Insect ecology

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A giant water bug attacking a fish

Insect ecology is the interaction of insects, individually or as a community, with the surrounding environment or ecosystem. [1]

Contents

Insects play significant roles in the ecology of the world due to their vast diversity of form, function and lifestyle; their considerable biomass; and their interaction with plant life, other organisms and the environment. Since they are the major contributor to biodiversity in the majority of habitats, except in the sea, they accordingly play a variety of extremely important ecological roles in the many functions of an ecosystem. Taking the case of nutrient recycling, insects contribute to this vital function by degrading or consuming leaf litter, wood, carrion and dung and by dispersal of fungi.

Insects form an important part of the food chain, especially for entomophagous vertebrates such as many mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Insects play an important role in maintaining community structure and composition; in the case of animals by transmission of diseases, predation and parasitism, and in the case of plants, through phytophagy and by plant propagation through pollination and seed dispersal. [2] From an anthropocentric point of view, insects compete with humans; they consume as much as 10% of the food produced by man and infect one in six humans with a pathogen. [3]

Community ecology

Community ecology is the process by which a group of organisms which live in the same location interact. There is direct interaction, which takes the form of symbiosis, competition and predation, which are the most easily notable. There is also indirect interaction, such as reproduction, foraging patterns and decaying. [4] Every organism at its most basic state could be a consumer in some situations, and a producer in others. The culmination of all these interactions is what defines a community and what differentiates one from another. Insects often play several roles in these communities, though these roles vary widely based on what species is present.

Decomposers

Dung beetles (Scarabaeus laticollis) and dung ball Scarabaeus laticollis 2.jpg
Dung beetles ( Scarabaeus laticollis ) and dung ball

Decomposer insects are ones that feed on dead or rotten bodies of plant or animal life. These insects are called saprophages [5] and fall into three main categories: those that feed on dead or dying plant matter, those that feed on dead animals (carrion), and those that feed on excrement (feces) of other animals. As dead plants are eaten away, more surface area is exposed, allowing the plants to decay faster due to an increase in microorganisms eating the plant. [6] These insects are largely responsible for helping to create a layer of humus on the soil that provides an ideal environment for various fungi, microorganisms and bacteria. These organisms produce much of the nitrogen, carbon, and minerals that plants need for growth. Carrion feeders include several beetles, ants, mites, wasps, fly larvae (maggots), and others. These insects occupy the dead body for a short period of time but rapidly consume and/or bury the carcass. Typically, some species of fly are the first to eat the body, but the order of insects that follows is predictable and known as the faunal succession. Many dung beetles and manure flies are attracted to the smell of animal feces. The adults often lay eggs on fresh excrement and the larvae will feed on the organic matter. Many species of dung-feeders have evolved so they will only feed on feces from a specific species. There is even a type of dung-beetle that will roll feces into a ball, push it into a pre-dug hole, lay an egg in that dung and then cover it with fresh dirt to provide a perfect nursery for their larvae.

Carnivores

Carnivorous insects survive by eating other living animals, be it through hunting, sucking blood, or as an internal parasite. These insects fall into three basic categories: predators, parasites, and parasitoids.

Predatory insects are typically larger as their survival is dependent upon their ability to hunt, kill/immobilize, and eat their prey. [7] However, there are several exceptions, with ants being the most notable. Ants, and other colony insects, can use their sheer numbers to overwhelm their prey even if the ants are significantly smaller. They often have specialized mandibles (mouthparts) for this task, some causing excruciating pain, paralysis, or simply having a high bite force. Conversely, insects that live on their own must be able to reliably bring down their prey and as such have developed a myriad of unique hunting methods. Some actively travel, seeking out their prey, while others wait in an ambush. Others may release chemicals to attract specific creatures and others still will eat anything they can. [8]

Parasites infest the victim's body and eat it from the inside out. The presence of the parasite is often not noticed by the host as the size discrepancy is typically so vast. Parasites vary widely in how they survive in their host; some complete their full life cycle within the body while others may only stay in for the duration of their larval stage. There is as great of variation in methodology and species in parasites as in any other type of insect. The most threatening parasites to humans are ones that live outside the host and consume the host's blood. These species transmit viruses, disease, and even other, smaller parasites to the host, spreading these throughout the populations of many third world countries with poor health care.

