Main description:

Insect Behavior is the second edition of the text that for thirty years served as the fundamental introduction to a field of study that has been growing enormously. Today, new technologies and understandings are allowing questions to be shaped—and answered—in ways that once could not have been envisioned. However, massive new information also can overwhelm and obscure the broader perspectives needed to put new discoveries into context. Thus, the times fairly demand that students and non-specialists seek a wider understanding of diverse proximate and ultimate forces that cause animals to behave as they do.

This book provides that opportunity. The authors strike a balance between modern developments and historical insights, between new examples and old, between empirical work and theory, and between pertinent conclusions and the dynamic field and laboratory experiences from which such discoveries arise. Considerably updated and expanded, this edition includes 26 case studies, as well as 45 new color plates and 173 figures (over 40% of them new) with detailed legends that add richness to the well-written, accessible text.

Like the course that originally inspired it, Insect Behavior will find utility at the graduate and senior undergraduate level for college and university students. However, although some background in entomology or animal behavior is helpful, an in-depth knowledge is not a prerequisite. Thus, the book also invites comparative psychologists, science educators, and all others with an interest in the physically small but inestimably important creatures that comprise three-quarters of all animal life on our planet.

Feature:

Provides the only comprehensive overview of fundamental concepts of animal behavior as they relate to insects (even though insects make up an estimated ¾ of all multicellular animals on earth!). For teachers and students, this unified approach is a major improvement over the use of an assemblage of journal reprints

Unique in its combination of a comparative evolutionary approach that shows how major behavioural systems function and more detailed case studies—26 of them; 8 new to this edition—of field and laboratory investigations that show how behavioural research is and can be conducted. Both proximate and ultimate mechanisms are discussed. This approach offers the reader a broad base for understanding this field

Color plates (45, all new) and 173 black and white figures, including many original drawings and photographs (73 new to this edition), all with detailed captions, make the book a valuable reference for students and specialists alike

Although some background in entomology or animal behavior is helpful, an in-depth knowledge is not required to understand the material

Straightforward writing style, specialized terms are defined at first mention, and both common and scientific names are used

Accessible and informative for non-specialists with an interest in the principles of insect behavior in addition to its value for graduate students and working professionals

Back cover:

For thirty years, Insect Behavior served as students’ sole overview of a field of study that is growing exponentially. Considerably updated and expanded, this second edition still retains its constructive balance between modern developments and historical insights, between new examples and old, between empirical work and theory, and between pertinent conclusions and the dynamic field and laboratory experiences from which such discoveries arise. Twenty-six case studies, 45 new color plates and 173 figures (over 40% of them new) add richness to the well-written, accessible text.

Contents:

PREFACE. I. THE HISTORY AND SCOPE OF INSECT BEHAVIOR. 1.1.INTRODUCTION. 1. 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS. 1. 3. PHYLOGENY’S ROLE. 1.4. QUESTIONS AND PERSPECTIVES. II. PROGRAMMING AND INTEGRATING BEHAVIOR. 2.1. INTRODUCTION. 2.2. NERVE-BASED COORDINATION. 2.3. LIFE IN A STIMULUS-RICH WORLD. 2.4. HORMONE-BASED COORDINATION. III. SPATIAL ADJUSTMENT. 3.1. INTRODUCTION. 3.2. LOCOMOTION. 3.3. ORIENTATION. 3.4. THERMOREGULATION. 3.5. MIGRATION. IV. FORAGING AND FEEDING. 4.1. INTRODUCTION. 4.2. FORAGING STRATEGIES. 4.3. COEVOLUTION AND THE ARMS RACE. 4.4. FEEDING AS A COMMUNAL ACTIVITY. V. DEFENSE: A SURVIVAL CATALOGUE. 5.1. INTRODUCTION. 5.2. DEFENSE MESSAGES. 5.3. PASSIVE MESSAGES. 5.4. ACTIVE MESSAGES. VI. CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION. 6.1. INTRODUCTION. 6.2. MECHANISMS OF CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION. 6.3. THE FUNCTIONS OF CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION. 6.4. THE INFORMATION CONTENT OF PHEROMONES. 6.5. CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION AND INSECT CONTROL. VII. VISUAL COMMUNICATION. 7.1. INTRODUCTION. 7.2. BIOLUMINESCENCE. 7.3. LIGHT RECEPTION. 7.4. FUNCTIONS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION. VIII. MECHANOCOMMUNICATION. 8.1. INTRODUCTION. 8.2. PRODUCING AND SENDING SIGNALS. 8.3. RECEIVING SIGNALS. 8.4. THE ACOUSTIC CHANNEL. 8.5 . FUNCTIONS OF INSECT COMMUNICATIVE SOUNDS. IX. REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR. 9.1. INTRODUCTION. 9.2. COURTSHIP AND MATING. 9.3. COURTSHIP AND CONFLICT. 9.4. MATING SYSTEMS AND PARENTAL INVESTMENT. 9.5. OVIPOSITION BEHAVIOR. X. PARENTAL BEHAVIORS AND SOCIAL LIFE. 10.1. INTRODUCTION. 10.2. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION. 10.3. THE INSECT SOCIAL REGISTER. 10.4. IMPLICATIONS AND CORRELATES OF SOCIAL LIFE. CREDITS. INDEX