Insect Infection and Immunity: Evolution, Ecology, and Mechanisms

The study of insect immune systems has accelerated rapidly in recent years and is now becoming an important interdisciplinary field. This is the first book to provide a coherent synthesis and is clearly structured around three broadly themed sections: mechanisms, interactions, and evolutionary ecology.

Jens Rolff (University of Sheffield, UK) has been contributing to the field of ecological immunology since it first emerged. He is especially interested in how immunity and life histories are interlinked with respect to seasonality and sex differences. He has published more than 30 papers on the evolutionary ecology of insect immunity and interactions with parasites. He is co-editor of Ecological Entomology and has fostered inter-disciplinary exchange by organising international workshops.

Stuart Reynolds (University of Bath, UK) is co-editor of the Journal of Insect Physiology and has published more than 100 papers on insect physiology. He is particularly interested in the immune responses of lepidopteran larvae and the use of RNAi as a tool to investigate this.

Together, they are convenors of the Insect Immunology Special Interest Group of the Royal Entomological Society of the UK.