In agriculture, integrated pest management (IPM) is increasingly implemented for dealing with pestiferous insects, primarily to reduce our reliance on toxic chemicals. Before the introduction of the synthetic organic pesticides, pest management was linked to ecological understanding as a basis for developing appropriate control methods or combinations of methods. However, the nature of the linkage between IPM and ecological theory was more implicit than explicit, and the main purpose of this book is to re-investigate this link. Any such investigation must accommodate the crucial role of socioeconomic considerations now seen in IPM (e.g. Norton & Mumford, 1993; Stoner et al., 1986). The stress from this source is on the need for timely consultation with those for whom IPM packages are intended, and even for producers to be involved in research.

The developments outlined above have generated some tensions within IPM, especially in relation to the ‘reductionist science’ element of insect ecology research. But what is ‘reductionist science’? Why is the term so frequently used pejoratively in the IPM context? Does ‘reductionist science’ have a role in IPM? If so, what role? Tackling these questions provides important ancillary aims for this book.

Insect ecology research for IPM purposes is represented by a rather grey area; the linkage between theory and practice is still not explicit. To a large extent, insect ecology is portrayed in IPM texts only in the form of brief summaries, usually of one particular subject area (such as population, community or ecosystem ecology).