Aquatic insects are being used increasingly to test a number of hypotheses in contemporary ecological theory. Additionally, research has revealed the importance of aquatic insects in the spread of diseases, the biological assessment of water quality and the reconstruction of past environments on earth. This book presents new findings in the study of aquatic entomology, together with the background information necessary to understand them and references to more detailed studies. Only a limited prior knowledge of general ecology or entomology is assumed on the part of the reader. The book will therefore appeal to advanced undergraduate students taking courses in aquatic biology or entomology, as well as research workers in ecology and pure and applied entomology.

This book presents a broad view of the ecology and behavior of aquatic insects, raising awareness of this conspicuous and yet little known fauna that inhabits inland waterbodies such as rivers, lakes and streams, and is particularly abundant and diverse in tropical ecosystems. The chapters address topics such as distribution, dispersal, territoriality, mating behavior, parental care and the role of sensory systems in the response to external and internal cues. In the context of ecology, it discusses aquatic insects as bio indicators that may be used to assess environmental disturbances, either in protected or urban areas, and provides insights into how genetic connectivity can support the development of novel conservation strategies. It also explores how aquatic insects can inspire solutions for various problems faced by modern society, presenting examples in the fields of material science, optics, sensorics and robotics.

A completely updated and translated edition of the author's famous book Atlas zur Biologie der Wasserinsekten. br/> This comprehensive work gives a vivid overview of the numerous adaptations of aquatic insects to life in an aquatic environment. 148 picture plates show more than 900 scanning electron microscope photographs with magnifications from 2.5 to 12,000 times natural size. Besides the habitus, they depict the wealth of morphological structures on the body surfaces. Explanatory texts as well as more than 150 additional line drawings, graphs and diagrams accompany each picture plate on its opposite page. In order to create an overview, on which the readers can orient themselves, a broad spectrum of all insect orders that include aquatic and semiaquatic insects has been chosen: Collembola, Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, Heteroptera (Nepomorpha, Gerromorpha), Megaloptera, Planipennia, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Trichoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera (Tipulidae, Limoniidae, Blephariceridae, Deuterophlebiidae, Psychodidae, Ptychopteridae, Dixidae, Chaoboridae, Culicidae, Simuliidae, Chironomidae, Ceratopogonidae, Stratiomyidae, Athericidae, Tabanidae, Syrphidae, Ephydridae, Muscidae). The book includes aquatic insects from all continents and from a wide variety of aquatic habitats. The Biological Atlas of Aquatic Insects was inspired by the fascinating variety of aquatic insects and their diverse adaptations to a life in the aquatic environment. Underlying the diversity of life histories and differing life forms (burrowers, climbers, sprawlers, clingers, and swimmers) and the adaptations of mouthparts and feeding behaviour to the trophic systems (shredders, collectors, scrapers, piercers, predators, and parasites) are the necessary physiological mechanisms that make it possible for the insects to ecologically adapt to an aquatic mode of life. The central themes of the book, the basic functions of an aquatic mode of life, respiration and osmoregulation, have been described for all of the insect groups. Without these basic functions life in fresh water would not be possible. They are important physiological components and play a significant role in answering the question: What makes originally land dwelling insects turn into aquatic insects? The Biological Atlas of Aquatic Insects is intended for both professional and amateur entomologists working with aquatic insects as well as for students of biology and limnology and should reveal to them the fully adapted aquatic insects, which participate in freshwater ecosystems. The Biological Atlas of Aquatic Insects has already had some fine reviews in entomological journals.

This book recounts the habits of many interesting and unusual exceptions to the rule that insects are typically terrestrial forms of life. It examines the different ways that groups of species have developed modes of existence in or on the surface of water, and gives reasons why the gross morphology of insects is not favorable for life in or near bodies of water, such as wings that fail to function after coming into contact with water, rendering them useless.