Kategoria BISAC: Science >> Life Sciences - Zoology - Invertebrates

In The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin proposed that an ant's brain, no larger than a pin's head, must be sophisticated to accomplish all that it does. Yet today many people still find it surprising that insects and other arthropods show behaviors that are much more complex than innate reflexes. They are products of versatile brains which, in a sense, think.

Fascinating in their own right, arthropods provide fundamental insights into how brains process and organize sensory information to produce learning, strategizing, cooperation, and sociality. Nicholas Strausfeld elucidates...

Mapping of animal genomes has generated huge databases and several new concepts and strategies, which are useful to elucidate origin, evolution and phylogeny. Genetic and physical maps of genomes further provide precise details on chromosomal location, function, expression and regulation of academically and economically important genes. The series "Genome Mapping and Genomics in Animals" provides comprehensive and up-to-date reviews on genomic research on a large variety of selected animal systems, contributed by leading scientists from around the world.

Insects and other...

Anisoptera is the first of two volumes on the Odonata in the series Encyclopedia of South American Aquatic Insects. The second will treat the Zygoptera.

The Anisoptera volume encompasses the large dragonfly species. A brief review of the biology of the group includes illustrations of the main morphological features as well as explainations of alternative systems for naming the wing veins and other structures. This will prepare the user of the volume to understand the different names for the same structures that he will encounter in the literature.

The review is then followed...

Despite their enormous bulk and complexity of architecture, plants make up only around a quarter of a million of the 8 million or so species on Earth. The major components of biodiversity, instead, are the smaller, largely unseen, silent majority of invertebrates most of which are arthropods. Vertebrates, a mere blip on the biotic horizon, are elevated in importance in the bigger scheme of things only by the human psyche.

This collection of more than 30 peer-reviewed papers focuses on the diversity and conservation of arthropods, whose species inhabit virtually every recess and...

Aquaculture is a rapidly growing industry and aquaculture practices can directly interact with and depend upon the surrounding environment. Therefore, the effects of all types of aquaculture on living natural resources and ecosystems are of significant and increasing national and international interest. In Ecological and Genetic Implications of Aquaculture Activities, numerous nationally and internationally prominent aquaculture researchers contribute 27 chapters that comprise overviews of aquaculture effects on the environment, discussions of genetic considerations, thorough documentation...

This book summarises worldwide research activities at laboratory and farm levels to control the poultry red mites. Forty-three experts from 11 countries have been drawn to present new control methods based on plants, predators or vaccine developments together with updated chemical, physical and managerial approaches to tackle this ubiquitous ectoparasite which is responsible for economic losses to the poultry industry and for human health-related problems. Genetic and metabolomic diversity within the mite populations highlights the needs for an integrated approach for the poultry industry....

The Physiology of Cladocera is a much-needed summary of foundational information on these increasingly important model organisms. This unique and valuable summary is based on the world's literature, including Russian research not widely available until now. It offers systematically arranged data on the physiology of Cladocera, assisting with explanation of their life and distribution, as well as discussion on directions of future research. Special expert contributions in genetics, immunology, and cytology round out the physiological chapters and provide comprehensive insight into...

The world's nearly 7,000 species of crabs are immediately recognizable by their claws, sideways movement, stalked eyes, and thick outer shells. These common crustaceans are found internationally, thriving in various habitats from the edge of the sea to the depths of the ocean, in fresh water or on land. Despite having the same basic body type as decapod crustaceans true crabs have heavy exoskeletons and ten limbs with front pincer claws crabs come in an enormous variety of shapes and sizes, from the near microscopic to the giant Japanese spider crab.

In Walking Sideways,...