- Email: [email protected]
Veterinary entomology
Book Reviews Veterinary Entomology by RichardWall and David Shearer, Chapman & Hall, 1997. £29.99 (439 pages) ISBN 0 412 615 10 X This new treatment of veterinary entomology was written for veterinary students and animal health practitioners. It provides an even coverage of the principal ectoparasitic and haematophagous insects of domestic animals with an emphasis on those in the holarctic. Topics covered include the identification, life histories, damage, control and disease organisms carried by each ectoparasite. The book is organized principally by the systematics of the arthropod taxa. It begins with an elementary treatment of arthropod anatomy, terminology, physiology and diversity. Mites, ticks, agents of myiasis, ectoparasites, haematophagous and synanthropic species are included. A particularly useful feature is the chapter on the diagnosis, clinical features and treatment of ectoparasitic infestations. Methods of biopsy and collection are discussed. The principal pests are also listed by their vertebrate hosts. A glossary of terms is provided. I know of no other book that covers the subject of veterinary entomology as comprehensively and effectively. Moreover, the writing is altogether clear and readable. The treatment is elementary and uncomplicated, and certainly adequate for the intended audience. Indeed, there's
not much left out, and the citations give access to some of the specialist literature. Phylogenetic relationships among the higher arthropod taxa are very briefly discussed, but much more appropriate citations to this literature were missed, eg. Boudreaux, H.B. (I 979) Arthropod Phylogeny, Wiley; Wheeler, W.C. et al. (I 993) Cladistics 9, I 39. As suggested in the book's preface, it will often be necessary for users to consult specialized identification keys to identify accurately many insects and ticks. This is just as well, because the keys provided are distr~uted throughout the book and its binding would not allow simultaneous use of the book and a stereoscope. It would have been helpful if the keys to taxa had been grouped together as tear-outs which could have been inserted into a loose-leaf notebook for laboratory use. A key to the major arthropod taxa also could have been included. The drawings are of uneven quality and rather more would have been helpful for the intended audience. Inevitably, there are some typos and oversights. Screwworm adults cannot be distinguished from Cochliomyia macellaria by spots on the abdomen; the figure of Cochliomyia hominivorax is actually C. macellaria as shown by the complete
The Molecular Biology of Insect Disease Vectors: A Methods Manual edited byJ.M. Crampton, C.B. Beard and C. Louis, Chapman & Hall, 1997. £65.00 (579 pages) ISBN 0 412 73660 8 Insect molecular biology has progressed tremendously in the past ten years, and prospects for applying molecular techniques to novel transgenic control of injurious arthropods have recently activated widespread interest. The Molecular Biology
of Insect Disease Vectors:A Methods Manual will probably serve as a touchstone reference for many insect molecular biologists, regardless of their interests in vectors. More importantly, by pulling together in one volume a broad range of researchers with their respective expertise, the editors have provided useful starting points and contacts for new and established laboratory workers. Divided into eight sections - Insect colony maintenance, Experimental infections of vectors, Basic nucleic acid methodology, Genome mapping, Insect identification, Transformation techniques, Cell and organ culture, Symbionts - t h e contents span the range of molecular approaches. The first sections highlight a slight misnomer, in that molecular biology 490
is not mentioned until section three. The first two sections also reflect the subjectivity involved in culturing insects and parasites; these sections tend to have longer introductions and techniques that are open to interpretation. Subsequent sections, in turn, reflect the more prescriptive nature of the work (although, in many chapters, options for various techniques are presented). All chapters follow a similar format: introduction, materials, methods and notes, and (usually) a few references. It is refreshing to see seminal references (eg. Balbiani, 188 I) still quoted in the heart of a modem molecular genetic text. Most chapters are easy to read and, with few exceptions, score well on an '1 could follow this' scale. There are some anomalies, such as Chapters 17 and 18 starting with quite different definitions of a genomic library, and some chapters show too great a reliance on previous knowledge or familiarity with terminology. The notes are illuminating as they usually highlight and address (or, rarely, gloss over) various
median mesonotal stripe, which in screwworms would be shorter than the two lateral stripes, and there are other differences as well. The tick Ixodes dammini has been shown to be a pseudonym of Ixodes scapularis. Face flies have not become distributed throughout the USA but are found in the northern two-thirds of the country and the southern portions of Canada. There is little clinical significance attributed to thelaziasis. For many taxa, seasonality (phenology) is an important consideration in assessing risk and need for control or prophylactic measures but this aspect was overlooked. Indeed, virtually nothing is said of the ecology of veterinary pests. In summary, Veterinary Entomology meets its stated aims. Animal health practitioners will find this book to be of manageable size, informative, readable, comprehensive and useful, and it will not greatly test their zoological and entomological backgrounds. It provides an even coverage of pests most likely to be encountered in the holarctic, as well as many from the tropics and subtropics. The book will also be a suitable text for specialist courses in veterinary and agricultural colleges for students who have had little training in entomology or parasitology. Elliot Krafsur
Department of Entomology Iowa State University Ames, IA 5001 1-3222, USA
problems with techniques and general approaches. There are very few omissions or errors. With only a few additional sections, the book could have encompassed the range of arthropod vectors, and alternative model systems for infection oftriatomines, ie. Trypanosoma rangeli and Blastocrithidia spp, would have been useful inclusions. Perhaps the most notable omission is the experimental infection of mosquitoes with Plasmodium falciparum from culture. The abbreviation L rather than the SI unit, I, for litres throughout is irritating, and the odd abbreviation (ELISA, S) is incorrectly defined. These are minor comments concerning a largely well-written and edited volume.
