Thrips Biology and Management

Thrips Biology and Management

Author: Bruce L. Parker

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-11-11

Total Pages: 606

ISBN-13: 1489914099

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Thrips (fhysanoptera) are very small insects, widespread throughout the world with a preponderance of tropical species, many temperate ones, and even a few living in arctic regions. Of the approximately 5,000 species so far identified, only a few hundred are crop pests, causing serious damage or transmitting diseases to growing crops and harvestable produce in most countries. Their fringed wings confer a natural ability to disperse widely, blown by the wind. Their minute size and cryptic behavior make them difficult to detect either in the field or in fresh vegetation transported during international trade of vegetables, fruit and ornamental flowers. Many species have now spread from their original natural habitats and hosts to favorable new environments where they often reproduce rapidly to develop intense damaging infestations that are costly to control. Over the past decade there have been several spectacular examples of this. The western flower thrips has expanded its range from the North American continent to Europe, Australia and South Africa. Thrips palmi has spread from its presumed origin, the island of Sumatra, to the coast of Florida, and threatens to extend its distribution throughout North and South America. Pear thrips, a known orchard pest of Europe and the western United States and Canada has recently become a major defoliator of hardwood trees in Vermont and the neighboring states. Local outbreaks of other species are also becoming problems in field and glasshouse crops as the effectiveness of insecticides against them decline.


Economic and Ecological Significance of Arthropods in Diversified Ecosystems

Economic and Ecological Significance of Arthropods in Diversified Ecosystems

Author: Akshay Kumar Chakravarthy

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-10-20

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 9811015244

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Arthropods are invertebrates that constitute over 90% of the animal kingdom, and their bio-ecology is closely linked with global functioning and survival. Arthropods play an important role in maintaining the health of ecosystems, provide livelihoods and nutrition to human communities, and are important indicators of environmental change. Yet the population trends of several arthropods species show them to be in decline. Arthropods constitute a dominant group with 1.2 million species influencing earth’s biodiversity. Among arthropods, insects are predominant, with ca. 1 million species and having evolved some 350 million years ago. Arthropods are closely associated with living and non-living entities alike, making the ecosystem services they provide crucially important. In order to be effective, plans for the conservation of arthropods and ecosystems should include a mixture of strategies like protecting key habitats and genomic studies to formulate relevant policies for in situ and ex situ conservation. This two-volume book focuses on capturing the essentials of arthropod inventories, biology, and conservation. Further, it seeks to identify the mechanisms by which arthropod populations can be sustained in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and by means of which certain problematic species be managed without producing harmful environmental side-effects. This edited compilation includes chapters contributed by over 80 biologists on a wide range of topics embracing the diversity, distribution, utility and conservation of arthropods and select groups of insect taxa. More importantly, it describes in detail the mechanisms of sustaining arthropod ecosystems, services and populations. It addresses the contribution of modern biological tools such as molecular and genetic techniques regulating gene expression, as well as conventional, indigenous practices in arthropod conservation. The contributors reiterate the importance of documenting and understanding the biology of arthropods from a holistic perspective before addressing conservation issues at large. This book offers a valuable resource for all zoologists, entomologists, ecologists, conservation biologists, policy makers, teachers and students interested in the conservation of biological resources.


