Morphology And Mechanism Of The Insect Thorax

seem as appropriate now as the original balance was when Dr A. D. Imms' textbook was first published over fifty years ago. There are 35 new figures, all based on published illustrations, the sources of which are acknowledged in the captions. We are grateful to the authors concerned and also to Miss K. Priest of Messrs Chapman & Hall, who saved us from many errors and omissions, and to Mrs R. G. Davies for substantial help in preparing the bibliographies and checking references. London O.W.R. May 1976 R.G.D. Part I ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY Chapter I INTRODUCTION Definition of the Insecta (Hexapoda) The insects are tracheate arthropods in which the body is divided into head, thorax and abdomen. A single pair of antennae (homologous with the anten nules of the Crustacea) is present and the head also bears a pair of mandibles and two pairs of maxillae, the second pair fused medially to form the labium. The thorax carries three pairs of legs and usually one or two pairs of wings. The abdomen is devoid of ambulatory appendages, and the genital opening is situated near the posterior end of the body. Postembryonic development is rarely direct and a metamorphosis usually occurs.

This classic text, first published in 1935, is once again available. Still the standard reference in the English language, Principles of Insect Morphology is considered the author's masterpiece. A talented artist as well as one of the leading entomologists of his day, Robert E. Snodgrass produced a wealth of publications that display an accuracy and precision still unsurpassed. The 19 chapters in this volume cover each group of insect organs and their associated structures, at the same time providing a coherent morphological view of their fundamental nature and apparent evolution. To accomplish this aim, Snodgrass compares insect organs with those of other arthropods. Each chapter concludes with a glossary of terms. The 319 multipart illustrations are an invaluable source of information and have never been duplicated. This edition includes a new foreword by George Eickwort, Professor of Entomology at Cornell University, which relates the book to today's courses in insect morphology. Republication of this textbook will provide another generation of students with an essential foundation for their studies in entomology.

The renowned German reference work The Handbuch der Zoologie/Handbook of Zoology was founded in the 1920's by Professor Willi Kükenthal in Berlin and treated the complete animal kingdom from single cell organisms to mammals in eight thematic volumes: Volume I Protozoa, Porifera, Colenteratea, Mesozoa (1925); Volume II Worms (1933/34); Volume III Arthropoda ex. Insecta (1927/1932); Volume IV Arthopoda: Insecta; Volume V Solenogastres, Mollusca, Echinoderma (1925); Volume VI Pisces / Amphibia (1930); Volume VII Reptilia / Aves (1931); Volume VIII Mammalia. The Volumes Insecta (Eds. N.P. Kristensen, R.G. Beutel) and Mammalia (Eds. M.S. Fischer, H. Schliemann) continued publication into the present with the most recent contributions in English language. Covering nearly 100 years of zoological research, the Handbook of Zoology represents a vast store of knowledge. But with the speed of scientific discovery in the past decades, a new edition of the Handbook in a new form is required. Beginning in 2010 the Handbook of Zoology will be restructured and offered additionally as a database (Zoology Online) which can be easily searched and rapidly updated. The eight thematic volumes will be replaced with smaller and more flexible groupings that reflect the current state of phylogenetic knowledge. Faster publication times through online-prepublication, reference linking, forward linking and multimedia presentations will make the Handbook of Zoology highly attractive to both authors and users. Aims and Scope The Handbook of Zoology aims to provide an in depth treatment of the entire animal kingdom from the lower invertebrates to the mammals. It publishes comprehensive overviews on animal systematics and morphology as well as extensive coverage of physiology, behaviour, ecology and applied aspects of zoological research. Volumes in progress include Nemathelminthes and Gnathifera, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Arthropoda: Insecta, and Mammalia. Although our knowledge regarding many taxonomic groups has grown enormously over the last decades, it is still the ambition of the Handbook to be comprehensive in the sense that text and references together provide a solid basis for further research. Editors and authors seek a balance between describing species richness and diversity, explaining the importance of certain groups in a phylogenetic context and presenting a review of available knowledge and up-to-date reference literature. New contributions to the series present the combined effort of an international team of editors and authors, entirely published in English and explicitly addressing the international scientific community.

From the rain forests of Borneo to the tenements of Manhattan, winged insects are a conspicuous and abundant feature of life on earth. Here, Robert Dudley presents the first comprehensive explanation of how insects fly. The author relates the biomechanics of flight to insect ecology and evolution in a major new work of synthesis. The book begins with an overview of insect flight biomechanics. Dudley explains insect morphology, wing motions, aerodynamics, flight energetics, and flight metabolism within a modern phylogenetic setting. Drawing on biomechanical principles, he describes and evaluates flight behavior and the limits to flight performance. The author then takes the next step by developing evolutionary explanations of insect flight. He analyzes the origins of flight in insects, the roles of natural and sexual selection in determining how insects fly, and the relationship between flight and insect size, pollination, predation, dispersal, and migration. Dudley ranges widely--from basic aerodynamics to muscle physiology and swarming behavior--but his focus is the explanation of functional design from evolutionary and ecological perspectives. The importance of flight in the lives of insects has long been recognized but never systematically evaluated. This book addresses that shortcoming. Robert Dudley provides an introduction to insect flight that will be welcomed by students and researchers in biomechanics, entomology, evolution, ecology, and behavior.