Herbivorous insects: specialization, speciation, diversity:
Questions about coevolution, ecological specialization, speciation, evolutionary rates, and diversity apply to many or most organisms, but are dramatically exemplified by herbivorous insects, which together with their host plants account for nearly half the described species of living organisms. Drawing in part on my laboratory’s contributions, I will pose some questions and tentative answers about several of these themes, especially specialization, speciation, and rates of evolution of host-plant associations. Despite some progress, puzzling problems remain.