For a long time the development of acarology as a field of biological science has been dominated by systematists and applied scientists. In the last 15 years, however, Acari have been increasingly recognized as highly suitable for the testing of theories in ecological and evolutionary sciences. The growing interest in mites and ticks, from evolutionary and molecular biologists and from population and community ecologists, has had a strong impetus on the field of acarology. This book contains many chapters that illustrate the recent progress in the mainly evolutionary and ecological aspects of acarology.
