Social Insects in Soil

Dear Colleagues,

Soils are vital for the healthy functioning of ecosystems. They are also vital for most insects, either because the insects live or burrow there or they spent one part of their lifecycle in it (for example, many holometabolous insects pupate in the soil). However, it is social insects that dominate in soils, especially tropical soils, with termites and ants having a huge biomass, probably exceeding that of other insects in any other microhabitat. These groups are not just extremely numerous, they also have fascinating natural histories and are vital ecosystem engineers whose importance is only just being fully recognized. This Special Issue will include papers dealing with all aspects of social soil insects, with a particular emphasis on their ecological roles in soils, in natural, semi-natural and agricultural habitats.

Dr. Paul Eggleton
Guest Editor

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.

• social insects
• soils
• ecosystem engineers