The plant as a habitat for entomophagous insects
This chapter provides an exhaustive review of mechanisms underlying the interactions between plants and plant-eating insects
Abstract
Predatory insect species that consume insects that eat plants must use the plants for several vital functions; thus, plant traits affect predatory insects at the evolutionary, organism and population levels,
This chapter provides an exhaustive review of mechanisms underlying the interactions between plants and plant-eating insects, including those controlling life history traits at the individual level, as well as those acting on population and community structure and dynamics. It provides details on: how properties of host-infested plants determine parasitism behaviour, development (in the case of parasitoids) and nectar consumption by adult plant-eating insects; how plants respond to and benefit from natural enemies attacking plant-eating insects; and how plant architecture, the vegetation-dwelling insect communities and their relationships with the climate can influence predator and parasitoid behaviour and populations.
This works was partly funded by the UK Department for International Development, a core donor of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology.
Citation
Kaiser L., Ode P., van Nouhuys S., Calatayud P.-A., Colazza S., Cortesero A.-M., Thiel A. and Van Baaren J. (2017) The plant as a habitat for entomophagous insects. Advances in Botanical Research 81, 179–223.