Biology of Snail-Killing Sciomyzidae Flies
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Har/DVD, 12/31/2010
EAN 9780521867856, ISBN10: 0521867851
Hardcover, 526 pages, 25.3 x 19.5 x 2.8 cm
Language: English
Written for academic researchers and graduate students in entomology, this is the first comprehensive analysis of Sciomyzid flies. Sciomyzid flies are important as prime candidates for the biological control of snails and slugs that help transmit diseases such as schistosomiasis or are important agricultural pests. They also serve as a paradigm for the study of the evolution of feeding behavior in predatory insects. Starting with analyses of malacophagy in general and then in Diptera specifically, all important aspects of the Sciomyzidae are discussed, including behavior, ecology, life cycles, morphology, and identification. New behavioral and morphological classifications and hypotheses are proposed on the basis of unpublished information and a complete analysis of the extensive literature. Also included are keys to adults, larvae and puparia and a checklist of world species, with information on geographical range and the location of type specimens. The accompanying DVD includes Clifford O. Berg's classic film on the biology of Sciomyzidae and biological control of snails.
Foreword by Benjamin A. Foote
Foreword by Rudolf Rozkosny
Preface
Avant propos
About the authors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Natural enemies of Mollusca
3. Malacophagy in Diptera
4. Life cycles
5. Host/prey ranges and preferences
6. Host/prey finding
7. Feeding behavior
8. Competition
9. Phenology, reproduction, and development
10. Macrohabitats and microhabitats, guild structures and associations, threatened species, and bioindicators
11. Natural enemies
12. Defense mechanisms
13. Population dynamics
14. Morphological, physiological/behavioral, and genetics and related aspects
15. Systematics and related topics
16. Zoogeography
17. Evolutionary considerations
18. Biological control
19. History of research on Sciomyzidae
20. Methods
21. World checklist of Sciomyzidae and Phaeomyiidae
Index.