An important challenge facing ecologists is to understand how climate change may affect species performance and species interactions. However, predicting how changes in abiotic variables associated with climate change may affect species performance also depends on the biotic context, which can mediate species responses to climatic change. We conducted a 3-yr field experiment to determine how th...

BACKGROUND Grasshopper serves as important model system in neuroscience, development and evolution. Representatives of this primitive insect group are also highly relevant targets of pest control efforts. Unfortunately, the lack of genetics or gene specific molecular manipulation imposes major limitations to the study of grasshopper biology. RESULTS We investigated whether juvenile instars of...

Disease is often expected to limit host populations, but diseases do not always dramatically reduce host numbers and often have no effect. The impact of a fungal pathogen (Entomophaga grylli pathotype 1) on grasshopper (Camnula pellucida) populations was studied in a field experiment. We tested whether the effects of disease on grasshopper survival were additive, with disease mortality summing ...