Thrips (fhysanoptera) are very small insects, widespread throughout the world with a preponderance of tropical species, many temperate ones, and even a few living in arctic regions. Of the approximately 5,000 species so far identified, only a few hundred are crop pests, causing serious damage or transmitting diseases to growing crops and harvestable produce in most countries. Their fringed wings confer a natural ability to disperse widely, blown by the wind. Their minute size and cryptic behavior make them difficult to detect either in the field or in fresh vegetation transported during international trade of vegetables, fruit and ornamental flowers. Many species have now spread from their original natural habitats and hosts to favorable new environments where they often reproduce rapidly to develop intense damaging infestations that are costly to control. Over the past decade there have been several spectacular examples of this. The western flower thrips has expanded its range from the North American continent to Europe, Australia and South Africa. Thrips palmi has spread from its presumed origin, the island of Sumatra, to the coast of Florida, and threatens to extend its distribution throughout North and South America. Pear thrips, a known orchard pest of Europe and the western United States and Canada has recently become a major defoliator of hardwood trees in Vermont and the neighboring states. Local outbreaks of other species are also becoming problems in field and glasshouse crops as the effectiveness of insecticides against them decline.

Sustainable Management of Arthropod Pests of Tomato provides insight into the proper and appropriate application of pesticides and the integration of alternative pest management methods. The basis of good crop management decisions is a better understanding of the crop ecosystem, including the pests, their natural enemies, and the crop itself. This book provides a global overview of the biology and management of key arthropod pests of tomatoes, including arthropod-vectored diseases. It includes information that places tomatoes in terms of global food production and food security, with each pest chapter including the predators and parasitoids that have specifically been found to have the greatest impact on reducing that particular pest. In-depth coverage of the development of resistance in tomato plants and the biotic and abiotic elicitors of resistance and detailed information about the sustainable management of tomato pests is also presented. - Provides basic biological and management information for arthropod pests of tomato from a global perspective, encompassing all production types (field, protected, organic) - Includes chapters on integrated management of tomato pests and specific aspects of tomato pest management, including within protected structures and in organic production - Presents management systems that have been tested in the real-world by the authors of each chapter - Fully illustrated throughout with line drawings and color plates that illustrate key pest and beneficial arthropods associated with tomato production around the world

This text provides a scientific introduction to termites, including their behaviour, pest status and control.

A comprehensive treatise on thrips as crop pests set against a background covering basic biology, ecology, applied science and pest control.

This book presents a wealth of both general and specific information about rice. The first section outlines the distribution and mutual relationships of various types of rice with special attention to the adaptive strategy of wild and cultivated rice, and to the relationships between different ecotypes and their adaptation to low temperature, different photoperiods or different humidities. The section on rice morpho-physiology compares the characteristics of rice and dry land crops and different ecotypes with regard to seed dormancy and germination; describes the important steps in the photosynthetic structure process and its adjustment to the course of evolution of cultivated rice; studies the root and nutrient uptake and the responses to hormones in terrestrial and aquatic plants; considers the reproductive nature in relation to tolerance to environmental stress; and discusses the morphological characteristics of rice panicle in relation to grain filling, sink-source balance and variation in yield components of panicle structure. The last section reviews the genetics of rice and includes new findings on chromosomal analysis, cytoplasmic analysis and gene analysis and reviews recent achievements in tissue culture and genetic engineering techniques.The book is authoritative, well-documented and international in scope. It presents new and useful information of direct use to rice research workers and students, and of interest to crop physiologists, agronomists, plant physiologists and breeders throughout the world.

This text presents an up-to-date account of the soft-scale insects, "Coccidae", and covers almost the entire spectrum of the knowledge of this insect family. It is divided into three sections, covering: soft scale insects; their natural enemies; and damage and control.

The cotton plant; Insects and mites; Pest management.