Author Description

With the growing awareness that many tropical diseases are transmitted by insects belonging to species complexes, epidemiologists have sought new methods for identifying the precise vector species involved. This information has a direct bearing on the understanding of such diseases as malaria, mosquito-borne filariasis, and scrub typhus. The contributors to this broad work discuss the taxonomic tools that are being used to unravel species complex problems, emphasizing the important role that classical taxonomy continues to play in this process. New techniques for identifying isomorphic species, including those employing chromosomes, pheromones, cuticular hydrocarbons, behavioral traits, electrophoresis, and DNA probes are presented. Phylogenetic relationships and coevolution, such as between Anoplura taxa and their eutherian mammal hosts, are examined by cladistic methods.