To discern the effect of the end-Permian (P-Tr) ecological crisis on land, interactions between plants and their insect herbivores were examined for four time intervals containing ten major floras from the Dolomites of northeastern Italy during a Permian-Triassic interval. These floras are: (i) the Kungurian Tregiovo Flora; (ii) the Wuchiapingian Bletterbach Flora; (iii) three Anisian floras; a...

Quantifying the flow of matter and energy in food webs is indispensable when assessing the effects of increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, ozone level and temperature as a result of global climate change. In insect nutritional ecology, quantification of digestive and metabolic efficiency is performed using gravimetric methods in all published cases. A few cases combined these methods with c...

The way in which herbivorous insect individuals use multiple host species is difficult to quantify under field conditions, but critical to understanding the evolutionary processes underpinning insect-host plant relationships. In this study we developed a novel approach to understanding the host plant interactions of the green mirid, Creontiades dilutus, a highly motile heteropteran bug that has...

Plant distributions are dynamic but the role of plant-insect interactions in controlling range dynamics is not well understood. Enemy release, for example could facilitate plant range expansion under climate change. We conducted a transplant experiment with the evergreen tree Ilex aquifolium L. in both the historical and the expanding range in Denmark to study possible effects of geographical p...

Molecular interactions between a parasite and its host are key to the ability of the parasite to enter the host and persist. Our understanding of the genes and proteins involved in these interactions is limited. To better understand these processes it would be advantageous to have a range of methods to predict pairs of genes involved in such interactions. Correlated gene expression profiles can...

Plant–insect interactions in the fossil record are, as yet, sparsely known and understudied. Here, we document evidence of a new type insect skeletonization on Abroma augustum (L.) L. f. (Malvaceae) leaf remains from latest Neogene (Pliocene) sediments Chotanagpur plateau, Jharkhand, eastern India. This unique feeding trace attributable to herbivorous insects occurs all over surfaces our recove...

Global warming and climate change will trigger major changes in diversity and abundance of arthropods, geographical distribution of insect pests, population dynamics, insect biotypes, herbivore plant interactions, activity and abundance of natural enemies, species extinction, and efficacy of crop protection technologies. Changes in geographical range and insect abundance will increase the exten...

Tri-trophic interactions among plants, herbivores, and natural enemies of herbivores are common in nature, and are crucial components of trophic cascades and the dynamics of community composition. Plant traits are key determinants of the interactions between herbivores and their natural enemies aboveground, which in turn are affected by soil organisms. Recent years have seen a surge in studies ...

A common method for analysis of 17 amino acids from various insect species and plant parts was standardized using HPLC-PDA. Prior to hydrolysis, lyophilization of test samples was found indispensible to remove excess moisture, which interferes in hydrolysis and separation of amino acids. After the hydrolysis of plant and insect samples, 500 and 100 microL of boiling HCl, respectively for recons...

Investigations of the diversity of bacterial communities associated with fieldcollected specimens of two insect biological control agents of spotted knapweed, Agapeta zoegana and Cyphocleonus achates, were made using molecular methods. The objective was to assess the bacterial communities of each insect to evaluate the potential compatibility of plant pathogenic fungi as a supplement to insect ...