Jervis's Insects as Natural Enemies: Practical Perspectives

There has been a dramatic increase in theoretical and practical  studies on insect natural enemies over the last decades. The appeal of  insect predators and, in particular, parasitoids, as research animals  derives from the relative ease with which many species may be cultured  and experimented on in the laboratory, the simple life-cycles of most  parasitoid species, and the increasing demand for biological pest  control as a key component of the integrated pest management approach.

There  is now a very substantial literature on insect natural enemies and thus  a great need for a general text that enquiring students or research  workers can use in deciding on approaches and techniques that are  appropriate to the study and evaluation of such insects. This book  fulfils that demand. It is a considerably updated and expanded version  of a previous best-seller and provides an account of major aspects of  the biology of predators and parasitoids, punctuated with information  and advice on which experiments or observations to conduct and,  importantly, how to carry them out. Guidance is provided, where  necessary, on the most recent further literature that may need to be  consulted on given topics.While researchers  can now refer to several books on parasitoids and predators, Jervis’s  Insects as Natural Enemies is unique in emphasising practicalities. It  is aimed at students and professionals working in universities and both  government and commercial institutes in the fields of integrated pest  management, agriculture, horticulture and forestry, as well as those  interested in fundamentals of behavioural, population, community and  evolutionary ecology.