The Plant as a Habitat for Entomophagous Insects

Abstract

Populations of herbivorous insects are naturally consumed by other predacious or predatory insect species. These entomophagous insects are thus plant-dwelling organisms that use the plant for several vital functions and are affected by plant traits at the evolutionary, organism and population levels. Many entomophagous species are used for the biological control of insect pests worldwide. The aim of this chapter is to provide an exhaustive review of mechanisms underlying the interactions between plants and entomophagous insects, including those governing life history traits at the individual level, as well as those acting on population and community structure and dynamics. We detail how properties of host-infested plants determine parasitism behaviour, development (in the case of parasitoids) and nectar consumption by adult entomophagous insects. We detail how plants respond to and benefit from natural enemies attacking insect herbivores. We also illustrate how plant architecture, the vegetation communities and their climatic correlates can influence predator and parasitoid behaviour and populations. This chapter considers the biology and ecology of the interactions and mentions some implications for the biological control of plant pests.