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Size, Phylogeny and Life-History in the Evolution of Feeding Specialization in Insect Predators

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Insect Life Cycles

Abstract

The existence of a vast array of animals that are feeding specialists presents evolutionary theory with a problem. How are we to explain their existence? Either we accept that there are adaptive reasons why many animals, particularly insects, should specialize (and then we must understand the selective forces operating to promote specialization in some circumstances, and generalization in others: Scriber 1983; Rausher 1983; Futuyma and Moreno 1988), or we must explain specialists as “dead ends” in evolution (Simpson 1944; Moran 1988).

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Authors
  1. Francis Gilbert
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Nottingham University, NG7 2RD, Nottingham, UK

    Francis Gilbert PhD

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Gilbert, F. (1990). Size, Phylogeny and Life-History in the Evolution of Feeding Specialization in Insect Predators. In: Gilbert, F. (eds) Insect Life Cycles. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3464-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3464-0_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-3466-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-3464-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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