Biology of the Plant Bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae): Pests, Predators, Opportunists (Cornell Series in Arthropod Biology) - Hardcover

Wheeler, Alfred G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801438276 ISBN 13: 9780801438271

Publisher: Comstock Publishing Associates, 2001

Synopsis

Plant bugs―Miridae, the largest family of the Heteroptera, or true bugs―are globally important pests of crops such as alfalfa, apple, cocoa, cotton, sorghum, and tea. Some also are predators of crop pests and have been used successfully in biological control. Certain omnivorous plant bugs have been considered both harmful pests and beneficial natural enemies of pests on the same crop, depending on environmental conditions or the perspective of an observer.

As high-yielding varieties that lack pest resistance are planted, mirids are likely to become even more important crop pests. They also threaten crops as insecticide resistance in the family increases, and as the spread of transgenic crops alters their populations. Predatory mirids are increasingly used as biocontrol agents, especially of greenhouse pests such as thrips and whiteflies. Mirids provide abundant opportunities for research on food webs, intraguild predation, and competition.

Recent worldwide activity in mirid systematics and biology testifies to increasing interest in plant bugs. The first thorough review and synthesis of biological studies of mirids in more than 60 years, Biology of the Plant Bugs will serve as the basic reference for anyone studying these insects as pests, beneficial IPM predators, or as models for ecological research.

About this title

About the Author:

Alfred G. Wheeler, Jr., is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Entomology at Clemson University and is also an Adjunct Professor of Entomology at Penn State. He served as a survey entomologist for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture from 1971 to 1996.

Review:

"A big book about a big group of bugs... Includes a great deal of useful information such as what these species feed on and what sort of damage they produce... Highly recommended for biological sciences, entomology, insect control, ecology, agriculture, and related areas."

(Choice, February 2002)

"Wheeler presents a thorough treatment of the mirids and their relationship with their biological environments, particularly their ecology and evolution."

(SciTech Book News, December 2001)

"This book is very well illustrated.... Many of the mirids discussed are not present in North America, so the book's scope is world wide.... This book will be an excellent reference for entomology libraries, and many entomologists who work with mirids will want their own copy."

(W.J. Day, USDA-ARS. Entomological News, Vol. 113, No. 28, 2002)

"Publication of this book is a great event not only in heteropterology, but also in entomology in general. It will be useful as example of a monograph on biology of a large group of insects, a source of important comparative information for entomologists working on other insect orders, and a stimulus for further research."

"Biology of the Plant Bugs provides a major resource to the entomological community. Uniformity of style and care in presentation is evident throughout the text... The book will be of particular value to biology and entomology university and college departments as a valuable reference text about mirid insects... I recommend the book to students, researchers, teachers, and those who have a sense of curiosity and wonder about the world of insects."

(S.O.Gaul, Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Canada, Vol. 34, No. 1, Mar. 2002)

About this edition

• Publisher: Comstock Publishing Associates
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0801438276
• ISBN 13: 9780801438271
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 528