Caterpillars: Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging

"Caterpillars: Ecological and Evolutionary Constraints on Foraging" reviews the present state of research into caterpillar biology while arguing for a multiple factor approach in studying insect herbivores and providing a framework for carrying out just such investigations. The book details the constraints of the foraging patterns of caterpillars, including phylogenetic constraints, the physical environment, nutritional supply and demand, predators, and plant chemical defences. It also analyzes caterpillar adaptations, such as sociality, mutualism, aposematism, and cryptic morphology, and covers population dynamics and the influence of environmental factors upon tropical, temperate and arctic caterpillars. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications of this material for pest management, forest systems, and agroecosystems. This book should be of interest to professionals in entomology, ecology, evolution and zoology.