A subcategory of parasites, called parasitoids, is one that feeds on the host body so much so that the host is eventually eaten. One species of wasp, the spider wasp, will paralyze spiders before bringing them back to their nest and injecting them with a wasp larvae. The larvae will eat its way out, secreting a numbing and paralyzing agent until there is nothing left of the spider other than the exoskeleton, then go through a metamorphism and become an adult wasp.

Herbivores

Out of all described eukaryotes almost one third are herbivorous insects, about 500,000. [9] They feed on living plant matter or the products of a plant. These insects may eat essential parts of the plant, such as the leaves or sap, or they may survive on the pollen and nectar produced by the plant. Herbivorous insects often use olfactory or visual cues to determine a potential host plant. A visual cue could simply be the outline of a certain type of leaf, or the high contrast between the petals of a flower and the leaves surrounding it. These are typically associated with the olfactory signal an insect may receive from their intended meal. The olfactory cue could be the scent of the nectar produced by a flower, a certain chemical excreted to repel unwanted predators, or the exposed sap of a cherry tree. Either of these two senses could be the driving force behind an insect choosing to consume a certain plant, but it is only after it takes the first bite, and the confirmation of this food is made by its sense of taste, that it truly feeds. After a herbivorous insect is finished feeding on a plant, it will either wait there until hungry again, or move on to another task, be it finding more food, a mate, or shelter. Herbivorous insects bring significantly more danger to a plant than that of consumption; they are among the most prominent disease-carrying creatures in the insect world. There are numerous diseases, fungi, and parasites that can be carried by nearly any herbivorous insect, many of which fatal to the plant infected. Some diseases even produce a sweet smelling, sticky secretion from the infected plant to attract more insects and spread farther.[ citation needed ] In return plants have their own defenses. Some of these defenses are toxic secondary metabolites to deter insects. These toxins limit the diet breadth of herbivores, and evolving mechanisms to nonetheless continue herbivory is an important part of maintaining diet breadth in insects, and so in their evolutionary history as a whole. Both pleiotropy and epistasis have complex effects in this regard, with the simulations of Griswold 2006 showing that more genes provide the benefit of more targets for adaptive mutations, while Fisher 1930 showed that a mutation can improve one trait while epistasis causes it to also trigger negative effects - slowing down adaptation. [9]

Schoonhoven and associates, from Blaney et al 1985 to Schoonhoven et al 1992, illuminate the interplay between chemoreceptor stimuli in Lepidoptera and Orthoptera. They used Helicoverpa armigera , Spodoptera littoralis , S. frugiperda , Chloridea virescens , and grasshoppers. They find that most insects respond immediately and roughly equally to phagostimulant – indicating good food – and phagodeterrent – indicating a food to be avoided, or a material which is not food – substances. They also present some divergent examples, both delayed response – suggesting that food decisions were mediated by cognition and not just simple chemoreception – and unequal chemoreceptor stimulation – with gustatory cells firing equally when presented with any material, but deterrent cells firing to a greater degree for undesirable materials. (They also investigate similar questions of seeking/avoidance in common questions of dietary balance of protein and carbohydrate – i.e. less risky dietary choices where toxins are not the deciding factor – and find similar results, with some insects eating solely by chemoreception and some showing delayed decisions, suggesting cognition.) Both salicin and caffeine are antifeedants, and some of the Schoonhoven group's investigations test both the deterrence they produce and habituation to them. The Glendinning group has done some similar work. They find Manduca sexta 's habituation to salicin to be cognitively mediated because deterrent sensory cell stimulation barely decreases even when avoidance ceases. On the other hand Glendinning et al 1999 finds M. sexta habituation to caffeine to be due to change in chemoreceptor activation because it decreases significantly, and at the same time as cessation of feeding avoidance. The same work tests the cross-effects of habituation between the two chemicals, finding that they probably share a second messenger. For both phagostimulus and deterrence stimuli they find that the effects of multiple stimulations by multiple substances – upon the same cells, simultaneously – produce additive effects, up to the cell's firing rate ceiling. [10]

