Insect dietetics

For a species of insect to survive (to pass through the sieve of Figure 1), its food must contain the nutrients essential for that species. Nutrition used in this narrow sense (as opposed to the broader term insect dietetics) delineates the minimal nutritional requirements for successful growth, development, and reproduction (13). Serving as a nutrient is not an inherent quality of a... 

Many of the deleterious metabolic or chronic effects of plant allelochemlcals may be due to these Interactions. Many of the types of Interactions discussed In vertebrate nutrition literature may also be Important in insect dietetics (14). Certain allelochemlcals structurally resemble essential nutrients closely enough to compete metabolically (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40). Allelochemlcals may block the bloavallablllty of nutrients by reducing assimilation, efficiency of conversion of assimilated food, or the efficiency of conversion of ingested food (, 44, 46). 

In many studies of Insect dietetics, nutritional Indices have been... 

As alluded to above, even a crop that sustains losses from an insect pest may actually be capable of inhibiting insect growth. A number of aspects of the insect dietetics may be interacting to produce such a situation. The feeding insect must ingest food "that not only meets its nutritional requirements, but is also capable of being assimilated and converted into the energy and structural substances required for normal activity and development" (2,. ... 

The role of allelochemic-nutrient interactions in insect dietetics has been investigated only rarely. Examples of such interactions abound in vertebrate literature (14, 15) and may supply useful leads for researchers working with Insects. Many of the deleterious physiological effects of plant allelochemics may be due primarily to various interactions between these allelochemics and essential nutrients. In other words, it is Important to not only consider the presence of nutrients, but also the "bio-availability" of these nutrients to the phytophagous Insect. 

Nirmala, K.M. and Kokilavani, R. 1980. Biodeterioration of stored, insect infested jowar (Soghum vulgare) and ragi Eleusine coracana). Indian J. Nutr. Dietet. 17, 201-204. 

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