Effects of Environment and Food Stress on Insect Population

Dear Colleague,

In recent years, global warming, desiccation, increased ultraviolet light intensity, food stress and geomagnetic changes have brought great challenges to the survival of organisms. Specifically, changes in those environmental factors directly affect the behavioral pattern, dynamic distribution, population and even survival of insects. It is increasingly important to study the adaptation of organisms to those environmental stresses. In this Special Issue, we are addressing the impacts of extreme environment on insect behavior, biology, physiology, evolution and genetics, especially circadian rhythm, sleep, DNA damage repair, oxidative stress response, plant–pest–natural enemy interactions and food webs. For example, through interdisciplinary research, we can figure out why honeybee colonies continue to decline due to environmental changes. We can also illustrate the outbreak of invasive pests due to heat stress.

In addition, there is a long-term co-evolutionary history between host and microorganism. A lot of studies have shown that microbial communities can influence organisms’ environmental adaption. We are also trying to figure out how microbial communities involve the host's adaptation to heat, ultraviolet light and food stress. For instance, we aim to answer the key questions regarding how environmental stress affects the distribution and enrichment of gut microbes in insects. In the opposite direction, we also aim to unmask which types of gut microbes and their metabolites can regulate their host’s environmental adaptation.

This Special Issue aims to collect papers from researchers who concentrate on topics such as circadian rhythms, sleep, heat and ultraviolet light tolerance, DNA damage/repair, interaction between different species and effects of climate changes on insect populations.

Dr. Shihao Zhou
Dr. Junyu Chen
Prof. Dr. Erjun Ling
Dr. Zhenxing Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Insects is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.