True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): Classification and Natural History

Description:

Second revised and enlarged edition. A comprehensive review of heteropteran biology, morphology, and classification down to the subfamily level. In the 24 years since the first edition was published, the knowledge of the Heteroptera has vastly increased. Almost 5000 new bug species and two new families have been described, and the categorical rank of multiple family-group taxa has been revised. The use of cladistic methods through the application of more-user-friendly computer programs and of DNA-sequence data in phylogenetic analysis has increased understanding of true-bug relationships. There has also been a great increase in the study of fossil Heteroptera.

Introductory chapters are followed by a key to infraorders and the first review of fossil Heteroptera. The systematics chapters focus on living Heteroptera. Taxa are grouped by infraorder, superfamily, family, subfamily, and in some cases tribe. Diagnoses and information on the history of classification for suprafamilial taxa, all families, and for many subfamilies and tribes, as well as sections on Specialized Morphology, Natural History, and Distribution and Faunistics. Includes figures for general morphology and details of structure in all family-group taxa, as well as 32 color plates of habitus images and 2 of living bugs. This seminal volume will appeal to anyone interested in Heteroptera, including for use as a general reference, specialized textbook, aid to family-group identification, and a gateway to the ever-expanding literature on the group.