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Winner of the 2004 Single Volume Reference / Science book award given by the Professional/Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers
Winner of the 2005 Thomas Say Award given by the Entomological Foundation
A ROM Publication in Science
A Comstock Book Published in association with the Royal Ontario Museum
There is much more to black flies than you can learn in the woods on a warm spring day. This book compiles the authors’ previously unpublished research and nearly all of the published information on North American black flies. All aspects of black flies are treated within the context of a worldwide perspective, including natural history and ecology, cytology and morphology, phylogeny and classification, economic impact, pest management, natural enemies, history of research, study methods, and identification.
Each of the 254 species known from the continent north of Mexico, including 43 new species, is treated in detail. Each species account summarizes all pertinent information on taxonomy, morphology, cytology, physiology, molecular systematics, and bionomics. The book is copiously illustrated with more than 1,100 figures, including color drawings of larvae and adult thoraxes, by some of the world’s foremost scientific illustrators. Additional figures and photographs show chromosomal and morphological features, portraits of important researchers, control efforts, natural enemies, oviposition behavior, and cladograms. Detailed distribution maps show the range of each species.
A Comstock Book published in Association with the Royal Ontario Museum
Reviews
"In this well-executed and hefty volume, Adler, Currie, and Wood offer a comprehensive review of the black flies of North America. Although notorious for the bites and welts they inflict, these small, humpbacked flies also play prominent roles in freshwater systems. . . . Introductory chapters describe the history of research on this insect family, collection and curation techniques, and the natural history. . . . The authors treat in separate chapters aspects of the economic impact and management of these flies. . . . Highly recommended."—Choice, February 2005 "The Black Flies of North America . . . is a splendid contribution that literally compiles all worthwhile knowledge in existence on the subject. This regional monograph of almost 1,000 pages of text and illustrations is truly monumental in both contents and physical appearance and will no doubt stand as the ultimate source of information on Nearctic simuliids for the next many decades. In addition, this book will also convey valuable knowledge and inspiration to students and applied entomologists working with black flies in other parts of the world."—Verner Michelsen, University of Copenhagen, Insect Systematics and Evolution “This is a landmark publication. . . . This book is a labour of love for which the authors must be congratulated and thanked. Everyone interested in blackflies, will need access to this mine of information, and any entomologists working on the Simuliidae with the North American continent should certainly buy it, as it will become the standard work. Given the variety of topics covered and the importance of blackflies, the book will also be a valuable resource for entomologists of all specialism.”—Robert A. Cheke, BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST. 18, 2005 “Based on its title, one could expect this volume to be mainly a taxonomic reference for the North American Black Flies, but its actually much more. . . . Probably the most surprising two chapters are in what appears to be strictly a taxonomic review in Part III (Economic Aspects). These chapters on social and economic impact, and management give an applied view to a taxonomic tome and make it a very well-rounded volume for anyone interested in the field. The social and economic impacts are concisely, but dramatically, presented and well supported with photographs showing swarms of simuliids attacking livestock and poultry. The management chapter has a very helpful table that shows the control methods used against particular simuliid species in various locations. . . . Although recent trends tend to indicate the preference of digitally referenced materials over books, volumes are in many ways still indispensable at least at the current time. The Black Flies (Simuliidae) of North America is such a book. This is an encyclopedia on the subject that is up to date, portable, practical, and easy to use.”—Jerome A. Hogsette, Jr., U.S. Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, Florida, The Quarterly Review of Biology, vol. 80, September 2005
About the Author
Peter H. Adler is Professor of Entomology at Clemson University. Douglas C. Currie is Curator of Entomology at the Royal Ontario Museum. D. Monty Wood is Research Associate with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa. Daniel H. Janzen is Professor of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds the Thomas E. and Louise G. DiMaura Term Chair in Conservation Biology. Ralph M. Idema is a biologist, biomedical illustrator, and entrepreneur. Lawrence W. Zettler is Associate Professor and Chair of the Biology Department at Illinois College and a Research Associate at The Marie Selby Botanical Garden and The Morton Arboretum.
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