Mosquitoes SUCK! is a vibrant graphic novel illustrating information about mosquito biology, ecology, and disease transmission needed for community-based control efforts.
**The instant New York Times bestseller.** *An international bestseller.* Finalist for the Lane Anderson Award Finalist for the RBC Taylor Award “Hugely impressive, a major work.”—NPR A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution? The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito. Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power. The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village. Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes, or any mosquitoes, for that matter? Our history and the world we know, or think we know, would be completely unrecognizable. Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling, The Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story of the mosquito’s reign through human history and her indelible impact on our modern world order.
'Consider the most common mosquito on Earth. This soft, little, dusty-brown insect is Culex Pipiens. You've seen her land on your arm. You have caught her just at the end of her feeding, her translucent belly swelling red with your very own blood. At such a moment, you can be forgiven for failing to notice what an elegant and hardy thing she is. But she is . . . ' No creature has touched directly the lives of more human beings than the mosquito. She has been a nuisance, a pollinator of plants and an angel of death all over the globe. And throughout history, much of our trouble with the mosquito has been caused by man himself. Professor Andrew Spielman has dedicated his life to understanding this insect. In Mosquito he tells the story of man's struggle to live with the mosquito, from the defeat of Sir Francis Drake's fleet, to the death of thousands of Frenchmen working on the Panama Canal and to the recent panic over the West Nile Virus in New York. And he shows us how we have accelerated the spread of disease, describing the catastrophic failures of mosquito control which have ensured that - even now - one person dies of malaria every twelve seconds.
Blood-sucking insects are the vectors of many of the most debilitating parasites of man and his domesticated animals. In addition they are of considerable direct cost to the agricultural industry through losses in milk and meat yields, and through damage to hides and wool, etc. So, not surprisingly, many books of medical and veterinary entomology have been written. Most of these texts are organized taxonomically giving the details of the life-cycles, bionomics, relationship to disease and economic importance of each of the insect groups in turn. I have taken a different approach. This book is topic led and aims to discuss the biological themes which are common in the lives of blood-sucking insects. To do this I have concentrated on those aspects of the biology of these fascinating insects which have been clearly modified in some way to suit the blood-sucking habit. For example, I have discussed feeding and digestion in some detail because feeding on blood presents insects with special problems, but I have not discussed respiration because it is not affected in any particular way by haematophagy. Naturally there is a subjective element in the choice of topics for discussion and the weight given to each. I hope that I have not let my enthusiasm for particular subjects get the better of me on too many occasions and that the subject material achieves an overall balance.
This book contains a variety of medical case studies from actual patients presenting to the emergency department. It includes not only typical cases that present to the ED but also less common, yet very important cases that one can't afford to miss. Each chapter begins with a case – or set of cases with typical and atypical aspects – of the disease in question. This is followed by high-value learning points on the condition with introductory/background points, physiology and pathophysiology of the disease, how to make the diagnosis, and finally how to initiate treatment. The cases provide expert discussion with tips and tricks, personal experience with management of each of the cases, and a follow-up description of the outcome of the cases to provide the reader with closure. To supplement each case study, all 67 chapters include a pattern recognition component that identifies the key diagnostic features of the disease discussed. The chapters conclude with a summary of the diagnostic and treatment details of each condition. Using a concise, easy-to-read, bulleted format, the book helps readers to learn, evaluate, adopt new practices, right now (LEARN). Emergency Medicine Case Studies - LEARNing Rounds: Learn, Evaluate, Adopt, Right Now is an essential resource for a variety of emergency medicine clinicians including experienced physicians, residents, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and medical students rotating in the emergency department. Finally, this book can be used as a basis for small group discussions, especially in emergency medicine training programs.
The most complete reference work on mosquitoes ever produced, Mosquitoes of the World is an unmatched resource for entomologists, public health professionals, epidemiologists, and reference libraries.
Mosquitoes can bite all kinds of people--ballerinas, chefs, babies, even you and me. But they can't bite . . . NINJAS! Mosquitoes might be quick, but ninjas are quicker. Mosquitoes might be sneaky, but ninjas are sneakier. And mosquitoes might be hungry, but ninjas are . . . hungrier! With tons of not-very-stealthy appeal, Jordan P. Novak's debut delivers buzzy, wacky, and hilarious read-to-me eBook.
Work against mosquitoes is being undertaken everywhere, by individuals and by communities. The interest in the subject, from both medical and lay points of view, has become so great that persons are not satisfied with half knowledge, but must know the whole mosquito story, and it has been with the purpose of supplying in some part this demand for information, that this book has been prepared. It tells what is known about mosquitoes from the biological point of view, from the medical point of view, and from the practical side. An especial effort has been made to show, in a straightforward way, to physicians how the different kinds of mosquitoes can be distinguished, and to indicate the characteristic habits and breeding places of those forms which spread malaria and yellow fever. -- Introduction.