ix PrologU e All animals must eat. If they don't, they cannot fulfill the three basic imperatives of life: to grow and to survive long enough to reproduce. But who eats whom, and why? Except for climatic factors such as droughts or freezing temperatures, predators are probably the most pervasive and dangerous threat to the survival of most animals. Because all organisms require food, the relationships between the eaten and the eaters are a-perhaps the-central aspect of what goes on in a

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... y of organisms, which, together with their physical environment, constitute an ecosystem. In almost all land and freshwater ecosystems, insects are the most abundant animal food. Without a doubt, knowing the ways in which insects avoid becoming a meal for an insect-eating predator and the ways in which predators evade their defensive strategies is essential to understanding how ecosystems work. Moreover, these relationships are in themselves fascinating, sometimes bizarre, and always enlightening. Many, many different kinds of organisms make a living by preying on insects. They include a few plants, but most of them are representatives of virtually all the major animal groups (classes)-except those that live only or mainly in the seas: sponges, jellyfish, starfish, clams,