The first volume to appear in a new series of handbooks deals with the ca. 115 families of Diptera (flies and Mosquitoes) known or suspected to occur in the islands of Malesia. Diptera constitute one of the larger orders of insects, and are generally considered to be a taxonomically difficult group, even at the family level. They include various economically important groups, some for example acting as vectors of diseases in man and cattle, while others are beneficial in pest control by virtue of their parasitic of predatory habits.
In this work, each family is characterised, and a key using characters of the adult insects enables identification to family level. In addition, information is provided on biology, ecology, economic importance, distribution, and status of taxonomic knowledge, with key references to each family. It further includes an introduction to the higher classification, general biology and morphology, with an extensive glossary. The text is illustrated with more than 200 line drawings. An exhaustive and up-to-date list of references facilitates access to the pertinent literature. For this book, the author has worked together with world specialists of the respective families.
The Families of Diptera of the Malay Archipelago will be an indispensable tool for all those working in the fields of ecology, systematic biology, and conservation, as well as applied biology.