Evolutionary Ecology across Three Trophic Levels

This work presents the results of over 25 years of studying plant-insect interactions. The study centres on the ecology and evolution of interactions among a host plant, the parasitic insect that attacks it, and the insects and birds that are the parasite's natural enemies. Since this system provides a model that can be subjected to experimental manipulations, it has allowed the authors to address specific theories and concepts that have guided biological research for more than two decades and to engage general problems in evolutionary biology. The specific subjects of research are the host plant goldenrod ("Solidago"), the parasitic insect "Eurosta solidaginis" ("Diptera: Tephritidae") that induces a gall on the plant stem, and a number of natural enemies of the gallfly. By presenting their detailed empirical studies of the "Solidago-Eurosta" natural enemy system, the authors demonstrate the complexities of specialized enemy-victim interactions and, thereby, the complex interactive relationships among species more broadly.