D. Yee (ed.). 2014. Ecology, Systematics and the Natural History of Predaceous Diving Beetle (Dytiscidae)

Donald Yee (Ed.). 2014.
Ecology, Systematics, and the Natural History of Predaceous Diving Beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae).
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg - New York, London. 2014. XVIII + 468 pp.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014944550
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-9109-0
ISBN 978-94-017-9108-3 - ISBN 978-94-017-9109-0 (eBook)

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Table of contents (11 chapters) 
 1. An Introduction to the Dytiscidae: Their Diversity, 
    Historical Importance, Cultural Significance, and Other Musings
 2. Bridging Ecology and Systematics: 25 Years of Study 
    of Larval Morphology of World Dytiscidae
 3. The Phylogeny and Classification of Predaceous Diving Beetles
 4. Morphology, Anatomy, and Physiological Aspects of Dytiscids
 5. Predaceous Diving Beetle Sexual Systems
 6. Chemical Ecology and Biochemistry of Dytiscidae
 7. Habitats
 8. Predator-Prey Interactions of Dytiscids
 9. Dispersal in Dytiscidae
10. Community Patterns in Dytiscids
11. The Conservation of Predaceous Diving Beetles: Knowns, Unknowns and Anecdotes

  About this book 
  Predaceous diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) constitute one of the 
  largest families of freshwater insects (~ 4,200 species). Although dytiscid 
  adults and larvae are ubiquitous throughout a variety of aquatic habitats and 
  are significant predators on other aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates, 
  there are no compilations that have focused on summarizing the knowledge of 
  their ecology, systematics, and biology. Such knowledge would benefit anyone 
  working in aquatic systems where dytiscids are an important part of the food 
  web. Moreover, this work will allow a greater appreciation of dytiscids as 
  model organisms for investigations of fundamental principles derived from 
  ecological and evolutionary theory. Contributed chapters are by authors who 
  are actively engaged in studying dytiscids and each chapter offers a synthesis 
  of the current knowledge of a variety of topics and will provide future 
  directions for research.

  About the authors 
  Although his primary research focus involves medically important container 
  mosquitoes, he is broadly a community ecologist who has a strong, broad 
  background in invertebrates and aquatic habitats. He has focused most of his 
  research efforts on mosquitoes, in part because this group provides an 
  excellent model system to explore topics across many levels of ecological 
  organization, from individuals, to population, to communities. His specific 
  interests lie in examining how individual species traits, such as feeding 
  behavior, habitat selection, dispersal and oviposition decisions affect 
  species interactions and in linking how the outcomes of these interactions 
  affect patterns of species diversity and invasion success. This work has 
  important implications for public health, as findings of his work can offer 
  insights into the factors that control the distributions of medically 
  important mosquitoes.