Climate change is expected to change herbivory relationships. Liu et al 2011 finds no change in distribution in one example, but instead the same herbivore switched primary hosts due to altered flowering time. Gillespie et al 2012 found host mismatch due to temperature shift. (These methodologies in herbivory could be applied to study the same question in climate change + pollination. As of 2014 however this remains to be tried.) [11]

Coevolution

Coevolution is the ecological process by which two species exclusively affect each other’s evolution. This concept is essential to the study of insect ecology. Coevolution is particularly important in how it can lead to both micro- and macro-evolutionary changes. Micro-evolutionary changes include shifts in genome and alleles while macro-evolution is the emergence of a new species, also called speciation. [12] Two species that coevolve experience reciprocal evolution and go through biological changes as a result of the other species. [13] One example of this in insect ecology is the coevolution of Dasyscolia ciliata , a species of wasp, and Ophrys speculum , a species of orchid. These two species have both evolved in such a way that the wasp is the only known pollinator of the plant. This relationship can be seen in other species of flowering plants and pollinating insects, but a more distinct example is the coevolution of ants and acacias. The acacia ant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) is an insect that has been discovered to protect five different species of acacia trees. The ant provides protection to the plant while the acacias reciprocate by supplying food and shelter. Over generations, these two species have adapted to accommodate each other, an example of coevolution.

Interspecific relationships

Due to their diverse functions, diets, and lifestyles, insects are integral components of terrestrial ecological communities. Beyond functioning as decomposers, carnivores, and herbivores, insects often participate in other species interactions. These interactions can both positively and adversely affect plants, mammals, and other insects. [14] More specifically, insects participate in mutualism, amensalism, commensalism, predation and parasitism.

Pollination of a flowering plant by a bee. Pollination.gif
Pollination of a flowering plant by a bee.

Mutualism

Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship between two or more species in which each benefits. Common mutualistic relationships include cleaning symbiosis, animal induced pollination, or protection from predators. One example of insect mutualism is the pollination of flowering plants by insects, a field of study known as anthecology. Primarily, various bee species work as pollinators of flowering plants, feeding on their nectar and in turn picking up their pollen and spreading it to other flowers. [15] Another example of insect mutualism is the process by which ants shelter and feed aphids in their anthills and feed off of their honeydew in return.

Amensalism

Amensalism is a non-symbiotic species interaction in which one organism negatively affects the other organism but is unaffected by that organism. This type of species interaction is common in nature, and an example in insect ecology is between goats and insects. The two individuals compete for the same food source, but goats will deprive the latter from feeding. [16] The goat is completely unaffected by the interaction, but the insect is left hungry.

Mites benefiting from the movement of Nicrophorus humator. Nicrophorus humator - sexton beetle - Flickr - Nick Goodrum Photography.jpg
Mites benefiting from the movement of Nicrophorus humator .

Commensalism

Commensalism is a different type of ecological interaction between species in which one species gains benefits while the other is neither harmed nor benefited. Two examples of commensalism that can be seen in insect ecology are phoresy, an interaction in which one attaches itself to another for transportation, and inquilinism, the use of another organism for shelter. Ticks and mites have adapted to latch onto beetles, flies, and bees (as well as other organisms) for transportation, an example of phoresy. [17] In terms of inquilinism, insects commonly establish themselves in human garages or shelters of other animals for protection against predators and weather.

