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Insect ecology is the interaction of insects, individually or as a community, with the surrounding environment or ecosystem. [1] This interaction is mostly mediated by the secretion and detection of chemicals ( semiochemical ) in the environment by insects. [ 2 ]
Insect biodiversity accounts for a large proportion of all biodiversity on the planet—over half of the estimated 1.5 million organism species described are classified as insects. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] A pie chart of described eukaryote species, showing just over half of these to be insects
The "Spanish fly", Lytta vesicatoria, has been considered to have medicinal, aphrodisiac, and other properties. Human interactions with insects include both a wide variety of uses, whether practical such as for food, textiles, and dyestuffs, or symbolic, as in art, music, and literature, and negative interactions including damage to crops and extensive efforts to control insect pests.
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are insects in their nymph and larval stages, snails, worms, crayfish, and clams that spend at least part of their lives in water. These insects play a large role in freshwater ecosystems by recycling nutrients as well as providing food to higher trophic levels.
Temperature is an important abiotic factor in lentic ecosystems because most of the biota are poikilothermic, where internal body temperatures are defined by the surrounding system. Water can be heated or cooled through radiation at the surface and conduction to or from the air and surrounding substrate. [ 6 ]
Ecosystem ecology is philosophically and historically rooted in terrestrial ecology. The ecosystem concept has evolved rapidly during the last 100 years with important ideas developed by Frederic Clements, a botanist who argued for specific definitions of ecosystems and that physiological processes were responsible for their development and persistence. [2]
This great ecological value of insects is countered by a society that often reacts negatively toward these aesthetically 'unpleasant' creatures. [156] [157] One area of concern in the insect world that has caught the public eye is the mysterious case of missing honey bees (Apis mellifera). Honey bees provide an indispensable ecological services ...
Insects play important roles in biological research. For example, because of its small size, short generation time and high fecundity , the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism for studies in the genetics of eukaryotes , including genetic linkage , interactions between genes , chromosomal genetics, development , behavior ...