Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz ISSN: 1678-8060 EISSN: 1678-8060 Vol. 97, Num. 2, 2002, pp. 441

Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Vol. 97(3) 2002, pp. 441

BOOK REVIEW

Medical and Veterinary Entomology

José Rodrigues Coura

Editor, Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

Code Number: oc02086

Publisher: Edited by Carlos Brisola Marcondes
               Editora Atheneu, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
               432 pages, Price US$ 31,78

The book Entomologia Médica e Veterinária (Medical and Veterinary Entomology), written by Carlos Brisola Marcondes with the collaboration of seven respected South American entomologists, was recently published by Editora Atheneu. The work has a didactic nature and very updated information about the main arthropod groups, attending medical and veterinary interests, as it comments the morphology, biology, behavior, capture techniques, mounting and control of those animals.

The book is extremely well organized and shows great potential. It will certainly be useful to biomedical and biological students, as well as to health professionals, as a whole, since not only it contains practical indications about epidemiology and control of the main transmissible infections, but also includes research suggestions for producing and maintaining arthropods in laboratory, studies to be developed and a selected bibliography of 559 references for additional studies.

The subjects treated in the book keep the following organization: two introductory chapters about morphology and physiology, of the major vector of medical importance, and hematophagy. Next, there are ten chapters, respectively about: Phlebotominae, Simuliidae, Cera-topognidae, Culicidae, Tabanidae, flies, fleas, lice, Hemiptera, and acari. The last four chapters discuss arthropods collecting, preserving and mounting, species identification and control, and plague-insects monitoring through remote sensor. Finally, the book includes, also, the already mentioned Bibliography, Glossary and Index.

After reviewing the 432 pages of this interesting volume, there is a feeling that it will be a great editorial success. In spite of the hardness of entomological studies, particularly of species' morphology and identification, the way the book is written and organized lead us to an easy and pleasant reading.

José Rodrigues Coura
Editor
Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

© 2002  Instituto Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz