Citation:

TRE Southwood. 1973. The insect-plant relationship – an evolutionary perspective. Pages 3-30. In: HF van Emden (editor). Insect-Plant Relationships. Proceedings of a symposium held in Imperial College 16-17 September 1971. Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society of London: Number 6, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 215 pages.

Keywords: types of insect-plant relationship, Spermaphyta as food and shelter for insects, taxonomic distribution and evolution of Spermaphyta-feeding in terrestrial arthropods, nutritional hurdle, comparison of biochemical composition and dietary requirements, effects of changesin host-plant composition, conversion efficiencies, attachment hurdle, desiccation hurdle, host-finding hurdle, the Spermatophyta-feeding groups, Acari, Collembola, Orthoptera, Phasmida, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, the plants’ evolutionary reactions to insect attack, physical, chemical, the insects’ evolutionary response to plants’ defense mechanisms, the pattern of insect-plant associations, the utilization of secondary plant substances by insects, the evolving relationhips—predatory, parasitic or symbiotic?