Larval lepidopterans (hereafter, caterpillars) protect themselves from natural enemies with a
diverse suite of defenses which are employed before, during, or after encounters with …

▪ Abstract Whereas foraging has been a major focus of ecological and entomological
research, its obligate partner, defecation, has been comparatively neglected. Insects exhibit …

Trophic cascades—the top-down regulation of ecosystems by predators—are an essential
aspect of ecosystem function and well-being. Trophic cascades are often drastically …

The caterpillars of many Lepidoptera are neither attacked nor tended by ants but
nevertheless appear to be obligately ant-associated and benefit from the enemy-free space …

Shelter‐building is widespread in the animal world and such shelters often influence the
success of their builders. Shelters built by caterpillars influence the likelihood of attacks by …

Nutrition is a key component of life-history theory, yet we know little about how diet quality
shapes life-history evolution across species. Here, we test whether quantitative measures of …

Many animals modify their environments, apparently to reduce predation risk, but the
success of such endeavors, and their impact on the density and distribution of populations …

Although both feeding and elimination of waste are imperatives for all animals, ecologists
and evolutionary biologists have devoted considerable attention to foraging, while largely …

Caterpillars build various shelters that protect them from natural enemies, but whether
specific shelters provide different protection is unknown. To disentangle a caterpillar …

The construction of larval leaf-shelters is a ubiquitous yet poorly understood behavior within
the Hesperiidae. Most life history papers treating this family fail to describe this aspect of …