Science. 1981 Feb 27;211(4485):887-93. doi: 10.1126/science.211.4485.887.
Many herbivorous insects have generalized diets over the species' entire geographical ranges but they function as specialists with restricted diets in local communities. Local feeding specialization can be produced by biochemical, behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary processes. Much evidence is incompatible with the widely held assumptions that diet breadth is a species characteristic and that specialization among herbivorous insects implies greater efficiency and less niche overlap.
许多草食性昆虫在其整个地理分布范围内具有广泛的饮食，但在当地社区中，它们作为专门以特定食物为食的物种发挥作用。局部取食特化可以通过生化、行为、生态和进化过程产生。有大量证据与广泛持有的假设相矛盾，即饮食广度是一个物种的特征，而草食性昆虫的特化意味着更高的效率和更少的生态位重叠。
