The Insects, by Gullan and Cranston was published in its first edition in 1994. It quickly became established as the Worlds major general textbook of entomology. The current edition was published in 2004 and has sold over 10,000 copies. New to this Edition-HE Market In the 5 years since the previous (3rd) edition of this textbook, the discipline of entomology has seen some major changesin emphasis. The opening up of global commerce (free trade) has brought with it many accidental passengers, including both potential and actual pestilential insects of our crops, our ornamental plants, and our health. Efforts to prevent further incursions include increased surveillance, in what has become known as biosecurity, at our ports, airports and borders. Entomologists increasingly are employed in quarantine and biosecurity, where they predict threats, andare expected to use diagnostics to recognize pests and distinguish those thatare new arrivals. The inevitable newly arrived and established pests must be surveyed and control measures planned. In this edition we discuss several of these emergent threats from insects and the diseases that some can carry. Molecular techniques of ever-increasing sophistication are now commonplace in many aspects of entomological study, ranging from genomic studies seeking to understand the basis of behaviors to molecular diagnostics and the use of sequences to untangle the phylogeny of this most diverse groups of organisms. Although this book is not the place to detail this fast-evolving field, we present the results of many molecular studies, particularly in relation to our attempts to reconcile different ideas on evolutionary relationships, where much uncertainty remains despite a growing volume of nucleotide sequence data. Since ever more insects have their complete mitochondrial genomes sequenced, and the whole nuclear genome is available for an increasing diversity of insects, there is much scope for comparative studies. Important insights have already come from the ability to silence particular genes to observe the outcome, for example in aspects of development and communication. In this edition of the textbook, we have updated and relocated the boxes concerning each major grouping (the traditional orders) from the chapter in which their generalized ecology placed them,to the end of the book, where they can be located more easily. The updated chapter texts are supplemented with additional new boxes on topical subjects including The African honey bee and Colony Collapse Disorder (of bees) in the sphere of apiary, the use of bed nets and resurgence of bed bugs, Dengue fever and West Nile Virus in relation to human health, and some case studies in emergent plant pests, including the Emerald ash borer that is destroying North American landscape trees.
- ISBN: 978-1-4443-3036-6
- Editorial: Wiley-Blackwell
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 584
- Fecha Publicación: 29/01/2010
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés