Preface
Preface
For the purpose of this work, we define parasitism as a two-trophic-level
interaction where one participant causes harm to another through a
symbiotic relationship. Although great strides have been made in under-
standing parasitic behaviour, studies have been uneven across taxa and
hampered by lack of communication among research disciplines. The
last comprehensive treatment of parasite behaviour was published as a
special edition in the journalParasitologyin 1994, entitled ‘Parasites and
behavior’, edited by M.V.K. Sukhdeo, but this treatise focused only on
parasites of vertebrates. There has never been a book devoted to the
behavioural adaptations of parasites in general. Thus,The Behavioural
Ecology of Parasitesaddresses the behavioural adaptations of parasites
across a broad range of taxa, and expands beyond the traditional realm of
parasitology to include invertebrate parasites, such as parasitoid wasps,
entomopathogenic nematodes, seed-feeding insects and plant-parasitic
nematodes. The chapters in this book emphasize the fundamental
principles of parasitism, which apply across taxa, and address the diver-
sity and sophistication of parasite behavioural adaptations. The chapters
are arranged in four sections: Foraging for Hosts, Host Acceptance and
Infection, Interactions among Parasites within Hosts, and Parasite–Host
Interactions.
This project could not have been completed without a lot of
assistance. We thank the authors for the time and effort they put into their
contributions. We are particularly grateful for the assistance of Anne
Keating, Stacey Hicks, Simone Sukhdeo and Suzanne Sukhdeo for
copy-editing and compiling the book and Alex Hernandez for all the
computer help.
Edwin Lewis, James F. Campbell and Michael Sukhdeo
30 November 2001ix