Parasitoid insects

Parasitoids are insects that live intimately with a host, feed off of the host like a parasite, but eventually kill the host. This specific type of species interaction is exclusive to insects and is employed most commonly by wasps. An example of this is when parasitoid wasps inject their eggs into aphids. The eggs will eventually hatch and produce wasp larvae that feed on and consume the organism. Additionally, some parasitoids chemically affect the host to propagate the development of parasitic offspring. Parasitoid wasps typically prey on a specific insect or spider species, and the host life-stage at which the wasp deposits its seed differs. In regard to humans, parasitoid insects are favored because they can be used as biological pest controls for farmers, preying on other insects that damage crops. [18]  

Competition: Insects often compete with each other for resources such as food, territory, and mates. Competition can occur within species (intraspecific) or between species (interspecific). This competition can lead to adaptations and niche differentiation, where species evolve to occupy different ecological niches to minimize competition.

Neutralism

In some cases, insects may interact with each other without affecting one another positively or negatively. They simply coexist without any significant impact on each other's fitness or survival. This type of relationship is often observed when insects occupy different habitats or have minimal interactions [19] .

Facilitation

Facilitation occurs when one species indirectly benefits another species by modifying the environment. For example, certain insects may create microhabitats or modify resources that become beneficial for other insect species. An example of this could be a species of insect that creates shelter or nesting sites that are subsequently utilized by other insect species [20] .

Symbiosis

Symbiosis [21] is a broad term that encompasses various types of long-term interactions between different species. While mutualism and parasitism are specific types of symbiotic relationships, there are other forms as well. For instance, in some cases, insects may engage in symbiotic relationships where one species benefits while the other is unaffected. This is known as commensal symbiosis.

Mimicry

Insects may evolve to mimic the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of other species. This can be beneficial for the mimicking species in various ways, such as gaining protection from predators or gaining access to resources. For example, some harmless insects mimic the appearance of more dangerous or unpalatable species to avoid predation [22] .

Allelopathy

Allelopathy involves the release of chemicals by one species that affects the growth, development, or behavior of another species. While this type of interaction is more commonly associated with plants, certain insects may also engage in allelopathic relationships with each other. These chemicals can influence competition, reproduction, or survival of other insect species in the vicinity. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symbiosis</span> Close, long-term biological interaction between distinct organisms (usually species)

Symbiosis is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two biological organisms of different species, termed symbionts, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. In 1879, Heinrich Anton de Bary defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms". The term is sometimes used in the more restricted sense of a mutually beneficial interaction in which both symbionts contribute to each other's support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitism</span> Relationship between species where one organism lives on or in another organism, causing it harm

Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson characterised parasites as "predators that eat prey in units of less than one". Parasites include single-celled protozoans such as the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, and amoebic dysentery; animals such as hookworms, lice, mosquitoes, and vampire bats; fungi such as honey fungus and the agents of ringworm; and plants such as mistletoe, dodder, and the broomrapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbivore</span> Organism that eats mostly or exclusively plant material

A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthparts adapted to rasping or grinding. Horses and other herbivores have wide flat teeth that are adapted to grinding grass, tree bark, and other tough plant material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mutualism (biology)</span> Mutually beneficial interaction between species

Mutualism describes the ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit. Mutualism is a common type of ecological interaction, one that can come from a parasitic interaction. Prominent examples include most vascular plants engaged in mutualistic interactions with mycorrhizal fungi, flowering plants being pollinated by animals, vascular plants being dispersed by animals, and corals with zooxanthellae, among many others. Mutualism can be contrasted with interspecific competition, in which each species experiences reduced fitness, and exploitation, or parasitism, in which one species benefits at the expense of the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coevolution</span> Two or more species influencing each others evolution

In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well as gene-culture coevolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Host (biology)</span> Organism that harbours another organism

