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Pests cause damage to the economic value of crops and stored products, while vectors are responsible for the transmission of disease-causing agents in human beings and livestock. Although the application of synthetic pesticides in agriculture gives immediate relief, it also causes well-known side effects, leading to a consensus among entomologists and agriculturists to shift towards other eco-friendly pest management methods. Natural enemies of insects including their predators, parasitoids and pathogens have attracted the attention of scientists across the globe. These natural enemies exist in agroecosystems and suppress the populations of pests. Parasitoids are farmers' friends and the most successful group of natural enemies. Highly specialized/generalized in their prey choice, active stages of predators search for suitable prey, attack or kill the prey and consume prey within a short handling time. Predatory ability is known to increase with an increase in prey density. A single predator may devour several prey individuals. Exploiting this potency of parasitoids may yield successful results in controlling notorious pests in an eco-friendly way.
This book provides information on the important biocontrol agents that are effective in pest suppression. It starts with insect parasitic groups followed by a specific group of parasitoids. It is hoped that the book presents a comprehensive account of beneficial parasitoids and will be useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Entomology, Biological Control, Plant Protection, Agricultural Zoology and Zoology, besides those involved in competitive examinations and policy planning.
1. Insect Predators / Mani Chellappan & Ranjith, MT
2. Reduviid Predators / Bhagyasree S N, Archana Anokhe, Shashank P R and Patel C H
3. The Flower Bugs (Anthocoridae) / Chandish R Ballal, Tripti Gupta& Richa Varshney
4. Mirid and Geocorid Predators / Richa Varshney
5. Asopinae (Pentatomidae) Predators / Shalini, S & David, KJ
6. Chrysopids(Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) / Bakthavatsalam, N. & Richa Varshney
7. Ground Beetles (Coleoptera:Carabidae) / KollaSreedevi, Mahendiran, G. and Sree Chandana, P
8. Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera:Coccinellidae) / Bhupendra Kumar& Omkar
9. Syrphid Predators (Diptera: Brachycera) / Sunil, S. Joshi, David, K. J., & Sachin, K
10. Predators of Mite Pests / Shima Yazdanpanah & Yaghoub Fathipour
11. Aquatic Insects / K. A. Subramanian
12. Insects in Weed Management / Uzma Afaq & Omkar
Professor Omkar is a former Professor and Head, the Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, India. For his unique contribution to science, Professor Omkar has been conferred with Fellowship by The National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc) along with other prestigious fellowships. With 25 PhDs supervised, Professor Omkar has completed 11 research projects funded by State and Central agencies; published more than 300 papers/chapters (including one each in Nature Biotechnology& Conservation Biology), besides having two third research papers in international journals; written and edited more than 20 books published by well recognised national & international publishers. He has also served as a Subject Expert for the Swiss National Science Foundation, besides many indigenous grant applications. In view of his academic contributions, Professor Omkar has been felicitated for his excellence in academics and awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman by the Department of Higher Education, Govt. of UP (2017), Professor T N Ananthakrishnan Award, Chennai (2012), Rescholar Award of Excellence in Agricultural Entomology, Patiala (2014), Prof. G. S. Shukla Gold Medal (2014), Dr S. Pradhan Memorial Lecture Award (2019). Known globally for identifying and harnessing the potential of beneficial insects, he has worked in collaboration with multiple international scientists and visited the School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia (UK) in 2006 for three months and the Department of Zoology, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice and Institute of Entomology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic in 2016 for Four Weeks.
