"Parasitoids are parasitic insects that kill their insect hosts in immature pre-reproductive stages. Parasitoids are employed in biological control programs worldwide to kill insect pests and are environmentally safe and benign alternatives to chemical pesticides. As resistance to chemical pesticides continues to escalate in many pest populations, attention is now refocusing on biologically based strategies to control pest species in agriculture and forestry as well as insect vector populations that transmit human and animal diseases. Parasitoids are an economically critical element in this equation and in integrated pest management. Viruses have evolved intimate associations with parasitoids, and this book features a large section on symbiotic viruses that are integrated into the wasp chromosomal DNA (polydnaviruses). A separate section on parasitoid venoms, which are of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical communities as well as insect-oriented biologists, is also featured"--Back cover.