Plants, Bugs, and Molecules - An Introduction to the Chemistry of Insect-Plant Interactions - Livestream

How do plants attract insects or keep them away? What composes the colors of insects or of plants, or how do insects communicate with each other?

Specific organic compounds determine whether insects are keen on feeding on plants or avoid them altogether. Some insects have learned to use plant compounds as their own defenses, and some plants use insects as nutritional supplements. Plant-insect interactions vitally affect our food supply, as in pollination of orchards or detrimentally in insect infestations of crops. Another important aspect of human uses of insects feeding on specific plants is silk production.

Speaker: Dr. Margareta Sequin

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