No creature has quite the sting in our mythology and folklore as the scorpion. From the dawn of human civilization they have been a dangerous figure in our imaginations—poisonous, precise, and deadly quiet—but as Louise M. Pryke shows in this book, their bad reputation has overshadowed many exceptional qualities. Scurrying across hundreds of millions of years and across every continent except Antarctica, this book gives the scorpion its due as one of nature’s longest lasting survivors. Indeed scorpions are older than dinosaurs. An ancient arthropod, their form—notable for its pair of pincers and an elegant tail that holds a menacing stinger high in the air in a permanent striking position—hasn’t changed since prehistoric times, though today there are some 1700 different species. Throughout our existence scorpions have served as a powerful cultural and religious symbol—sometimes dangerous, sometimes protecting—from the Egyptian goddess Serket to Zodiac astrology to folk medicine. A fascinating tour that takes us from the art of North Africa to the American Civil War to the markets of Beijing, Scorpion is an homage to one of earth’s oldest residents.

Publisher description

This edited volume is provides an authoritative synthesis of knowledge about the history of life. All the major groups of organisms are treated, by the leading workers in their fields. With sections on: The Importance of Knowing the Tree of Life; The Origin and Radiation of Life on Earth; The Relationships of Green Plants; The Relationships of Fungi; and The Relationships of Animals. This book should prove indispensable for evolutionary biologists, taxonomists, ecologists interested in biodiversity, and as a baseline sourcebook for organismic biologists, botanists, and microbiologists. An essential reference in this fundamental area.

Chelicerates do not possess dedicated antennae like the Mandibulata but have evolved their second sets of appendages into the eponymous chelicerae. In scorpions, pectines are specialized comb-like structures, located on the ninth body segment, used for examining the substrate for chemo- and mechanosensory signals. The comb teeth, or pegs, are truncated beveled structures facing the substrate for probing, and are studded with numerous sensory receptors. Afferents from the pectines project into a distinct neuropil of the central nervous system, located behind the fourth walking leg neuropils. Denise Drozd analyzes afferents of single pegs in Mesobuthus eupeus by backfilling, combined with immunohistological labeling of neuropil regions. Her results suggest a topographic representation of the chemosensory fibers within the pectine neuropil instead of the typical chemotopic representation.

From single-celled organisms in Black Sea sand to endemic cave crustaceans, from mountain glacial relict insects to the most diverse bird fauna in Europe, the fauna of Bulgaria has been a subject of study for more than a century. This is the first English language survey of all vertebrate and many key invertebrate groups of Bulgaria, their faunistics, origin, geographical and ecological distribution, and conservation issues.

The first and second editions of Medical and Veterinary Entomology, edited by Gary R. Mullen and Lance A. Durden, published in 2002 and 2009, respectively, have been highly praised and become widely used as a textbook for classroom instruction. This fully revised third edition continues the focus on the diversity of arthropods affecting human and animal health, with separate chapters devoted to each of the taxonomic groups of insects and arachnids of medical or veterinary concern, including spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks. Each chapter includes sections on taxonomy, morphology, life history, and behavior and ecology, with separate sections on those species of public-health and veterinary importance. Each concludes with approaches to management of pest species and prevention of arthropod-borne diseases. The third edition provides a comprehensive source for teaching medical and/or veterinary entomology at the college and university level, targeted particularly at upper-level undergraduate and graduate/postgraduate programs. In addition to its value as a student textbook, the volume has appeal to a much broader audience, specialists and non-specialists alike. It provides a key reference for biologists in general, entomologists, zoologists, parasitologists, physicians, public-health personnel, veterinarians, wildlife biologists, vector biologists, military entomologists, the general public and others seeking a readable, authoritative account on this important topic. - Completely revised and updated edition - Includes a distinguished group of 40 nationally and internationally recognized contributors - Sixteen new authors, in addition to 25 continuing contributors from the first and second editions - A new chapter on Arthropod Toxins and Venoms - Illustrated with 560, mostly color, figures and updated maps depicting the distribution of important arthropod taxa and arthropod-borne diseases - A significantly expanded and well-illustrated chapter on Molecular Tools Used in Medical and Veterinary Entomology - Coverage of emerging and newly recognized arthropod concerns, including mosquito-borne Zika and - Chikungunya viruses; tick-borne Bourbon and Heartland viruses; tick-borne rickettsioses and anaplasmosis; and red meat allergy associated with tick bites - A 1700-word Glossary - An Appendix of Arthropod-Related Viruses of Medical and Veterinary Importance