This manual was prepared for the diagnosis of insect diseases caused by infectious agents. The agents (or pathogens) included here are fungi, protozoans, bacteria, viruses, and rickettsias. The present work was prepared after much deliberation and discussion with students and teachers who felt a guide of this type would be valuable for diagnosing the microbial diseases of insects. It was modeled after a seminar given on the same subject at Berke ley, which had as its major goal the recognition and identification of insect pathogens for practical purposes. The present work in cludes numerous...

George Poinar began collecting amber specimins over thirty years ago, but it was only recently that he, Roberta Poinar, and the rest of his research team astounded the scientific community with the news that they had obtained "live" DNA strands from an insect over 40 million years old. The news was so significant that it made headlines throughout the world. Since that time, their lab has remained extraordinarily active, and in the summer of 1993, they were able to announce the successful extraction of preserved DNA strands over 125 million years old. Thus, there is now DNA available for study...