Ralph Harbach – författare

Mosquitoes are undeniably one of the most studied groups of insects due to their great impact on human health as the agents that transmit the pathogens which cause malaria, filariasis and numerous viral diseases, such as yellow fever and dengue fever. The study of mosquitoes has given rise to a plethora of names for subspecies, species, subgenera, genera and family-level groups, many of which are duplicate names for the same entity. This unique volume is a comprehensive compilation of all scientific names introduced at all levels of classification within the family since the official start of zoological nomenclature. The work is largely a lexicon that is historical and informative as well as nomenclatural and bibliographic. Unlike catalogues, it contains sections devoted separately to the groups of names regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the species, genus and family groups, as well as sections concerned with names derived from personal and geographical names and other sources. In addition to insights into the history of mosquito classification, attention given to the formation, latinization and derivation of names makes the work a crucial contribution to mosquito science. Culicipedia is an important comprehensive reference source for students, entomologists, professional taxonomists and other scientists interested in culicid nomenclature, classification and the etymology of scientific names.

This landmark volume is a unique, comprehensive compendium of all the biosystematics information on mosquitoes available today. Its purpose is to provide the international community with an up-to-date authoritative resource on the taxonomy and systematics of the entire family of this crucially important group of insects. The book exhaustively summarizes the large and varied taxonomic literature on mosquitoes, providing a useful and practical amalgamation of their nomenclatural history, classification, morphology, bionomics and evolution. The need for this volume coincides with the growing paucity of professional traditional taxonomists who are still available to assist and advise the new generation of molecular biologists in the principles and practice of zoological nomenclature, morphotaxonomy and classification. For this reason, the compilation is an invaluable resource for students, researchers, entomologists, librarians and anyone interested in the taxa that comprise the family Culicidae. It is no exaggeration to state that this book is a monumental piece of work. It treats and provides detailed information for all formal and informal elements of hierarchical classification, from species to family level. All parts of the book are interlinked and provide a platform of data for others to use and build upon.