Guidebooks

Guides to identifying insects and ticks of humans and domestic animals

The picture above shows me recently collecting insects (biting midges) in Scotland that could become involved in the transmission of the virus which causes bluetongue disease in sheep. This was one of the diseases that I worked on in my job in Kenya with the Veterinary Research Laboratory near Nairobi. Then this disease was thought to be limited to tropical and sub-tropical climates where the transmitting midges lived. Now it has spread into Europe, as far north as the Netherlands and England. Possibly this is due to the disease gradually spreading from its origin by the flying insects and on livestock transports, alternatively climate change may enable it to spread. Whatever the cause, we find ourselves doing basic survey work that needs the skill of identifying these insects and the mosquitoes that may transmit other spreading organisms such as West Nile virus.

Despite the great advantages of identifications using molecular methods based on nucleic acids, there remains a great need for simple modern methods of finding out what insects and ticks are associated with diseases using just a microscope and a guide to their identity.

The book “Arthropods of Humans and Domestic Animals: a guide to preliminary identification” is a contribution to maintaining these skills. There is a very large number of species of insects, mites and ticks that are associated with diseases of humans and domestic animals and a single guide to them seem impossible. However, each of these species belongs to a single genus and these genera are much simpler to deal with and identify and to be able to do this is an important starting point and skill. This is what this book provides. Arthropods Guide page for more details.

                              

The picture above shows me listening to colleagues at a meeting in Nairobi where we made plans for a network for Africa to distribute information on identification and control of ticks in connection with diseases of livestock. One of the contributions to that was the book: “Ticks of Domestic Animals in Africa: a guide to identification of species”. There are hundreds of species of ticks in Africa but many of them are confined to wild animals or cause little harm to domestic animals. But approximately 50 species of ticks are so harmful to cattle, sheep and goats throughout Africa that they are a major problem for the health and improvement of livestock. There continues to be a need for the skills of identifying them so that control measures can be applied correctly.

Fortunately this limited number of ticks can be selected for a detailed and standardized system for identifying them, collected together in one book. Some of these ticks are globally spread, and many of the features of ticks described in this guide are of use in identifying ticks from other regions of the world. Tick Guide page for more details.

Please click Tick guide below for a sample version. It is 10Mb large so allow enough time to download it if your connection is a dial-up.