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Introduction: Ecological Importance of Insect Feeding

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Insect Mouthparts

Part of the book series: Zoological Monographs ((ZM,volume 5))

Abstract

Insects are extremely diverse arthropods with highly diverse lifestyles. All kinds of organic material may be used by insects as food. Their feeding activities have an enormous ecological impact on all terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Insect feeding contributes to pollination, nutrient recycling, pest control and water purification, whereas it can be destructive to wild and cultivated plants and stored products and may transmit pathogens to plants and animals including humans. In this context, form and function of mouthparts are crucial to understand the feeding behaviour as well as the ecological and economic importance of insects.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Annalie Melin for linguistic help and Barbara-Amina Gereben-Krenn and Florian Karolyi for comments and suggestions to improve the manuscript. I am grateful to Reiner Pospischil and Helge May for providing excellent photos of feeding insects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Harald W. Krenn

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Correspondence to Harald W. Krenn .

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  1. Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Harald W. Krenn

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Krenn, H.W. (2019). Introduction: Ecological Importance of Insect Feeding. In: Krenn, H. (eds) Insect Mouthparts. Zoological Monographs, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29654-4_1

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