Feeding Biology and Nutrition in Insects

Dear Colleagues,

Insects, the most diverse group of creatures around the world, can feed and acquire nutrients from a wide variety of different food sources. The feeding habits of the immature and adult stages can sometimes be similar but are often contrasting. Insects can be herbivorous, carnivorous, saprophagous, fungivorous, hematophagous, xylophagous or coprophagous. This wide range of feeding habits have contributed to most insect species playing beneficial roles such as providing key ecosystem services, but also making some species the devastating pests of crop plants and the vectors of diseases affecting humans and farm animals. Furthermore, the nutrients and other chemicals comprising insect diets may be suboptimal for insect fitness and have driven evolutionary adaptations in the species that utilize them. As such, studying the biology related to insect feeding and nutrition is key for several fundamental and applied fields of science including the development of control strategies against insect pests and to improve our understanding of human diseases related to diet using insects as model organisms.

To further develop our knowledge of the diverse ways that diets shape the behavior, development, ecology, evolution, physiology and reproduction of insects, this Special Issue will compile research contributions on insect feeding biology and nutrition in insects. In particular, this Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current research and the future directions on the topic of insect feeding and nutrition.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. The morphology of feeding apparatus and digestive systems;
2. The feeding mechanisms/modes of diet intake;
3. The mechanisms of digestion and absorption of nutrients;
4. Taste and nutrient perception;
5. The role of microorganisms as food sources or in the digestion or detoxification of allelochemicals;
6. The behavioral, physiological and ecological aspects of nutrition;
7. The influence of environmental change in feeding and nutrition;
8. The evolutionary adaptations of insects to their diet.

Papers that report on the development of tools/practices for improved insect rearing are also welcome if they address the aspects of the nutrition and biology of the studied species. Papers reporting on the use of insects as model organisms to better understand the physiological processes, cellular mechanisms and genetics of human diseases related to nutrition are encouraged.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Carlos A. Pascacio Villafán
Prof. Dr. Christopher W. Weldon
Guest Editors

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• diet
• digestion
• ecology
• evolution
• feeding
• insects
• mass-rearing
• microbiome
• nutrients
• taste