Dr. Timothy Schowalter has succeeded in creating a unique, updated treatment of insect ecology. This revised and expanded text looks at how insects adapt to environmental conditions while maintaining the ability to substantially alter their environment. It covers a range of topics- from individual insects that respond to local changes in the environment and affect resource distribution, to entire insect communities that have the capacity to modify ecosystem conditions.
Insect Ecology, Second Edition, synthesizes the latest research in the field and has been produced in full color throughout. It is ideal for students in both entomology and ecology-focused programs.
NEW TO THIS EDITION:
* New topics such as elemental defense by plants, chaotic models, molecular methods to measure disperson, food web relationships, and more
* Expanded sections on plant defenses, insect learning, evolutionary tradeoffs, conservation biology and more
* Includes more than 350 new references
* More than 40 new full-color figures

Hundreds of analytical pictures of ants. The perfect reference for texture and form. All are electron microscope imagery, very clear black and white images.

Gillott’s thorough yet clear writing style continues to keep Entomology near the top of the class as a text for senior undergraduates, and for graduate students and professionals seeking an introduction to specific entomological topics. The author’s long-held belief that an introductory entomology course should present a balanced treatment of the subject is reflected in the continued arrangement of the book in four sections: Evolution and Diversity, Anatomy and Physiology, Reproduction and Development, and Ecology. For the third edition, all chapters have been updated. This includes not only the addition of new information and concepts but also the reduction or exclusion of material no longer considered “mainstream”, so as to keep the book at a reasonable size.

Based on exciting discoveries made during the previous decade, the topics of insect evolutionary relationships, semiochemicals, gas exchange, immune responses (including those of parasites and parasitoids), flight, and the management of pests have received particular attention in the preparation of the third edition. Overall, more than 30 new or significantly revised figures have been incorporated.

Numbering more than nine thousand described species, ants rank among the most abundant and widespread of insect groups—the collective weight of ants in tropical forests and grasslands may constitute as much as 10 to 15 percent of the animal biomass. Written by thirty leading ant biologists, this comprehensive book describes procedures for surveying the diversity of ground-dwelling ants. It introduces a standardized protocol for collecting ant samples in any part of the world and for conducting repeated sampling over time, which enables researchers to analyze global and long-term patterns. Covering aspects of ant ecology and taxonomy, species identification, specimen preparation, and sources of sampling equipment, this book provides the necessary foundation for readers from a wide range of backgrounds.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume. The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms—a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor—represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few. 110 color, 100 black-and-white