Plant-insect interactions unit

Insects are the most species rich group of all organisms on Earth, and nearly half of them feed on plants. Some are generalists but a majority of the herbivorous insects are specialized on a specific plant species or family. Many species feed on other organisms as predators or parasitoids but a large number are omnivores, i.e. they feed both on plants and other organisms.

A successful herbivore must overcome plant defences and needs finely tuned senses to be able to find host plants, mates and avoid predators. Plants, on the other hand, must compete for resources with other plants and tolerate or defend themselves against herbivores. Defences can act directly on the herbivores and be morphological and/or chemical but may also include the attraction of the herbivore's natural enemies and thus work indirectly. These interactions create a fascinating and complex web of chemical signals, behavioural responses, and genetic changes, working on several trophic levels, in time and space. On a population level, food resources, competitors, enemies and weather cause fluctuations in density that, depending on insect species, may result outbreaks or local extinctions.

In our research, we investigate the factors and interactions described above with the goal of contributing to the general understanding of the ecology of plant-insect interactions and the development of sustainable crop protection strategies.

Research projects

Causes and consequences of herbivore aggregation: insect outbreak risk in a climate change perspective

Characteristics of insect outbreaks and outbreak species

Enemy-enemy interactions and biological control 

Forest insects and climate change: trophic interactions along climatic gradients

New bodyguards in Salix short rotation coppice: how can the effect of parasitoids be maximized?

Plant communication and management of aphids in barley (PlantComMistra)

Population dynamics of leaf beetles and their natural enemies

Resistance in willows against leaf beetles: searching for genetic markers

Plant responses to herbivory

Causes and consequences of herbivore aggregation

Links to project homepages

Plant resistance against insects in Salix

PlantComMistra

Mistra Future Forests