In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist guest (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include animals playing host to parasitic worms, cells harbouring pathogenic (disease-causing) viruses, or a bean plant hosting mutualistic (helpful) nitrogen-fixing bacteria. More specifically in botany, a host plant supplies food resources to micropredators, which have an evolutionarily stable relationship with their hosts similar to ectoparasitism. The host range is the collection of hosts that an organism can use as a partner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitoid</span> Organism that lives with its host and kills it

In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism, distinguished by the fatal prognosis for the host, which makes the strategy close to predation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological interaction</span> Effect that organisms have on other organisms

In ecology, a biological interaction is the effect that a pair of organisms living together in a community have on each other. They can be either of the same species, or of different species. These effects may be short-term, or long-term, both often strongly influence the adaptation and evolution of the species involved. Biological interactions range from mutualism, beneficial to both partners, to competition, harmful to both partners. Interactions can be direct when physical contact is established or indirect, through intermediaries such as shared resources, territories, ecological services, metabolic waste, toxins or growth inhibitors. This type of relationship can be shown by net effect based on individual effects on both organisms arising out of relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mimicry</span> Imitation of another species for selective advantage

In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry functions to protect a species from predators, making it an anti-predator adaptation. Mimicry evolves if a receiver perceives the similarity between a mimic and a model and as a result changes its behaviour in a way that provides a selective advantage to the mimic. The resemblances that evolve in mimicry can be visual, acoustic, chemical, tactile, or electric, or combinations of these sensory modalities. Mimicry may be to the advantage of both organisms that share a resemblance, in which case it is a form of mutualism; or mimicry can be to the detriment of one, making it parasitic or competitive. The evolutionary convergence between groups is driven by the selective action of a signal-receiver or dupe. Birds, for example, use sight to identify palatable insects and butterflies, whilst avoiding the noxious ones. Over time, palatable insects may evolve to resemble noxious ones, making them mimics and the noxious ones models. In the case of mutualism, sometimes both groups are referred to as "co-mimics". It is often thought that models must be more abundant than mimics, but this is not so. Mimicry may involve numerous species; many harmless species such as hoverflies are Batesian mimics of strongly defended species such as wasps, while many such well-defended species form Müllerian mimicry rings, all resembling each other. Mimicry between prey species and their predators often involves three or more species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kleptoparasitism</span> Type of animal feeding strategy

Kleptoparasitism is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, such as when food is scarce or when victims are abundant. Many kleptoparasites are arthropods, especially bees and wasps, but including some true flies, dung beetles, bugs, and spiders. Cuckoo bees are specialized kleptoparasites which lay their eggs either on the pollen masses made by other bees, or on the insect hosts of parasitoid wasps. They are an instance of Emery's rule, which states that insect social parasites tend to be closely related to their hosts. The behavior occurs, too, in vertebrates including birds such as skuas, which persistently chase other seabirds until they disgorge their food, and carnivorous mammals such as spotted hyenas and lions. Other species opportunistically indulge in kleptoparasitism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrmecophyte</span> Plants that live in association with ants

Myrmecophytes are plants that live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. There are over 100 different genera of myrmecophytes. These plants possess structural adaptations that provide ants with food and/or shelter. These specialized structures include domatia, food bodies, and extrafloral nectaries. In exchange for food and shelter, ants aid the myrmecophyte in pollination, seed dispersal, gathering of essential nutrients, and/or defense. Specifically, domatia adapted to ants may be called myrmecodomatia.

