About this book
In this two-volume set, three of the world's leading experts on mosquito disease, ecology, and systematics offer readers unique insights into the fascinating world of mosquitoes while illustrating their diagnostic morphological features in detail.
Biting multiple times on two, three, or more different hosts, it is no surprise that some species of mosquitoes have co-evolved with pathogens. For humans and other animals, the result has been some of the most challenging diseases known. It has been said that Anopheles gambiae, as the primary transmitter of malaria parasites to humans, is the most dangerous animal in the world. Certainly malaria has killed more people than all the wars that ever took place. Even now, despite drugs and mosquito control, malaria claims the lives of 405,000 per year. The vast majority of mosquito species are not involved in pathogen transmission to humans, but those that are make a huge impact on global health.
Comprehensively addressing the natural diversity of mosquitoes, Mosquitoes of the World explains their life histories, bionomic traits, and the physiological and physical adaptations they evolved in response to ever-changing environmental conditions. Mosquitoes are one of the best-known groups of insects, making Mosquitoes of the World a great starting place for anyone who would like to understand entomology by knowing the details about a representative family.
Volume One contains a review of the biology and diversity of mosquitoes. The chapters on biology are followed by a well-illustrated summary of the characteristics of all 41 genera and of representative species of mosquitoes. This treatment of the morphological diversity of mosquitoes is accompanied by a glossary of all morphological terms used. Volume Two features a long-awaited comprehensive mosquito taxonomic catalog detailing the current taxonomic and systematic status of all 3,698 valid species and subspecies, 41 genera, and 187 subgenera; a list of all taxa for definitive use of nomenclature; complete lists of species synonyms, distributions, key taxonomic works, and newly defined informal names; and origins of scientific names
Readers will discover that some mosquitoes undertake courtship rituals, while others guard their eggs, feed solely on earthworms, or can survive as immatures under ice sheets or in salt-encrusted pools. Hundreds of drawings and high-resolution, close-up images illustrate the text. 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.
Contents
Volume 1
Preface
Part One. Biology of Mosquitoes
1. Evolution
2. Nomenclature, Classification, and Identification
3. Distribution
4. Development
5. Dormancy
6. Mosquito Movement
7. Feeding and Nutrition
8. Excretion
9. Copulation and Insemination
10. Egg Development and Oviposition
Part Two. Mosquito Diversity, Systematics, and Medical Importance
11. Genera and Medically Important Species Pages
12. Glossary of Diagnostic Morphological Terms
Volume 2
Part Three. Taxonomic Catalog of Culicidae
- Introduction
- Abbreviations Used for Type Depositories
- General Publications, Family Culicidae
- Taxonomic Catalog
- Fossil Culicidae
- Nomina Dubia
- Nomina Nuda and Rejected Names
- Family Group and Other Suprageneric Names
- Informal Species Groups
Literature Cited
Index
Customer Reviews
Biography
Richard C. Wilkerson is a research associate in the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. Yvonne-Marie Linton is the research director of the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit for the United States Army and curator for the Entomology Department of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, where she is responsible for the US National Mosquito Collection. Daniel Strickman is a consultant for the Innovative Vector Control Consortium, recently retired from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a coauthor of Prevention of Bug Bites, Stings, and Disease and a coeditor of two editions of Insect Repellents Handbook.