The Molecular Biology of Insect Disease Vectors: A Methods Manual should be in every vector biology laboratory. Its cost and format (hard- rather than spiral-bound) may prevent it from being used at the bench as a personal laboratory manual, but the high quality and breadth of presentation should ensure its wide usage. Peter F. Billingsley
Department of Zoology Universityof Aberdeen Tillydrone Avenue Aberdeen UK AB24 2TZ
Parasitology Today, vol. 13, no. 12, •997
not much left out, and the citations give access to some of the specialist literature. Phylogenetic relationships among the higher arthropod taxa are very briefly discussed, but much more appropriate citations to this literature were missed, eg. Boudreaux, H.B. (I 979) Arthropod Phylogeny, Wiley; Wheeler, W.C. et al. (I 993) Cladistics 9, I 39. As suggested in the book's preface, it will often be necessary for users to consult specialized identification keys to identify accurately many insects and ticks. This is just as well, because the keys provided are distr~uted throughout the book and its binding would not allow simultaneous use of the book and a stereoscope. It would have been helpful if the keys to taxa had been grouped together as tear-outs which could have been inserted into a loose-leaf notebook for laboratory use. A key to the major arthropod taxa also could have been included. The drawings are of uneven quality and rather more would have been helpful for the intended audience. Inevitably, there are some typos and oversights. Screwworm adults cannot be distinguished from Cochliomyia macellaria by spots on the abdomen; the figure of Cochliomyia hominivorax is actually C. macellaria as shown by the complete
The Molecular Biology of Insect Disease Vectors: A Methods Manual edited byJ.M. Crampton, C.B. Beard and C. Louis, Chapman & Hall, 1997. £65.00 (579 pages) ISBN 0 412 73660 8 Insect molecular biology has progressed tremendously in the past ten years, and prospects for applying molecular techniques to novel transgenic control of injurious arthropods have recently activated widespread interest. The Molecular Biology
of Insect Disease Vectors:A Methods Manual will probably serve as a touchstone reference for many insect molecular biologists, regardless of their interests in vectors. More importantly, by pulling together in one volume a broad range of researchers with their respective expertise, the editors have provided useful starting points and contacts for new and established laboratory workers. Divided into eight sections - Insect colony maintenance, Experimental infections of vectors, Basic nucleic acid methodology, Genome mapping, Insect identification, Transformation techniques, Cell and organ culture, Symbionts - t h e contents span the range of molecular approaches. The first sections highlight a slight misnomer, in that molecular biology 490
is not mentioned until section three. The first two sections also reflect the subjectivity involved in culturing insects and parasites; these sections tend to have longer introductions and techniques that are open to interpretation. Subsequent sections, in turn, reflect the more prescriptive nature of the work (although, in many chapters, options for various techniques are presented). All chapters follow a similar format: introduction, materials, methods and notes, and (usually) a few references. It is refreshing to see seminal references (eg. Balbiani, 188 I) still quoted in the heart of a modem molecular genetic text. Most chapters are easy to read and, with few exceptions, score well on an '1 could follow this' scale. There are some anomalies, such as Chapters 17 and 18 starting with quite different definitions of a genomic library, and some chapters show too great a reliance on previous knowledge or familiarity with terminology. The notes are illuminating as they usually highlight and address (or, rarely, gloss over) various
median mesonotal stripe, which in screwworms would be shorter than the two lateral stripes, and there are other differences as well. The tick Ixodes dammini has been shown to be a pseudonym of Ixodes scapularis. Face flies have not become distributed throughout the USA but are found in the northern two-thirds of the country and the southern portions of Canada. There is little clinical significance attributed to thelaziasis. For many taxa, seasonality (phenology) is an important consideration in assessing risk and need for control or prophylactic measures but this aspect was overlooked. Indeed, virtually nothing is said of the ecology of veterinary pests. In summary, Veterinary Entomology meets its stated aims. Animal health practitioners will find this book to be of manageable size, informative, readable, comprehensive and useful, and it will not greatly test their zoological and entomological backgrounds. It provides an even coverage of pests most likely to be encountered in the holarctic, as well as many from the tropics and subtropics. The book will also be a suitable text for specialist courses in veterinary and agricultural colleges for students who have had little training in entomology or parasitology. Elliot Krafsur
Department of Entomology Iowa State University Ames, IA 5001 1-3222, USA
problems with techniques and general approaches. There are very few omissions or errors. With only a few additional sections, the book could have encompassed the range of arthropod vectors, and alternative model systems for infection oftriatomines, ie. Trypanosoma rangeli and Blastocrithidia spp, would have been useful inclusions. Perhaps the most notable omission is the experimental infection of mosquitoes with Plasmodium falciparum from culture. The abbreviation L rather than the SI unit, I, for litres throughout is irritating, and the odd abbreviation (ELISA, S) is incorrectly defined. These are minor comments concerning a largely well-written and edited volume.
The Molecular Biology of Insect Disease Vectors: A Methods Manual should be in every vector biology laboratory. Its cost and format (hard- rather than spiral-bound) may prevent it from being used at the bench as a personal laboratory manual, but the high quality and breadth of presentation should ensure its wide usage. Peter F. Billingsley
Department of Zoology Universityof Aberdeen Tillydrone Avenue Aberdeen UK AB24 2TZ
Parasitology Today, vol. 13, no. 12, •997