Dear Colleagues,

Ecological specialization and generalism in insects reflect the existence of an evolutionary bidirectional continuum, involving complex, multidimensional scenarios. It has often been assumed that ecological generalism in phytophagous insects comes at the expense of the less intense exploitation of specific resources, and that this trade-off will promote the evolution of ecologically more specialized daughter species (Hardy and Otto 2014). In the so-called “oscillation hypothesis”, speciation could be driven by host-plant generalists giving rise to specialist daughter species, while in the so-called “musical chairs hypothesis”, speciation could be driven by host-plant switching, without substantial changes in niche breadth (Hardy and Otto 2014). Due to discordant theories about the evolutionary mechanisms underlying transitions from ecological generalism to specialization, as well as the potential role that such transitions have on speciation (Forister et al. 2012), in the present Special Issue, we call for papers particularly focusing on these important aspects of the evolutionary relationships between phytophagous insects and their (larval) host-plants.

Since parasitic insects add an additional layer to this complex biological process, we extend the investigation of the evolutionary relationships between “specialized” and “generalist” species to both parasitic and parasitoid insects.

All articles dealing with all aspects of the evolution of the ecological specialization in both phytophagopus (s.l.) and parasitic (s.l.) insects are welcome, with particular emphasis on ecological genetics, behavior, interaction complexity, and macroevolution. Priority will be given to studies presenting novel data and novel case studies. However, reviews and theoretical articles will also be positively considered for the aims of this Insects Special Issue.

Prof. Paolo Audisio
Dr. Marco Trizzino
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

• ecological specialization and generalism
• phytophagous insects
• parasitic insects
• speciation
• models of evolution
• host-shift