Lyme Borreliosis in Europe and North America

Lyme Borreliosis in Europe and North America

Author: Sunil K. Sood

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-04-18

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 047093395X

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The facts about Lyme disease, from epidemiology to treatment to control Lyme borreliosis, popularly known as Lyme disease, remains the most commonly reported tick-transmitted infection in North America and Europe. A growing body of scientific and clinical evidence has facilitated early diagnosis and effective treatment. Nonetheless, there are a number of misconceptions about this infectious disease that have given rise to unproven, potentially dangerous alternative therapies. In Lyme Borreliosis in Europe and North America, a team of authors whose expertise spans basic research, epidemiology, and clinical practice has compiled evidence-based information on Lyme borreliosis. Presents all the latest evidence needed to diagnose, treat, and prevent Lyme disease Lyme Borreliosis in Europe and North America begins with a review of the disease's epidemiology, the causative Borrelia genospecies, and tick vectors. It then explores pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. Next, the book examines the role of serologic, culture, and molecular diagnostic methods. The book also features a chapter on prognosis, offering an evidence-based review of outcome studies, as well as practical advice to physicians to help them manage the challenging clinical scenario of chronic symptoms attributed to Borrelia infection. The final chapter is a guide to prevention strategies, including the management of tick bites. Examines similarities and differences in Europe and North America Because differences in Borrelia genospecies are responsible for differences in the clinical presentation of Lyme borreliosis between North America and Europe, this book provides descriptions of the disease as it presents on each continent. Most of the chapters have been cowritten by experts on each continent, in order to provide a balanced perspective that combines European and North American findings, practices, and experiences. Helps everyone better understand, treat, and control Lyme disease Lyme Borreliosis in Europe and North America is a comprehensive reference, ideal for clinicians, researchers, and public health officials who seek to treat and control Lyme borreliosis. It will help them better understand the facts and make sense of the misconceptions and myths that surround this infectious disease.


Black Pepper

Black Pepper

Author: P. N. Ravindran

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2000-08-07

Total Pages: 582

ISBN-13: 0203303873

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Black Pepper is the first monograph on this important and most widely used spice. This volume includes chapters on all aspects of the crops' botany; crop improvement, agronomy, chemistry, post-harvest technology, processing, diseases, insect pests, marketing, economy and uses. All the available information has been collected and presented by expert


Acacias in Queensland

Acacias in Queensland

Author: L. Pedley

Publisher:

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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Botanical descriptions of Acacia spp. in Queensland, with keys for identification. Included is an index of collections of Acacia in the Queensland Herbarium arranged according to collector. .


Biology of Insect-induced Galls

Biology of Insect-induced Galls

Author: Joseph D. Shorthouse

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13:

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The formation of galls--abnormal growths or swelling in a plant--may be induced by infection of the plant by bacteria or fungi, or attack from certain mites, nematodes, or insects. This book provides comprehensive coverage of the biology of galls and their complex ecological etiology. The expert contributors address topics such as the effect of insect secretions on plant growth, the evolution and physiology of gall-inducing insects, patterns in gall development and induction, the role of nutritive cells, and many other key issues. This valuable work in cecidology will interest all biologists and botanists concerned with plant health, and entomologists working in the field of plant-insect relationships.


Plant Galls

Plant Galls

Author: Margaret Redfern

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13:

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A much-needed new study on plant galls growths on plants formed of plant tissue that are caused by other organisms. Most naturalists have come across oak apples, robin s pincushions, marble galls and witches brooms, a few of the more familiar examples of the strange growths that are plant galls. They are beautiful, often bizarre and colourful, and amazingly diverse in structure and in the organisms which cause them. They have been known since ancient times and have attracted superstitions and folk customs. Both the ancient Greeks and the Chinese used them in herbal medicine, and until well into the nineteenth century, they had a variety of commercial uses: important for dyeing cloth, tanning leather and for making ink. Knowledge of gall types increased during the late nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century as more species were described and their structure became more clearly understood, and yet even today, little is known about the mechanisms that cause gall formation as well as the life cycles of the organisms that initiate gall growth. Since most galls do not cause any economic damage to crop plants, research funding has traditionally been sparse in this area. However, the insect cycles and gall structures are amazing examples of the complexity of nature. Margaret Redfern explores these fascinating complexities in this latest New Naturalist volume, providing much-needed insight into the variety of galls of different types caused by a wide range of organisms including fungi, insects and mites. She discusses the ecology of galls more generally and focuses on communities of organisms within galls, the evolution and distribution of galls, as well as human and historical perspectives."