Volume 10 of Advances in Disease Vector Research consists of seven chapters on vectors that affect human or animal health and six chapters on plant pathogens and their vectors. In Chapter 1, Yasuo Chinzei and DeMar Taylor discuss hormonal regulation of vitellogenesis in ticks. Many blood sucking insects and ticks transmit pathogens by engorgement, which induces vitellogenesis and oviposition in adult animals. To investigate the pathogen transmission mechanism in vector animals, information on the host physiological and endocrinological conditions after engorgement is useful and important because pathogen development or proliferation occurs in the vector hosts at the same time as the host reproduction. Chinzei and Taylor have shown that in ticks, juvenile hormone (JH) is not involved in the endocrinological processes inducing vitellogenin biosynthesis. Synganglion (tick brain) factor(s) (vitellogenesis inducing factor, VIF) is more important to initiate vitellogenesis after engorgement, and ecdysteroids are also related to induction of vitellogenin synthesis. In their chapter, based mainly on their own experimental data, the authors discuss the characterization of main yolk protein, vitellogenin (Vg) , biosynthesis and processing in the fat body, and hormonal regulation of Vg synthesis in tick systems, including ixodid and argasid ticks.

Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri, is an insect pest which transmits a bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), primarily through feeding in newly emergent foliage of citrus trees. This pathogen causes a disease known as Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, which has become the most debilitating and intractable disease in citrus crops. This book, written by a team of experts on the Asian citrus psyllid, gathers together everything currently known about the biology and ecology of this important pest species, examines the transmission and acquisition processes of the pathogen, and looks at current management practices and their effectiveness. The potential for new, innovative management techniques are also described, along with the economic implications of managing this rapidly establishing disease. This book: Covers all aspects of Asian citrus psyllid biology and ecology for the first time in one place. Examines new, innovative management practices and assesses their effectiveness. Discusses the vector-pathogen relationship in detail. Explains the economics of controlling this devastating pest. This title is essential reading for all researchers involved in the management and control of Asian citrus psyllid, extension agents, and pest management consultants. It will also be of great use to graduate students in applied entomology and related disciplines.