Reproductive biology of invertebrates. Volumes I and II: Edited by K. G. Adiyodi and R. G. Adiyodi,Wiley, New York, 1983. 770 pp. and 692 pp. $110.00 and $94.00

Biological control agents (biorationals) are increasingly important in pest control concepts. Certain insect viruses, particularly the baculoviruses (nuclear polyhedrosis viruses), are considered to have potential as biological pesticides and could be used widely in the environment. Therefore, test animals must be selected and methods and laboratory systemsdeveloped to evaluate the safety of these agents to nontarget species. A simple laboratory system has been designed and used to determine risks of infectivity and pathogenicity of an insect Baculovirus, originally isolated from the Alfalfa looper, Autographa californica, to a nontarget arthropod, the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes vulgaris, by dietary exposure. This laboratory method also permits evaluation of other microbial biorationals against nontarget aquatic species, and provides an inexpensive standardized procedure of safety testing. Results from this study indicated that histopathological, ultrastructural, and serological methods used provided no evidence that experimental exposure to the virus in our test system caused viral infection or related pathogenicity in the grass shrimp.     

The status within,an Autobiography by Francois Jacob; Basic Book Inc., New York, 1988, 326 pp. $22.95

The interactions of ram spermatozoa with exogenous liposomes of varying composition were studied, with the aim of examining the mechanisms by which some lipids protect against cold-induced damage during cryostorage. Liposomes containing various preparations of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol enhanced sperm survival during storage at 5°C, both in terms of motility and acrosomal integrity. A membrane-fluidizing agent, A₂C, was slightly deleterious in this respect. Cholesterol-containing liposomes were not superior in their effects to those prepared without cholesterol. Thus stabilization of the plasma membrane by cholesterol loading may be unimportant. When sodium vanadate was used as a functional probe of membrane integrity, the cryoprotective effects of lipids were apparent despite increased plasma membrane permeability. Incubation of spermatozoa with positively charged liposomes, containing stearyl-amine, caused considerable loss of motility and acrosomal damage, coupled with cellular aggregation. There was also some evidence that the presence of calcium lessened the effectiveness of liposomes in protecting spermatozoa against damage during cooling.     

Book Review: Primate Males. Peter M. Kappeler,Cambridge University Press,Cambridge, U.K., 2000, xii + 316pp., $85.00 (hardback); $37.95 (paperback)

International Journal of Primatology -     

Book Review: Animal Constructions and Technological Knowledge. By Ashley Shew. Lexington Books,Lanham, MD, 2017, 150 pp., $85.00 (hardback)

International Journal of Primatology -     

Book Review: New World Primates. Edited by W. G. Kinzey. Aldine de Gruyter,New York, 1997, xvii + 436 pp., $62.95 (cloth), $31.95 (paper)

International Journal of Primatology -