Robert F. Denno was widely recognized as one of the leading insect ecologists in the world. He made major contributions to the study of plant-insect interactions, dispersal, interspecific competition, predator-prey interactions, and food web dynamics. He was especially well known for his detailed and comprehensive study of the arthropods that inhabit salt marshes. Denno promoted a research appr...

In response to herbivory, plants emit specific blends of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). HIPVs mediate sizable arrays of interactions between plants and arthropods, microorganisms, undamaged neighboring plants or undamaged sites within the plant in various ecosystems. HIPV profiles vary according to the plant and herbivore species, and the developmental stages and conditions of the l...

Insect parasitoids have evolved symbiotic interactions with several viruses and thousands of parasitoid species established mutualistic associations polydnaviruses (PDVs). While PDVs often been described as virulence factors allowing development immature inside their herbivore hosts, there is increasing awareness that can affect plant–insect interactions. We review recent literature showing alt...

The importance of plant–soil feedbacks (PSF) for above-ground and below-ground multitrophic interactions is well recognized. However, most studies only condition soil a short time before testing the feedback response. Here we investigate influence conditioning on microbiome composition, plant growth metabolomics, plant–insect interactions. We used collected from large outdoor mesocosms with mon...

Plants, insects, and fungi have successfully colonized almost all terrestrial ecosystems, their interactions been the subject of numerous studies in recent decades. Plant-associated include endophytic, arbuscular mycorrhizal, ambrosia, saprotrophic, pathogenic, floral fungi. These interact with insects through various mechanisms, including modification plant nutritional quality degradation defe...

Investigating the impacts of predicted changes in our atmosphere and climate change on insect– plant interactions is a widely pursued area of research. To date, the majority of experimental studies have tested the impacts of single environmental factors on insect–plant interactions, but meta-analyses have clearly illustrated the importance of investigating multiple factors in tandem (Zvereva an...

Papain-like cysteine proteases (PLCPs) play crucial roles in plant-pathogen/pest interactions. During these parasitic interactions, PLCPs act on non-self substrates, provoking the selection of counteracting inhibitors and other means to evade proteolysis. We review examples of PLCPs acting on molecular battlefields in the extracellular space, plant cytoplasm and herbivore gut. Examples are maiz...

1. The extent to which plant-herbivore feeding interactions are specialized is key to understand the processes maintaining the diversity of both tropical forest plants and their insect herbivores. However, studies documenting the full complexity of tropical plant-herbivore food webs are lacking. 2. We describe a complex, species-rich plant-herbivore food web for lowland rain forest in Papua New...

Interactions between plants and their arthropod herbivores dominate the terrestrial ecology of our planet. The survival of an estimated one million or more phytophagous insect species depends on plants as a source of food. Plant-eating arthropods employ sophisticated feeding strategies to obtain nutrients from all aboveground and belowground plant parts. Rather than being passive victims in the...