Herbivores are dependent on plants for food, and have coevolved mechanisms to obtain this food despite the evolution of a diverse arsenal of plant defenses against herbivory. Herbivore adaptations to plant defense have been likened to "offensive traits" and consist of those traits that allow for increased feeding and use of a host. Plants, on the other hand, protect their resources for use in growth and reproduction, by limiting the ability of herbivores to eat them. Relationships between herbivores and their host plants often results in reciprocal evolutionary change. When a herbivore eats a plant it selects for plants that can mount a defensive response, whether the response is incorporated biochemically or physically, or induced as a counterattack. In cases where this relationship demonstrates "specificity", and "reciprocity", the species are thought to have coevolved. The escape and radiation mechanisms for coevolution, presents the idea that adaptations in herbivores and their host plants, has been the driving force behind speciation. The coevolution that occurs between plants and herbivores that ultimately results in the speciation of both can be further explained by the Red Queen hypothesis. This hypothesis states that competitive success and failure evolve back and forth through organizational learning. The act of an organism facing competition with another organism ultimately leads to an increase in the organism's performance due to selection. This increase in competitive success then forces the competing organism to increase its performance through selection as well, thus creating an "arms race" between the two species. Herbivores evolve due to plant defenses because plants must increase their competitive performance first due to herbivore competitive success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitoid wasp</span> Group of wasps

Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causing the death of these hosts. Different species specialise in hosts from different insect orders, most often Lepidoptera, though some select beetles, flies, or bugs; the spider wasps (Pompilidae) exclusively attack spiders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palynivore</span> Group of herbivorous animals

In zoology, a palynivore /pəˈlɪnəvɔːɹ/, meaning "pollen eater" is an herbivorous animal which selectively eats the nutrient-rich pollen produced by angiosperms and gymnosperms. Most true palynivores are insects or mites. The category in its strictest application includes most bees, and a few kinds of wasps, as pollen is often the only solid food consumed by all life stages in these insects. However, the category can be extended to include more diverse species. For example, palynivorous mites and thrips typically feed on the liquid content of the pollen grains without actually consuming the exine, or the solid portion of the grain. Additionally, the list is expanded greatly if one takes into consideration species where either the larval or adult stage feeds on pollen, but not both. There are other wasps which are in this category, as well as many beetles, flies, butterflies, and moths. One such example of a bee species that only consumes pollen in its larval stage is the Apis mellifera carnica. There is a vast array of insects that will feed opportunistically on pollen, as will various birds, orb-weaving spiders and other nectarivores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myrmecophily</span> Positive interspecies associations between ants and other organisms

Myrmecophily is the term applied to positive interspecies associations between ants and a variety of other organisms, such as plants, other arthropods, and fungi. Myrmecophily refers to mutualistic associations with ants, though in its more general use, the term may also refer to commensal or even parasitic interactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community (ecology)</span> Associated populations of species in a given area

In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, or life assemblage. The term community has a variety of uses. In its simplest form it refers to groups of organisms in a specific place or time, for example, "the fish community of Lake Ontario before industrialization".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasp</span> Group of insects

A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insect</span> Class of arthropods

Insects are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and a pair of antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals, with more than a million described species; they represent more than half of all animal species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoresis</span> Temporary commensalism for transport

Phoresis or phoresy is a non-permanent, commensalistic interaction in which one organism attaches itself to another solely for the purpose of travel. Phoresis has been observed directly in ticks and mites since the 18th century, and indirectly in fossils 320 million years old. It is not restricted to arthropods or animals; plants with seeds that disperse by attaching themselves to animals are also considered to be phoretic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tritrophic interactions in plant defense</span> Ecological interactions

Tritrophic interactions in plant defense against herbivory describe the ecological impacts of three trophic levels on each other: the plant, the herbivore, and its natural enemies. They may also be called multitrophic interactions when further trophic levels, such as soil microbes, endophytes, or hyperparasitoids are considered. Tritrophic interactions join pollination and seed dispersal as vital biological functions which plants perform via cooperation with animals.

