likelih ood for encapsulation. It is rather surprising that
this perspective has only recently gained momentum in
the tri-trophic interaction literature because the insect
immune system has long been recognized as a central
component to host –parasitoid relationships, at least in a
bi-trophic framework [8,9]. Recent interest in this topic
dovetails the newly established field of eco-immunology,
which seeks to disentangle the causal factors driving
immune variation in wild animal populations. Indeed,
consumption of plant products, including secondary plant
compounds, by a variety of insect pollinators (e.g.,
[10,11]) and herbivores (e.g., [12 –14]) are known to enhance immunity against an array of microbes including
protozoan, viral, and bacterial pathogens. Such findings
stress the importance of incorporating the effects of plant
chemistry (as opposed to simply rearing insects on artificial diet in the laboratory) when studying host immune
responses against parasites and parasitoids.