ESA BULLETIN
410
(nuclei) presented and the explanation of their
proper use are excellent.
Chapter V, "Use of Queens," provides tidbits of
information about caging, marking, clipping, shipping, and introducing queens. Queen storage is an
important area that might also have been covered
in this chapter.
Chapter
VI, "Package
Bee Production,"
introduces a subject not usually covered in books
on queen rearing. It is appropriate material since in
the author's words, "it is intimately associated with
queen rearing because each package requires a
young mated queen." The pictures and the description of procedures used are excellent.
Finally, Chapter VII, "Stock Maintenance and
Improvement by Beekeepers," gives instructions
for making comparisons between various stocks
and includes 2 "standardized"
forms - the
individual queen record and the yard sheet. The author stresses the need for descriptions that are
clear, concise, reasonably accurate, easy to make
and quickly understood. The brief explanation of
genes and the relationships
between queens,
workers, and drones in a colony is of considerable
value.
This book is written to provide people with an
overview of the many alternative methods that
have been developed for queen rearing. Dr. Laidlaw has presented the art and science of queen rearing as seen through the eyes of an expert who has
been there. He leaves many avenues open for the
reader to explore.
GORDON D. WALLER
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center,
AR-SEA, USDA
Tucson, AZ 85719
ENTOMOLOGY IN HUMAN AND ANIMAL
HEALTH by Harwood, Robert F. and Maurice
T. James. 7th Edition 1979. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. New York, N.Y. 548 pages,
265 figures.
A world-wide perspective is necessary in order to
fully appreciate
the signifance
of medical
Entomology as a serious field of study. Third world
countries are still in a battle posture contending
against diseases virtually unknown or already eliminated in the United States and Europe. Malaria, the
trypanosomiases,
the filariases,
the viral
encephalitides and the viral hemorrhagic fevers
cause economic and emotional drains on millions
of victims each year. A textbook containing information about the epidemiology and control of these
diseases would be a valuable tool in the training of
preventive medicine personnel. Entomology in
Human and Animal Health represents a prodigious
effort to meet this need.
Vol. 26 no. 3, 1980
The subject of medical Entomology is not a discrete self-contained package. Rather, it borrows
generously from other disciplines, such as ecology,
epidemiology,
mammalogy, microbiology
(especially virology), ornithology, toxicology and
medicine. For this reason the writing of a comprehensive book on medical entomology IS a
monumental task and there are likely to be some
oversights and omissions. It is to the credit of the
authors that the conceptual structure is sound, the
content is comprehensive, and with a few exceptions the figures are clear and illustrate the concepts
discussed.
The book is divided into seventeen chapters of
which the first three are devoted to a general overview of arthropods as vectors or agents of disease
and injury, a brief history of medical entomology,
the scope of the book, morphology, anatomy and
classification. Chapter four contains a comprehensive coverage of basic principles of epidemiology
and chapter five deals with control measures. Chapters six through sixteen (except chapter thirteen)
provides information about arthropod vectors,
their life cycles, and the diseases they transmit.
Myiasis and envenomization are discussed in chapters thirteen and seventeen respectively.
Following the body of the text are fifty-five pages
of references consisting of approximately 1650
individual citations. The pertinent literature is
voluminous though it is next to impossible to
survey the entire field.
The overall value of the book is depreciated
somewhat by the lack of careful editing. Difficulty
in identifying antecedents and improper syntax
contribute to the ambiguity which characterizes
some sections of the book. Such errors constitute a
distraction and at times a severe hindrance. Ambiguity is further increased by the use of non-standard terms. For example, I would prefer "intermediate hosts"
rather than "developmental
transfer hosts." However, this is a subjective matter.
Again, incorrect impressions may be conveyed
by omissions, brevity of explanations or inaccuracies.
Typographical errors and spelling inconsistencies
are minimal considering the size and complexity of
the book. Poor word selection
is evident
throughout the book.
The discussion of epidemiological principles in
chapter four does not flow smoothly. It is a collection of definitions, some of which lack precision.
Despite the problems noted, the book is
still... "the most comprehensive text available on
the subject for students of veterinary medicine, animal science, public health, tropical medicine,
entomology,
parasitology,
zoology, and bacteriology. It is also a useful reference for public
health administrators and research workers in the
above fields" Gacket of book).
