Insect and Mankind Lecture 5

1. What is the character of a stable food web?

• High biodiversity

• No predators

• Some species are more abundant than the others

• High connectivity

2. Why insect stabilize food web?

• Insects are beautiful

• Low metabolism cost

• Insects include multiple trophic levels

• High biodiversity

3. How insects contribute to biological control?

• Release specialized insect herbivores to against unwanted plants

• Release non-specialized insect herbivores to against unwanted plants

• Introduce insects from an area to another area

• Release specialized insect predators or parasitoids to against insect pests

4. What is the ecological theory behind biological control?

• Pest species lack for natural enemies

• Stable food web has strong connectivity

• Introducing specialized consumer would stablize the food web

• Introduced consumers do not affect the population of local non-pest species

5. What termites eat?

• Wood

• Lichen

• Leaf litters

• Soil organic matter

• Fungi

6. What larvae of black soldier fly eat?

• Animal feces

• Plant fibers

• Kitchen leftover

• Fruits

7. What is the ecological function of scavengers?

• Consume small animals

• Consume animal corpses

• Consume dead plants

• Consume large animals

• Recycle the energy and nutrition from debris