Abstract
Evolution begets diversity, and insects are the most diverse organisms in the history of life, so insects should provide profound insight into evolution. Insects are considered keystone species because loss of their critical ecological functions (e.g., pollinators; seed dispersers; predators; and parasitoids) could lead to collapse of the wider ecosystem. Indeed, insects dominate freshwater aquatic systems, but in general we know very few about the biology and natural history of these organisms. Here, we present a good set of basic data and knowledge in ecology, natural history, and behavior of this unknown fauna. Our hope is that it encourages young researchers to investigate basic aspects of the life history of aquatic insects, mainly in tropical systems.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Del-Claro K (2010) Introdução à Ecologia Comportamental: um manual para o estudo do comportamento animal. Technical Books, Rio de Janeiro
Del-Claro K, Lange D, Torezan-Silingardi HM, Anjos DV, Calixto ES, Dáttilo W, Rico-Gray V (2018) The complex ant–plant relationship within tropical ecological networks. In: Dáttilo W, Rico-Gray V (eds) Ecological networks in the tropics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68228-0_5
Erwin TL (1991) How many species are there? Rev Conserv Biol 5:1–4
Grimaldi DA, Engel MS (2005) Evolution of the insects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gullan PJ, Cranston PS (2014) The insects: an outline of entomology, 5th edn. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, p 624
Mora C, Tittensor DP, Adl S, Simpson AGB, Worm B (2011) How many species are there on earth and in the ocean? PLoS Biol 9(8):e1001127. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127
Ødegarrd F (2000) How many species of arthropods? Erwin’s estimate revised. Biol J Linn Soc 71(4):583–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2000.tb01279.x
Scheffers BR, Joppa LN, Pimm SL, Laurance WF (2012) What we know and don’t know about Earth’s missing biodiversity. Trends Ecol Evol 27(12):712–713
Vilela DS, Ferreira RG, Del-Claro K (2016) The odonata community of a Brazilian Vereda: seasonal patterns, species diversity and rarity in a palm swamp environment. Biosci J 32(2):486–495. https://doi.org/10.14393/BJ-v32n2a2016-30491
Vilela DS, Tosta TAA, Rodrigues RR, Del-Claro K, Guillermo-Ferreira R (2017) Colours of war: visual signals may influence the outcome of territorial contests in the tiger damselfly, Tigriagrion aurantinigrum. Biol J Linn Soc 121(4):786–795. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blx024
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Del-Claro, K. (2019). Aquatic Insects: Why It Is Important to Dedicate Our Time on Their Study?. In: Del-Claro, K., Guillermo, R. (eds) Aquatic Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16327-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16327-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-16326-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-16327-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)