Parasitoids are parasitic insects that kill their insect hosts in immature pre-reproductive stages. Parasitoids are employed in biological control programs worldwide to kill insect pests and are environmentally safe and benign alternatives to chemical pesticides. As resistance to chemical pesticides continues to escalate in many pest populations, attention is now refocusing on biologically-based strategies to control pest species in agriculture and forestry as well as insect vector populations that transmit human and animal diseases. Parasitoids are an economically critical element in this equation and 'integrated pest management.' Viruses have evolved intimate associations with parasitoids, and this book features sections on both symbiotic viruses that are integrated into the wasp's chromosomal DNA (polydnaviruses) that play critical roles in suppressing host immunity during parasitism. A separate section with additional chapters on viral pathogens that infect parasitoids to cause disease and act as detrimental agents that limit effectiveness of wasp species employed in biological control of pests is also featured. A third component is a section on parasitoid venoms, which are of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical communities as well as insect-oriented biologists. - Sections focus on both virus evolution and genomics as well as proteomics and functional roles of polydnavirus-encoded gene products - International researchers and emerging leaders in their fields provide readers with syntheses of the latest research - Includes content on both symbiotic viruses and pathogenic viruses, plus new research on parasitoid venoms - Cutting-edge section on future directions in the field covers the impacts of polydnavirus research on medicine, human health, bioengineering and the economy, increasing the value for researchers and practitioners who need to stay on top of the research in this swiftly moving field

This edited volume focuses on parasite-host relationships and the behavioral changes parasites may trigger in their hosts. Parasites have developed strategies which enhance their chances to find a host to survive inside its body and to become most easily transmitted to one another. Many of these parasites influence the host’s behavior by various mechanisms, so that the rate of their transmissions to further hosts becomes considerably enhanced in comparison to that of non-influenced specimens of the same host species. A broad number of recent studies elucidate more and more examples in an extreme spectrum of host-parasite relationships, where successful transmission and /or survival of a parasite inside a host is based on parasite-derived behavioral manipulations of the hosts. In the literature, an increasing numbers of papers appear which prove that these behavioral alterations are based on complicated psychoimmunologic, neuropharmacologic and genomically steered mechanisms. Researchers working in parasitology or behavioral sciences will find this work thought-provoking, instructive and informative.

Much is known about the biology of Drosophila parasitoids, which is why they are used as a model for studying other parasitoids. This book brings together the different fields of research that can be explored, thanks to the "Drosophila parasitoid" model. It shows how the complementary knowledge arising from different approaches is inspiring the development of new areas of research on this biological model. It also discusses techniques and methods specifically adapted to the study of larval parasitoid species.

Advances in Virus Research

A sense of belonging is basic to the human experience. But in this, humans are not unique. Essentially all life, from bacteria to humans, have ways by which it determines which members belong and which do not. This is a basic cooperative nature of life I call group membership which is examined in this book. However, cooperation of living things is not easily accounted for by current theory of evolutionary biology and yet even viruses display group membership. That viruses have this feature would likely seem coincidental or irrelevant to most scientist as having any possible relationship to human group identity. Surely such simple molecular-based relationships between viruses are unrelated to the complex cognitive and emotional nature of human group membership. Yet viruses clearly affect bacterial group membership, which are the most diverse and abundant cellular life form on Earth and from which all life has evolved. Viruses are the most ancient, numerous and adaptable biological entities we know. And we have long recognized them for the harm and disease they can cause, and they have been responsible for the greatest numbers of human deaths. However, with the sequencing of entire genomes and more recently with the shotgun sequencings of habitats, we have come to realize viruses are the black hole of biology; a giant force that has until recently been largely unseen and historically ignored by evolutionary biology. Viruses not only can cause acute disease, but also persist as stable unseen agents in their host.

Cellular virology has made tremendous advances in the past decade due to the availability and application of new immunological techniques together with the vast range of biochemical techniques and the continued impact of transmission electron microscopy. The chapters contained in this volume provide significant coverage of the subject of cellular virology as a whole. Considerable overall emphasis is placed upon the membrane biochemistry of viral proteins and glycoproteins within the infected cell. In the opening chapter Edouard Kurstak and his colleagues provide a useful survey on the detection of viral antigens and antibodies by immunoassays. This chapter, with its emphasis on the important role of immunology in present-day virology, sets the scene for the volume. Following this is an exciting presentation from Stefan Hoglund and his colleagues on ISCOMs and immunostimulation with viral antigens. This unique approach is already proving to be of value, particularly in animal virology. A somewhat pharmacological diversion appears in Chapter 3, by Kazukiyo Onodera and his colleagues, in which the biological activity of the damavaricin C derivatives is discussed. This chapter provides a link between the biochemical and the chemotherapeutic approach in cellular virology. Yet another specialist area is covered in Chapter 4 by Otto Schmidt and hnke Schuchmann-Feddersen, who discuss the role of virus-like particles in para site-host interactions of insects. Contributing a strong biomedical emphasis to the volume is the provocative chapter by Abraham Karpas on human leukemia and retroviruses.

The study of parasitoid communities has direct relevance to general ecological theory and to the applied practice of biological control. Yet, despite the existence of a large and active international research community involved in the study of parasitoids, until now no books devoted to the theme of parasitoid community ecology have been available. Here, with a healthy mix of general discussions and specific examples such as tortricids and weevils, the authors constructively review and evaluate our understanding of these often very complex systems. The book emphasizes basic science, linking the discussion to wider areas such as population dynamics, food webs, competition, and community structure. The more applied end of the subject is covered in a section exclusively devoted to biological control. This book, the first to deal entirely with ecological aspects of parasitoid biology, offers summaries of the state of the field by leading researchers and identifies critical areas in need of further investigation. Students, researchers, and teachers in the field of ecology, animal behavior, entomology, forestry, and agriculture will all want to have a copy of the book on their shelves.

This text brings together fundamental information on insect taxa, morphology, ecology, behavior, physiology, and genetics. Close relatives of insects, such as spiders and mites, are included.

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