Immunity in insects is different from immunity in vertebrates. Insects
lack immunoglobulins even though they are capable of reacting against
foreign components with effective defense mechanism. There has been a
marked advancement in most of the fields of science in the past two
decades. Insect immunity is also one of them. It is a developing subject
which is now established as a new branch in insect study. This treatise
is an attempt to compile meaningful articles of leading workers in this
field, nevertheless we do not claim that leadership in insect immunity
is by any means restricted to them. The idea is to provide a vibrant
description of various aspects of "Insect Immunity". With the rapid
development of the subject, it is difficult for any one author to
discuss all the aspects of an area in a limited number of pages, even
then they have done their utmost to include the entire development of
the subject in their articles. The treatise deals with insect
haemocytes, their population, isolation and role in defense mechanism,
humoral encapsulation, inducible humoral antibacterial immunity,
cellular immune reactions, role of endocrines, role of prophenol oxidase
system in cellular communication, haemagglutinins and impact of parasite
on insect immune system. Some topics could not be covered because
experts in those area though willing could not complete their commitment
within time limits.