Abstract: Niche theory is one of the important contents in modern ecology. In its century’s development history, the most representative concepts were spatial niche, functional niche, and n-dimensional hyper-volume niche. Niche breadth and niche overlap were the two most important indexes in describing intra- and inter-specific relations. This paper summarized the development of niche concept, and its primary metrics application situation in insect ecology. Some comments were put forward on the application of niche concept in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and the problems and application prospects of niche theory in insect ecology were analyzed. The rational use of niche theory could provide theoretic guidance in establishing effective IPM strategy and approaching population formation mechanism of alien invasive pests.

Key words: Serangium japonicum, Bemisia tabaci, Feeding behavior