This book is a revised edition of the first of three volumes in the Handbook of Zoology series which treats the systematics and biology of Coleoptera. With over 380,000 described species, Coleoptera are by far the most species-rich order of insects and the largest group of animals of comparable geological age. Moreover, numerous species are tremendously important economically. The beetle volumes meet the demand of modern biologists seeking to answer questions about Coleoptera phylogeny, evolution, and ecology. This first Coleoptera volume covers the suborders Archostemata, Myxophaga and Adephaga, and the basal series of Polyphaga, with information on world distribution, biology, morphology of all life stages, phylogeny and comments on taxonomy.

In the last decades a remarkable renaissance has materialized in insect morphology, mainly triggered by the development of new cutting-edge technologies. This is an exciting time for biological synthesis where the mysteries and data derived from genomes can be combined with centuries of data from morphology and development. And, now, more than ever, detailed knowledge of morphology is essential to understanding the evolution of all groups of organisms. In this “age of phylogenomics” researchers rely on morphological data to support molecular findings, test complex evolutionary scenarios, and for placing fossil taxa. This textbook provides an in-depth treatment of the structures and the phylogeny of the megadiverse Hexapoda. The first part presents an up-to-date overview of general insect morphology with detailed drawings, scanning electron micrographs, and 3-D reconstructions. Also included is a chapter covering innovative morphological techniques (e.g., μ-computer tomography, 3-D modeling), brief treatments of insect development and phylogenetic methods, and a comprehensive morphological glossary. The second part is of a modern synthesis of insect systematics that includes taxon-specific morphological information for all Orders. The work is an invaluable reference for students and researchers working in all facets of biology and is a must for evolutionary biologists. A detailed understanding of morphology is essential in unraveling phylogenetic relationships and developing complex evolutionary scenarios. Increasingly researchers in phylogenomics are re/turning to morphological data to support their findings, while the development of new cutting-edge technologies has further increased interest in this growing field. This definitive handbook provides an in-depth treatment of insect morphology. The first part presents an up-to-date overview of insect morphology with detailed drawings, brilliant scanning electron micrographs and 3-D reconstructions as interactive PDFs. This is complemented by a chapter on innovative morphological techniques (e.g., μ-computer tomography, 3-D modeling) and a comprehensive morphological glossary. The second part treats the state of the art in insect systematics and includes taxon-specific morphological information for all orders. Systematics are treated formally, with for example the arguments for relationships (“apomorphies”) always listed explicitly. The work is a useful reference for students and researchers working in different fields of biology and a must for those dealing with insects from an evolutionary perspective.

This book is the first of four volumes in the Handbook of Zoology series which treat the systematics and biology of Coleoptera. With approximately 350,000 described species, Coleoptera are by far the most species-rich order of insects and the largest group of animals of comparable geological age. The beetle volumes will meet the demand of modern biologists seeking to answer questions about Coleoptera phylogeny, evolution, and ecology. This first Coleoptera volume covers the suborders Archostemata, Myxophaga and Adephaga, and the basal series of Polyphaga, with information on world distribution, biology, morphology of all life stages (including anatomy), phylogeny and comments on taxonomy.

Plant Systematics is a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated text, covering the most up-to-date and essential paradigms, concepts, and terms required for a basic understanding of plant systematics. This book contains numerous cladograms that illustrate the evolutionary relationships of major plant groups, with an emphasis on the adaptive significance of major evolutionary novelties. It provides descriptions and classifications of major groups of angiosperms, including over 90 flowering plant families; a comprehensive glossary of plant morphological terms, as well as appendices on botanical illustration and plant descriptions. Pedagogy includes review questions, exercises, and references that complement each chapter. This text is ideal for graduate and undergraduate students in botany, plant taxonomy, plant systematics, plant pathology, ecology as well as faculty and researchers in any of the plant sciences. - The Henry Allan Gleason Award of The New York Botanical Garden, awarded for "Outstanding recent publication in the field of plant taxonomy, plant ecology, or plant geography" (2006) - Contains numerous cladograms that illustrate the evolutionary relationships of major plant groups, with an emphasis on the adaptive significance of major evolutionary novelties - Provides descriptions and classifications of major groups of angiosperms, including over 90 flowering plant families - Includes a comprehensive glossary of plant morphological terms as well as appendices on botanical illustration and plant description

Whip spiders (Amblypygi) can be large and terrifying animals with strong, raptorial pedipalps and long antenniform first legs that can produce a span of as much as 60 cm. Others are small and scarcely span 5 cm. They all lead a secretive nocturnal life and are extremely dangerous to other arthropods and small vertebrates. In contrast to spiders and scorpions, they are of no commercial, economic or medical importance and they are difficult to study in the field because of their nocturnal habits, possible reasons why they have been greatly neglected until recently, by scientists and naturalists. Whip spiders represent an old group that dates back to the Carboniferous period. Their partly primitive and partly derived morphological characters and habits make the study of these animals interesting, while observation of their behaviour greatly increases our knowledge and understanding of arachnids in general. In this book the author describes their morphology and systematics, their life history, their fascinating sensory biology, their complex mating dances and reproductive biology, and their ecology and distribution. Thus he has made a significant contibution to a better understanding of the morphology and biology of the Arachnida as a whole. Whip Spiders is an outstanding contribution to science and it will be of interest for anyone with an interest in Arachnida and for those keeping and breeding spiders.

Morphology and Evolution of the Insect Abdomen: With Special Reference to Developmental Patterns and Their Bearings Upon Systematics focuses on the morphology and evolution of the skeletal structures of the insect abdomen and the internal reproductive system. Emphasis is placed on patterns of development and their implications for systematics. Comprised of 44 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to the principles of structural evolution, paying particular attention to morphogenetical regularities and anagenesis, heterochrony, substitution and homology, and analogy. The next section is devoted to various aspects of the insect abdomen including abdominal segmentation, appendages, and ovipositor as well as the male external genitalia, the male and female efferent duct, and the abdominal ganglia. The final section deals with the abdomen of a wide range of insect classes such as Protura, Collembola, Orthoptera, Coleoptera, Homoptera, Mantodea, and Diptera. This monograph will be of interest to entomologists, physiologists, and evolutionary biologists.

This book is a revised edition of the first of three volumes in the Handbook of Zoology series which treats the systematics and biology of Coleoptera. With over 380,000 described species, Coleoptera are by far the most species-rich order of insects and the largest group of animals of comparable geological age. Moreover, numerous species are tremendously important economically. The beetle volumes meet the demand of modern biologists seeking to answer questions about Coleoptera phylogeny, evolution, and ecology. This first Coleoptera volume covers the suborders Archostemata, Myxophaga and Adephaga, and the basal series of Polyphaga, with information on world distribution, biology, morphology of all life stages, phylogeny and comments on taxonomy.