Medical entomology and acarology: defining tick-host-pathogen interrelationships including tick phenology and ecology, vector competency, transmission of microorganisms, isolation and in vitro cultivation of pathogens, their infectivity and pathogenesis, and vertebrate hosts as reservoirs of pathogens; mite and tick physiology including endocrine control of reproductive and developmental hormones, their affect on symbionts and pathogens; acarine genetics, especially cytogenetics of ticks and parasitic mites. Emphasis is on producing fundamental knowledge that can be applied to prevention and intervention of arthropod pests and vectors of pathogens important in livestock agriculture and biomedicine.