Harvestmen : the biology of Opiliones / edited by Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha, Glauco Machado, Gonzalo Giribet.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Pinto-da-Rocha, Ricardo, editor.

Machado, Glauco, editor.

Giribet, Gonzalo, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Opiliones.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (608 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, [2007]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This is the first comprehensive treatment of a major order of arachnids featuring more than 6,000 species worldwide, familiar in North America as daddy-longlegs but known scientifically as the Opiliones, or harvestmen. The 25 authors provide a much-needed synthesis of what is currently known about these relatives of spiders, focusing on basic conceptual issues in systematics and evolutionary ecology, making comparisons with other well-studied arachnid groups, such as spiders and scorpions. Broad in scope, the volume is aimed at raising relevant questions from a diversity of fields, indicating areas in which additional research is needed. The authors focus on both the unique attributes of harvestmen biology, as well as on biological studies conducted with harvestmen species that contribute to the understanding of behavior and evolutionary biology in general. By providing a broad taxonomic and ecological background for understanding this major arachnid group, the book should give field biologists worldwide the means to identify specimens and provide an invaluable reference for understanding harvestmen diversity and biology.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Contributors

Preface

1 What Are Harvestmen?

2 Morphology and Functional Anatomy

3 Phylogeny and Biogeography

4 Taxonomy

5 Paleontology

6 Cytogenetics

7 Ecology

8 Diet and Foraging

9 Natural Enemies

10 Defense Mechanisms

11 Social Behavior

12 Reproduction

13 Development

14 Ecophysiology

15 Methods and Techniques of Study

References

Taxonomic Index

Subject Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674276833

0674276833