Vol. 26 no. 3, 1980
ESA BULLETIN
There is a total of 548 pages including references
and an index. It is evident that the book was written
with world-wide readers in mind. For example, the
breadth of coverage of mosquitoes and mosquitoborne diseases is much greater than in previous
editions. This has necessitated a superficial treatment of some subject areas (e.g. sarcoptic mange of
domestic animals and the effects of the bite of O.
coriaceus) discussed in greater detail in earlier editions. However, because the scope is broad and the
content inclusive, the book has great utility as a framework for the addition of other material. There
are excellent suggestions regarding additional
source material in the introductory chapter (p. 13)
and the reference section is more than ample. The
research effort has been thorough and complete
and many recent technological advances have been
included.
Arrangement of chapters is logical and the
sequential pattern followed in each chapter facilitates reader orientation. In this edition, the discussion of each disease is preceded by a brief summary.
This revised format should prove useful to the
beginning student.
Emphasis of areas of personal interest resulting
in the exclusion of vital information is a temptation
to which most of us are susceptible. The authors
have not succumbed to this temptation but have
achieved a rational balance among the essential elements of disease patterns. In additin, they have a
sensitivity for the need for detail where it is appropriate, but have not dealt in minutiae to the point of
tedium.
The study of medical Entomology and related
fields has been greatly enhanced by the appearance
of this excellent and usable textbook. It will most
surely be a welcome addition to the library of every
biologist with a keen interest in preventive
medicine.
VERNON J. TIPTON
Dept. of Zoology
Brigham Young Univ.,
Provo, UT .84602
ADV ANCES IN INSECT PHYSIOLOGY. Vol.
14. 1. E. Treherne, M. 1. Berridge, and V. B.
Wigglesworth. ed. 1979. Academic Press, London. 440 pp.
As has been the case in previous volumes the
editors have selected six wide ranging and timely
subjects for review.
The first review concerns atmospheric absorption
of water by arthropods. In it John Machin critically
discusses the prevailing external cuticle models of
water absorption which are based on a cuticularepidermal pump mechanism. He finds the current
theory to be inadequate in several respects and pro-
411
poses an alternative mechanism of water absorption based on the utilization of localized absor'ption
sites. The evidence for this theory comes from
research on known localized absorption sites associated either with the mouth or the rectum of Thermobia, Arenivaga, Tenebrio and numerous acarina.
The chapter is well written, and provocative. It
should be valuable to those desiring general or
specific knowledge of water balance in terrestrial
arthropods.
The subject of the second review is insect
vitellogenins.
Franz Englemann exhaustively
reviews these yolk protein precursors and the
vitellins, their counterpart in the egg. Subject areas
covered include identification, characterization,
biosynthesis, presence in male insects, uptake by
eggs, and a model for endocrine control of synthesis and vitellogenisis. Englemann's critique of
the work on the proposed role of ecdysone in control of biosynthesis is especially interesting and is
no doubt stimulating additional research in several
laboratories. This chapter will be of value to persons interested in any aspect of insect vitellogenins.
The third review by Arthur M. Jungreis concerns
the physiology of moulting in insects. In it the author briefly describes the role of hormones in the
moulting process, synthesis and degradation of
integumentary epithelium, and the enzymes involved in cuticle synthesis and degradation. The
remaining and the major part of the review is
devoted to moulting fluid. This section contains a
review of the author's research efforts as well as
that of others. While it is apparently a comprehensive effort I found it difficult to follow due to the author's writing style. There are also several
typographical errors which could be misleading to
inexperienced readers. This section concludes with
two appendices describing the staging characteristics of the larval-pupal transformations in M.
sexta and H. cecropia. This latter information will be
useful to researchers who wish to recognize the
staging characteristics as defined by the leading
researchers in the field.
The subject of the fourth review, by Tom Piek
and K. Djie Njio is the morphology
and
electrochemistry
of the insect muscle fiber
membrane. Throughout this chapter the authors
present the subject matter from a historical and
comparative point of view. This approach makes
the chapter both informative and a pleasure to read.
They show that the internal and external ionic
environment of muscle fiber is regulated at a level
distinct from that of the hemolymph by a system involving the muscle plasma membrane, and thus
resembles the nervous system. In contrast to nerve
and other muscle, however, evidence is presented
that certain bioelectric properties (epsp's) of the
muscle plasma membrane may be due to changes in
the membrane permeability to Ca + + and Mg"" +
rather than Na +: This interesting hypothesis will
certainly be the subject of considerable research in