Interactions between insect species: their evolution and mechanistic architecture

Abstract

Ecosystems comprise networks of interacting species, but a missing piece of the evolutionary puzzle is how these interactions emerge and take on the forms that we observe. What we see as an intricate symbiosis, or a specialized predator-prey relationship, is in many cases the outcome of a long evolutionary process that left little trace of how the nascent interaction first arose. Similarly mysterious is the ensuing evolutionary path toward specialization: why did evolution follow the route ultimately taken? Interactions between different species are themselves abstractions of underlying molecular and cellular phenomena of which we still know very little. The mechanisms that control how species perceive, behaviorally engage with, and in many cases physiologically depend on each other routinely elude investigation. Ecological relationships are often challenging to reconstitute in the laboratory, and even harder to genetically deconstruct. Surely, though, a deeper understanding of them would help illuminate the evolved structure of our biosphere.

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