References

  1. ↑ Schowalter, Timothy Duane (2006). Insect ecology: an ecosystem approach (2(illustrated) ed.). Academic Press. p. 572. ISBN   978-0-12-088772-9 . Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  2. ↑ Gullan, P.J.; Cranston, P.S. (2005). The insects: an outline of entomology (3 (illustrated, revised) ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 505. ISBN   978-1-4051-1113-3 . Retrieved 17 Jul 2010.
  3. ↑ Speight, Martin R.; Hunter, Mark D.; Watt, Allan D. (1999). Ecology of insects: concepts and applications (4(Illustrated) ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. p. 350. ISBN   978-0-86542-745-7 . Retrieved 2010-07-24.
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  5. ↑ Price, Peter W.; Denno, Robert F.; Eubanks, Micky D.; Finke, Deborah L.; Kaplan, Ian (2011-08-18). Insect Ecology: Behavior, Populations and Communities. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-139-50443-0.
  6. ↑ Luisa, Bozzano G. (2012-12-02). Insect-Fungus Interactions. Academic Press. ISBN   978-0-08-098453-7.
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  8. ↑ Capinera, J. (2010). Insects and Wildlife : Arthropods and their Relationships with Wild Vertebrate Animals. 2nd ed. [ebook] Wiley-Blackwell, pp.1-501. Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/csum/reader.action?docID=10366557 [Accessed 11 April 2017].
  9. 1 2 Hardy, Nate B.; Kaczvinsky, Chloe; Bird, Gwendolyn; Normark, Benjamin B. (2020-11-02). "What We Don't Know About Diet-Breadth Evolution in Herbivorous Insects". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics . 51 (1). Annual Reviews: 103–122. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-011720-023322 . ISSN   1543-592X. S2CID   225521141.
  10. ↑ Chapman, R. F. (2003). "Contact Chemoreception in Feeding by Phytophagous Insects". Annual Review of Entomology . 48 (1). Annual Reviews: 455–484. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.48.091801.112629. ISSN   0066-4170. PMID   12414737.
  11. ↑ Forrest, Jessica R. K. (2014-05-27). "Plant-pollinator interactions and phenological change: what can we learn about climate impacts from experiments and observations?". Oikos . 124 (1). Nordic Society Oikos (Wiley Publishing): 4–13. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.1082.397 . doi:10.1111/oik.01386. ISSN   0030-1299.
  12. ↑ "Coevolution". obo. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  13. ↑ "Coevolution | Definition, Examples, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  14. ↑ Schowalter, Timothy D. (2011-01-01), Schowalter, Timothy D. (ed.), "17 - Summary and Synthesis", Insect Ecology (Third Edition), San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 513–523, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-381351-0.00017-2, ISBN   978-0-12-381351-0 , retrieved 2022-11-15
  15. ↑ "Bees as Pollinators | Arkansas Pollinators". Bees as Pollinators | Arkansas Pollinators. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  16. ↑ Sapkota, Anupama (2022-07-08). "Amensalism (Antagonism) Interaction- Definition, Types, Examples". The Biology Notes. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  17. ↑ Clausen, C P (January 1976). "Phoresy Among Entomophagous Insects". Annual Review of Entomology. 21 (1): 343–368. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.21.010176.002015. ISSN   0066-4170.
  18. ↑ "Insect Parasitoids: Important Natural Enemies of Pests | Entomology". entomology.ca.uky.edu. Retrieved 2022-12-05.
  19. ↑ "Insect Ecology" (PDF). Jan 2015.
  20. ↑ Cusumano, Antonino; Peri, Ezio; Colazza, Stefano (2016-04-01). "Interspecific competition/facilitation among insect parasitoids". Current Opinion in Insect Science. Ecology * Parasites/Parasitoids/Biological control. 14: 12–16. doi:10.1016/j.cois.2015.11.006. ISSN   2214-5745.
  21. ↑ "Symbiosis".
  22. ↑ University, Georgia State. "The Strange World of Insects That Mimic Other Insects". Treehugger. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  23. ↑ Farooq, Muhammad; Jabran, Khawar; Cheema, Zahid A.; Wahid, Abdul; Siddique, Kadambot H. M. (May 2011). "The role of allelopathy in agricultural pest management". Pest Management Science. 67 (5): 493–506. doi:10.1002/ps.2091. ISSN   1526-4998. PMID   21254327.

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