Chronicles the evolution of insects and explains how evolutionary innovations have enabled them to disperse widely, occupy narrow niches, and survive global catastrophes. --Publisher's description.

"This volume captures the state-of-the-art in the study of insect-plant interactions, and marks the transformation of the field into evolutionary biology. The contributors present integrative reviews of uniformly high quality that will inform and inspire generations of academic and applied biologists. Their presentation together provides an invaluable synthesis of perspectives that is rare in any discipline."--Brian D. Farrell, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University "Tilmon has assembled a truly wonderful and rich volume, with contributions from the lion's share of fine minds in evolution and ecology of herbivorous insects. The topics comprise a fascinating and deep coverage of what has been discovered in the prolific recent decades of research with insects on plants. Fascinating chapters provide deep analyses of some of the most interesting research on these interactions. From insect plant chemistry, behavior, and host shifting to phylogenetics, co-evolution, life-history evolution, and invasive plant-insect interaction, one is hard pressed to name a substantial topic not included. This volume will launch a hundred graduate seminars and find itself on the shelf of everyone who is anyone working in this rich landscape of disciplines."--Donald R. Strong, Professor of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis "Seldom have so many excellent authors been brought together to write so many good chapters on so many important topics in organismic evolutionary biology. Tom Wood, always unassuming and inspired by living nature, would have been amazed and pleased by this tribute."--Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Chemical Defenses of Arthropods charts the significant progress in the study of chemical defenses in arthropods, a rapidly expanding area of chemical ecology. The book groups the defensive compounds secreted by arthropods based on their main functionalities and sequentially lists them according to their carbon numbers. Organized into 19 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the defensive exudates of arthropods and how arthropods have exploited these compounds to deter the ubiquitous and omnipresent predators around them. The next chapters introduce the reader to the defensive compounds produced in the exocrine glands of arthropods, ranging from alcohols and ketones to hydrocarbons, carboxylic acids, esters, 1,4-quinones and hydroquinones, lactones, phenols, steroids, and proteinaceous venoms. The book also discusses the taxonomic value of arthropod defensive compounds, with emphasis on factors affecting the composition of defensive secretions and taxonomic correlations that utilize them. Later chapters focus on arthropod biosynthesis of exocrine compounds, how insects tolerate the presence of plant toxins in their diets, and identified defensive compounds in arthropods. The book concludes with an analysis of the properties and characteristic distributions of arthropod natural products, along with their adaptiveness as defensive agents. This book is a valuable resource for biologists and chemists.

Mostly tiny, infinitely delicate, and short-lived, insects and their relatives—arthropods—nonetheless outnumber all their fellow creatures on earth. How lowly arthropods achieved this unlikely preeminence is a story deftly and colorfully told in this follow-up to the award-winning For Love of Insects. Part handbook, part field guide, part photo album, Secret Weapons chronicles the diverse and often astonishing defensive strategies that have allowed insects, spiders, scorpions, and other many-legged creatures not just to survive, but to thrive. In 69 chapters, each brilliantly illustrated with photographs culled from Thomas Eisner’s legendary collection, we meet a largely North American cast of arthropods—as well as a few of their kin from Australia, Europe, and Asia—and observe at firsthand the nature and extent of the defenses that lie at the root of their evolutionary success. Here are the cockroaches and termites, the carpenter ants and honeybees, and all the miniature creatures in between, deploying their sprays and venom, froth and feces, camouflage and sticky coatings. And along with a marvelous bug’s-eye view of how these secret weapons actually work, here is a close-up look at the science behind them, from taxonomy to chemical formulas, as well as an appendix with instructions for studying chemical defenses at home. Whether dipped into here and there or read cover-to-cover, Secret Weapons will prove invaluable to hands-on researchers and amateur naturalists alike, and will captivate any reader for whom nature is a source of wonder.

Volume Two of the new guide to the study of biodiversity in insects Volume Two of Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society presents an entirely new, companion volume of a comprehensive resource for the most current research on the influence insects have on humankind and on our endangered environment. With contributions from leading researchers and scholars on the topic, the text explores relevant topics including biodiversity in different habitats and regions, taxonomic groups, and perspectives. Volume Two offers coverage of insect biodiversity in regional settings, such as the Arctic and Asia, and in particular habitats including crops, caves, and islands. The authors also include information on historical, cultural, technical, and climatic perspectives of insect biodiversity. This book explores the wide variety of insect species and their evolutionary relationships. Case studies offer assessments on how insect biodiversity can help meet the needs of a rapidly expanding human population, and examine the consequences that an increased loss of insect species will have on the world. This important text: Offers the most up-to-date information on the important topic of insect biodiversity Explores vital topics such as the impact on insect biodiversity through habitat loss and degradation and climate change With its companion Volume I, presents current information on the biodiversity of all insect orders Contains reviews of insect biodiversity in culture and art, in the fossil record, and in agricultural systems Includes scientific approaches and methods for the study of insect biodiversity The book offers scientists, academics, professionals, and students a guide for a better understanding of the biology and ecology of insects, highlighting the need to sustainably manage ecosystems in an ever-changing global environment.

Reflects on insect pests' evolution by evaluating existing theories, documenting case studies of diverse pest species and presenting new concepts regarding the problem of variation and implications for pest management strategies. Leading experts offer contributions which deal with variations in genetic markers and ecologically meaningful traits as well as future perspectives in entomology and biosystematics.

In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the 'long lapse of ages' emphasized by Darwin - in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This work provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change.