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Lesson: 1 Definition and importance of Insect Ecology. Terminologies related to insect
ecology –autecology, Synecology, biosphere, habit, habitat, biome,
population, community, niche, ecosystem and agro ecosystem.
INSECT ECOLOGY
WHAT IS INSECT ECOLOGY?
Definition of Ecology - The term ecology is derived from the Greek word ‘Oekologie’-
“oikos” meaning “house” combined with “logy” meaning “the science of” or “the study
of. It was introduced by Reiter in 1868. Haeckel (1869) was considered as Father of
Ecology.
Ecology can be defined as the science of plants and animals in relation to their
environment. (OR) “The study of organisms at home”
Odum (1953) defined ecology as the study of the structure and functions of nature.
Insect ecology is the scientific study of how insects, individually or as a community,
interact with the surrounding environment or ecosystem.
Insect Ecology may be defined as the understanding of physiology and behavior of
insects as affected by their environment.
IMPORTANCE OF INSECT ECOLOGY
1. Insects play significant roles in the ecology of the world due to their vast diversity of
form, function and life-style; their considerable biomass; and their interaction with
plant life, other organisms and the environment. They are the major contributor to
biodiversity in the majority of habitats, except in the sea,
2. Taking the case of nutrient recycling; insects contribute to this vital function by
degrading or consuming leaf litter, wood, carrion and dung and by dispersal of fungi.
Insects have been recognized as important distributors of energy and matter and as
engineers of ecosystem conditions
3. Insects form an important part of the food chain. insects are the dominant pathway
for energy and nutrient flow in many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
4. Insect ecology means, the realtionship between insects and their environment. The
environment (including weather, food sources, and natural enemies) determines
whether or not an insect population causes economic damage. So, learning about
ecology enables farmers to make better decisions about managing pests.
Terminologies related to Insect Ecology
Autecology: Study of an individual organism, its behavior and the influence of
environment on its life cycle. It is also called as population ecology or population
dynamics. It is simple to study.
Synecology: Study of groups of organism which are found as a unit. It is also called as
community ecology. It is complex to study.
Biosphere: The biosphere is defined as the area around the Earth where life exists.
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Habit is the feeding behaviour of organism
Habitat is the place where the organism lives.
Biome: Biomes are very large ecological areas on the earth’s surface, with animals and
plants adapting to their environment. Biomes are often defined by abiotic factors such as
climate, relief, geology, soils and vegetation.
A biome is not an ecosystem as plants or animals in any of the biomes have
special adaptations that make it possible for them to exist in that area.
Eg. Desert, aquatic, forest, grassland and tndra biomes
Population denotes groups of individuals of any kind of organism of the same species
occupying a particular area at a specific time.
Insect community: Insects of different species found in a particular place at
particular point of time.
Niche is a term describing the relational position or status of a species or population in its
ecosystem to each other
Ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a
particular area, as well as all the nonliving physical components of the environment with
which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water, and sunlight.
Tansley (1935) coined the term “ecosystem” to recognize the integration of the biotic
community and its physical environment as a fundamental unit of ecology
Functions of ecosystem
1. Flow of energy and cycling of materials through it. Energy flows in only one
direction through every ecosystem.
2. Most commonly, energy flow begins when photosynthetic autotrophs harness
sunlight energy of the ecosystem can use. Autotrophs a primary producer
organisms for the ecosystem. Energy – rich organic compounds are stored forms
of energy, and they serve as the foundation for the ecosystem’s food webs. Such
webs consist of a number of interconnected food chains.
3. Each chain in a food web is a linear sequence from producers through various
consumers, decomposers and detritivores. Most nutrients are cycled within food
webs, but some amounts are lost to the environment.
Agro-ecosystem –Agro-ecosystem is a man made environment comprising of crop
plants, weeds, animal communities (including insects), microbial communities and
physical environment which are inter-linked and interact among themselves.
Agroecosystem is the basic unit of pest management.
Unique features of Agro- ecosystem
Dominated by plants selected by man. Lesser diversity of animals and plants.
Genetically uniform.
Phenological events like germination, flowering occur simultaneously
Lack of temporal continuity - due to various agricultural operations carried out by
man like ploughing, weeding, pesticide application etc.
Plants may contain imported genetic material. Nutrients are added
Outbreak of pests, weeds and diseases occur frequently
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Additional information
Abundance of insects indicating its ecological significance
IMPORTANCE OF INSECT ECOLOGY IN PEST MANAGEMENT
The ecology investigate the causes for the changes in population number. The key
mortality factors in a natural population help to integrate the various methods of control,
without disturbing the balance of nature.
The pest surveillance programmes form a part of ecology. Forecasting of the possible
attack by different pests can be done and accordingly the control measures can be initiated in
time. Suitable chemicals can be selected depending on the presence or absence of natural
enemies.
As such ecological studies form a basic part of the approach to the integrated pest
management (IPM).
Homeostasis - The tendency of an organism or cell to regulate its internal conditions,
regardless of outside conditions. The maintenance of a steady body temperature in warm-
blooded animals is an example of homeostasis
