11 - Insects and Plants

What are the different interactions between plants and insects?

Phytophagy

Pollination

Plant carnivory

What is the nitrogen content of plant material positively correlated with?

Insect Growth

Insect Fecundity

What are the different taxonomic groups that are herbivores?

Monophages

Oligophages

Polyphages

How do plants defend themselves from being eaten?

Structural defense (spines, hairs, silica, hardening of tissue)

Allelochemicals

Constitutive defenses

Induced Defenses

How does leaf mining work?

Insects feed between the epidermal layers of leaves/stems

What are the 3 types of sap feeding strategies?

Stylet-Sheath

Cell Rupture

Osmotic Pump

Why do insects cause gall formations?

To provide a place for larval development

What else can induce gall formation?

Viruses

Bacteria

Fungi

Nematodes

Mites

What are the 2 types of galls?

Indeterminate

Determinate

Which orders are the main gall inducers?

Hemiptera

Diptera*

Hymenoptera

What are the advantages of gall living?

Food source

Shelter from enemies

Constant environment

How is gall formation and promoted by insects?

Injecting hormones, salivary excretions, or DNA/RNA via associated viruses, plasmids, transposons

What are the different forms of pollination?

Wind

Insect

What are the different types of insect-plant mutualisms?

Insects living inside plants (domatia)

Obligatory relationships