Pest and Vector Control

As ravagers of crops and carriers of diseases affecting plants, humans and animals, insects present a challenge to a growing human population. In Pest and Vector Control, first published in 2004, Professors van Emden and Service describe the available options for meeting this challenge, discussing their relative advantages, disadvantages and future potential. Methods such as chemical and biological control, host tolerance and resistance are discussed integrating (often for the first time) information and experience from the agricultural and medical/veterinary fields. Chemical control is seen as a major component of insect control, both now and in the future, but this is balanced with an extensive account of associated problems, especially the development of pesticide-tolerant populations.

Table of Contents:
Preface; 1. Man and insects; 2. The causes of pest and vectored disease outbreaks; 3. Insecticides and their formulation; 4. Application of insecticides; 5. Problems with insecticides; 6. Environmental/cultural control; 7. Biological control; 8. Insect pathogens; 9. Genetic control; 10. Pheromones; 11. Plant and host resistance; 12. Other control measures and related topics; 13. Pest and vector management; References; Appendix: names of some chemicals and microbials used as pesticides.

About the Author :
Based in Reading University, Professor van Emden has written over 160 research articles and has over 40 years' experience of teaching agricultural pest management. Professor Mike Service has been teaching medical entomology for over 30 years and has written over 200 research papers. He has given advice and training in disease vector control in over 50 countries.

Review :
'[the authors] provide an extremely readable and up-to-date account of the control measures that can be used ... They provide the reader with a very objective account of the problems of bringing together different techniques of control to a package acceptable to the growers and those responsible for vector control programmes ... This book should be read by a wider audience than students of applied entomology as it shows that we still need insecticides despite the prophecies of 'Silent Spring'.' Crop Protection 'This book, which is an expanded update of van Emden's previous book on Pest Control (1989), brings together, in a unique way, vectors of disease as well as agricultural pests and provides an extremely readable and up-to-date account of the control measures that can be used. From discussing the impact of arthropod pests on man, the authors give a very clear account of factors that affect the abundance of insects ... Hopefully the book will be read by a wider audience than students of applied entomology, as it shows that we still need insecticides despite the prophecies of 'Silent Spring'.' Outlooks on Pest Management 'The book is specialised, being confined to entomology, but is also broad in the sense that it contains a mixture of agricultural, medical and veterinary applications. The book is easy to read with numerous examples drawing on the authors' considerable expertise. The authors' enthusiasm for entomology is evident in their clear writing style. It is a user-friendly text that is well suited to undergraduate and masters programmes in crop protection, pest management, entomology and applied biology, as well as to applied medical and veterinary studies.' Pest Management Science 'This would be a valuable text for an undergraduate course on applied entomology, combining as it does breadth, detail and interest on agricultural pest and disease vector control in one slim volume.' Biologist