plant damage through direct feeding, inducement of plant disorders, vectoring of plant viruses and excretion of honeydew. This book collates multiple aspects of the pest ranging from basic to applied science and molecular to landscape levels of investigation. Experts in multiple disciplines provide broad, but detailed summaries and discussion of taxonomy, genetics, anatomy, morphology, physiology, behavior, ecology, symbiotic relationships, virus vector associations and various tactics for integrated management of this pest insect. The book is focused primarily on progress during the last 10-15 years and is directed at workers in the field as well as the informed professional who may not necessarily specialize in whitefly research. The book is unique in providing broad coverage in relatively few chapters by recognized experts that highlight the state-of-the-art in our understanding of this fascinating but troublesome cosmopolitan pest."
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.
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.
Sea anemones are among the most ancient of living metazoans. Long a paradigm of the "elementary nervous system" and constructional simplicity, sea anemones have been favourite experimental subjects in behavioural neurophysiology and in biomechanics. Their unique nematocyst toxins are used to study the sodium and calcium channels in excitable membranes, and their agonistic interactions provide insights into the evolution of allororecognition systems. Incorporation of algal endosymbionts by some of these animals combines in a single unit both primary producer and consumer, and provides a tight recycling of scarce nutrients between host and symbiont. Many species include vegetative proliferation or parthogenesis in their life cycle and are important organisms in the study of the evolutionary potential and adaptive demography of co-ordinated clonal growth and bisexual reproductive strategies. The ability of clonal anemones to recognize members of different clones upon contact provides insight into the evolution of immune systems. This book provides an introduction and synthesis of the biology of sea anemones. The text is cross-referenced and integrated, and together with a bibliography, should be valuable to those interested in the physiology, ecology, biochemistry, behaviour, population biology and evolution of this group of marine invertebrates. This book should be of interest to marine biologists, ecologists and zoologists with a general interest in themes such as symbiosis and life cycles.
The present volume deals with the most fascinating aspects of sensory performance studied in insects, crustaceans and spiders. Arthropods inhabit practically every conceivable ecological niche, and are perfectly adapted to cope with the constraints of their natural habitats. They move on the ground, in water, and in the air. They use visual, olfactory, acoustical, vibratory, and tactile cues for orientation, to recognize and pinpoint their target, their home place, a feeding site, a prey, or a potential mate. Many arthropods use celestial (skylight) and terrestrial (magnetic) compass cues for orientation, and some of them were shown to develop, through experience, oriented behaviours based on a variety of innate, hard-wired orientation mechanisms. In many cases, aspects of behaviour that are involved in orientation cannot be separated from inter- and intraspecific communication. The book brings to the fore the role of communication not only in social and sexual behaviours, but also in the context of oriented locomotion. Top, internationally renowned scientists have contributed to this volume and have succeeded in presenting a book full of highlights which will be of great interest to workers in this field of research. With contributions by F. G. Barth; D. von Helverson, K.-E. Kaissling, W. Kirchner, M. Walker, M. Weissburg, R. Campan, T. Collett, J. Zeil, K. Kirschfeld, R. Wehner, M. Srinivasan, M. Lehrer, R. Gadagkar.
Diapause is an event of great ecological significance in the lives of a wide range of invertebrates. The underlying physiological and genetic mechanisms pose many intriguing questions and have important evolutionary implications. Some of the most dramatic examples of diapause are provided by crustaceans. Most branchiopods produce resting eggs that can withstand intense desiccation and extremes of temperature and pressure far beyond those to which they are ever subjected in nature. Furthermore they can remain in a dry condition, displaying no measurable metabolism, for many years. Such abilities enable them to inhabit infrequently-filled pools in arid regions. When the pools fill with water these dormant eggs hatch and give rise to animals that grow quickly to maturity and produce a new generation of resting eggs. There is every reason to believe that primitive branchiopods have employed diapause in this way since Palaeozoic times and that their abilities in this direction have played a key role in their continued success as freshwater animals.
