Biology of Blood-Sucking Insects

1 The importance of blood-sucking insects.- 1.1 The importance of blood-sucking insects.- 2 The evolution of the blood-sucking habit.- 2.1 Prolonged close association with vertebrates.- 2.2 Morphological pre-adaptation for piercing.- 3 Feeding preferences of blood-sucking insects.- 3.1 Host choice.- 3.2 Host choice and species complexes.- 4 Location of the host.- 4.1 The behavioural framework of host location.- 4.2 Appetitive searching.- 4.3 Activation and orientation.- 4.4 Attraction.- 4.5 Movement between hosts.- 5 Ingestion of the blood meal.- 5.1 Vertebrate haemostasis.- 5.2 Insect anti-haemostatic factors.- 5.3 Probing stimulants.- 5.4 Phagostimulants.- 5.5 Mouthparts.- 5.6 Blood intake.- 6 Managing the blood meal.- 6.1 Midgut anatomy.- 6.2 The blood meal.- 6.3 Gonotrophic concordance.- 6.4 Nutrition.- 6.5 Host hormones in the blood meal.- 6.6 Partitioning of resources from the blood meal.- 6.7 Autogeny.- 7 Host—insect interactions.- 7.1 Insect distribution on the surface of the host.- 7.2 Morphological specializations for life on the host.- 7.3 Host immune responses to insect salivary secretions.- 7.4 Behavioural defences of the host.- 7.5 Density-dependent effects on feeding success.- 8 Transmission of parasites by blood-sucking insects.- 8.1 Transmission routes.- 8.2 Specificity in vector—parasite relationships.- 8.3 Origin of vector—parasite relationships.- 8.4 Parasite strategies for contacting a vector.- 8.5 Parasite strategies for contacting a host.- 8.6 Vector pathology caused by parasites.- 8.7 Insect defence mechanisms.- 9 The blood-sucking insect groups.- 9.1 Insect classification.- 9.2 Phthiraptera.- 9.3 Hemiptera.- 9.4 Siphonaptera.- 9.5 Diptera.- 9.6 Other groups.- References.