Is there a name for the study of infectious diseases in insects?

Ipswich

Several years ago, honeybees nearly disappeared from several areas in the Northeast, due to an infestation of an even smaller insect, if I recall. This brought to mind that insects can be subject to disease, infestation etc., just as larger animals can, and I wondered whether there was a specialized field of study ("insect diseases") and what it would be called.



Reydon

Well it would be something like insect pathology. As far as I know, this is an obscure enough field to not have any formal programs of study, but if you wanted to learn it, it would involve microbiology, biology, ecology, invertebrate zoology, parasitology (even insects have parasites), and entomology. Many biological studies like this are multifaceted. The problems are much more complex than in other fields because of the interelationships of organisms.



Highland

Roughly speaking, you are talking about entomology. If there is a subdiscipline dealing with diseases OF insects, its name was made up by one the few professors that specializes in it.