The role of abiotic and biotic factors in population dynamics of lepidopteran miners

The individual development of most species of lepidopteran miner caterpillars is associated with one plant specimen. The development of all permanent miners is limited to one leaf, most facultative miners – to one canopy. Unlike a free-living phyllophage, the leaf miner caterpillar cannot change the host plant, for example, if there is a shortage of food due to overpopulation. This determines the existence of mortality factors dependent on population density: both through intrapopulation competition of caterpillars and through the physiological state of the host plant. Among the representatives of the third trophic level, parasitoids are of greatest importance for the population dynamics of mining lepidopterans. The species diversity of miner parasitoid complexes among phytophagous insects is the highest. The functioning of the parasitoid complex is associated with structural and functional transformations over time. The mortality of caterpillars from pathogens is low.