Limulus in the Limelight: A Species 350 Million Years in the Making and in Peril? contains 14 chapters covering the horseshoe crab's biology, ecology and evolutionary development. The book is a result of three mini-conferences held between 1996 and 2000 celebrating the populations in NY harbor. This book exposes the impacts of over fishing on this species; clarifies the future research agenda for the species worldwide and emphasizes the need for conservation of this fascinating creature's estuaries/ocean habitats. Biologists, ecologists, science educators, and conservationists will welcome this book because it is aimed at the preservation of Limulus, not only for its pharmacological interest but for the mystery related to its longevity. Limulus is a unique animal which has provided numerous uses for man over the years, from fertilizer to bait to medical research. However, if this species is not protected soon, it will be lost for the future.
Mir S. Mulla joined the faculty of the Entomology Department at the University of California, Riverside in 1956, only two years after the Riverside campus was established as an independent campus within the University of California system. Prior to his appointment, Mir received his B.S. from Cornell University and then moved to the University of California, Berkeley to pursue his graduate studies. His Ph.D. from Berkeley, awarded in 1955, completed his formal American education which was the purpose of his immigration from his native Kandahar in Afghanistan. In his over 50 years at Riverside, Mir has made an incalculable impact on vector biology both within the United States and in developing countries throughout the world. Within Southern California, Mir's basic and applied research led to the rapid and sustainable control of mosquitoes and eye gnats in the Coachella Valley and so directly enabled this region to grow to the thriving, large community it is today. In 2006 his efforts in facilitating the development of the low desert of southern California were recognized through the dedication of the Mir S. Mulla Biological Control Facility by the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. His success has been so profound that it remains somewhat cryptic to the many who now reside in, visit, and enjoy, this region of California, oblivious to the insect problems that severely restrained development until Mir and his students ?rst applied their expertise many decades ago.
Biological Systematics has changed dramatically during the past 60 years from a handicraft or art to an accepted branch of science proper, due to the work of Willi Hennig, who was born in 1913. The scientific method of reconstructing phylogenetic relationships of organisms bases on Hennig's approach, the "Phylogenetic Systematics". The method is now so widely accepted and applied that it can firmly be regarded a paradigm, named 'cladistics'. In contrast, the life and personality of its founder is remarkably little known in the scientific community. The present book offers a detailed biography of Willi Hennig, and traces the roots of his thinking from his schooldays until his death in 1976. Some outstanding academic teachers and friends of his are introduced, too. The book offers an insight into the historical development of a 'scientific revolution', and highlights the life and the work of a 'cautious revolutioniser' in a Germany of dictatorship, war, and separation.
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 Proceedings of the Seventh International Rotifer Symposium, Rotifera VII, spans subjects from community ecology through biochemistry, from the most basic science through the most clearly applied technology. Some papers report exceptional progress in our knowledge of rotifer anatomy and biochemistry, as well as rotifer molecular biology, evolution and life histories. The book also contains an interesting article describing a hundred years of Polish contributions to rotiferology as well as papers discussing both general patterns of rotifer biogeography and rotifer distribution in different habitats, together with many aspects of the ecology of rotifer species, populations and communities. Audience: This update on rotifer taxonomy, biology and ecology will be of great interest to zoologists, especially hydrobiologists studying the structure and function of freshwater zooplankton.
The widely distributed American Lobster, Homarus americanus, which
inhabits coastal waters from Canada to the Carolinas, is an
important keystone species. A valuable source of income, its
abundance or rarity often reflects the health of ecosystems
occupied by these crustaceans. This comprehensive reference brings
together all that is known of these fascinating animals. It will
appeal to biologists, zoologists, aquaculturalists, fishery
biologists, and researchers working with other lobster species, as
well as neurobiologists looking for more information on the model
system they so often use.
This book brings together an international group of scientists focusing on present-day and fossil cephalopods, ranging broadly from Paleozoic ammonoids to today's octopods. It has three general sections dealing with: systematics and evolution; descriptions of hard- and soft part morphology; and ecology, biogeography, and taphonomy. Several highlights include new evidence for the existence of an ink sac in fossil ammonoids, a biogeographic study of clymeniid ammonoids throughout the world, the first record of a radula in baculite ammonoids, and an in-depth study of octopus ecology in Alaska. The book is remarkable in its treatment of both fossil and living forms at the same time, with the aim of presenting the wide diversity of cephalopods now and in the past. |
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