The ecology of the pea galls of Cynips divisa

Plant galls may be produced by a wide variety of organisms, from fungi to parasitic insects, on an equally wide variety of hosts. Their taxonomy is highly complex, as are the life cycles of the organisms associated with them. Yet, common as they are, plant galls are often poorly understood. This book brings together information from the diverse disciplines involved in the study of plant galls: ecology, evolution, molecular biology, physiology, and developmental biology. The work considers the latest issues, covering questions of classification, coevolution, ecology, physiology, and plant genetic engineering. As an up-to-date resource in an area of immense interest and debate, the book will enhance the quality of discussion surrounding these phenomena, across all disciplinary perspectives. The aim of this book is to bring together information from biologists from all the diverse disciplines with an interest in plant galls and to demonstrate the range of viewpoints from which galls can be studied; scientists from the same wide array of backgrounds, whether ecology, systematics, physiology, plant-animal interactions or coevolution, will find material of interest within it.