Catch up on the latest from the Czech and Slovak Republics: punchy reviews of the best restaurants, pubs, and accommodations in every town; insider's accounts of Prague and Bratislava; and tips on everything from clubs to opera productions. New background articles on the Romanies, racism, and the Slovak/Romanian problem keep you in touch with the countries as they truly are today.

This book, dedicated to Konjev Desender and Jean-Pierre Maelfait, is made up of a collection of 30 papers presented at the XIV European Carabidologists? Meeting in Westerbork, the Netherlands (September, 2009). Seventy-five specialists from 20 countries of Europe and Asia attended the meeting. Traditionally, the proceedings volumes of the European Carabidologists Meeting have become important milestones outlining the latest trends and achievements in carabidology.ÿThe aim of the organisers was to invite specialists from different countries and scientific schools to present both traditional and innovative approaches and methods in studying ground beetles. This volume includes a wide range of topics, from the description of new species, taxonomy, a summary of the activities of carabidologists during the last 40 years, biogeographical issues, methodology, behaviour, indicators, environmental issues and conservation. The book will be of use to carabidologists, specialists in traditional and molecular systematics, general and applied ecology, conservation biology, bioindication, urban ecology and biogeography.

The World Catalogue of the Dermestidae (Coleoptera) contains the list of subfamilies, tribes and subtribes, list of genera and subgenera, systematic catalogue of all known taxons including new nomenclatorial acts, new distributional records, list of type depositions, infrasubspecific names, bibliography and alphabetical index of names of genera, subgenera and their synonyms. It contains all the taxa described until February 28, 2014.

This monograph contents a review of the beetle family Trogossitidae (Cleroidea). The worldwide distributed family includes 55 recent and 10 extinct genera with about 600 species that are classified within 3 subfamilies and 12 tribes. In spite of fewer number of species, Trogossitidae is morphologically and ecologically extremely diversified. There are four-eyed predators that fly, run and even jump around swiftly in forest clearings to contrast with slow-moving, fungivorous species that dwell under the bark of old trees. There are also species that squat on flowers to feed on pollen grains as well as minute creatures that have been extracted from forest litter. Brief descriptions of all genera as well as keys to all higher taxa are provided. All known species and subspecies are listed, together with complete taxonomic references back to 1910, the date of issue of their last catalogue. The work includes maps of distribution of all genera, colour photographs of generic representatives, SEM photographs and remarks on a phylogeny of particular taxa.

Beginning in the late 1980s, a series of improbable bark beetle outbreaks unsettled iconic forests and communities across western North America. An insect the size of a rice kernel eventually killed more than 30 billion pine and spruce trees from Alaska to New Mexico. Often appearing in masses larger than schools of killer whales, the beetles engineered one of the world's greatest forest die-offs since the deforestation of Europe by peasants between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The beetle didn't act alone. Misguided science, out-of-control logging, bad public policy, and a hundred years of fire suppression created a volatile geography that released the world's oldest forest manager from all natural constraints. Like most human empires, the beetles exploded wildly and then crashed, leaving in their wake grieving landowners, humbled scientists, hungry animals, and altered watersheds. Although climate change triggered this complex event, human arrogance assuredly set the table. With little warning, an ancient insect pointedly exposed the frailty of seemingly stable manmade landscapes. And despite the billions of public dollars spent on control efforts, the beetles burn away like a fire that can't be put out. Drawing on first-hand accounts from entomologists, botanists, foresters, and rural residents, award-winning journalist Andrew Nikiforuk investigates this unprecedented beetle plague, its startling implications, and the lessons it holds.