The Effects of Diet on Health in Insects

Dietary aspects of insects are mainly looked at from an IPM or pest evaluation point of view. In recent years dietary effects on insects for food and feed became more prominent. However, the investigation of nutrition and insect health, especially for beneficial insects species like pollinators, has received some focus. In particular, landscape ecology in a broad term has given some insights into the question of pollinator health.

The aim of this Research Topic is to investigate what makes a healthy insect diet and how diet helps to deal with environmental stressors like climate change and pesticides. Additionally, how is the dietary choice different for central place foragers, like social bees vs solitary moths? The articles presented should highlight and deepen our knowledge of the nutritional requirements and challenges of solitary vs social insects, herbivores vs predators vs parasitoids and the underlying decision-making processes.

Submissions to this Research Topic should be based on, but not limited to, the following themes:
· Diet choice – what do insects base their choice on?
· Diet discrimination – can they actually discriminate?
· Implication of diet on health – e.g. survival, fecundity, fertility, behavior
· Foraging decision in a divers landscape