The insect fauna associated with Heliconia plants is one of the most extensively studied of all (non-cultivated) Neotropical insect-plant associations. Studies on Heliconia insect communities have centered on either the herbivorous insects that feed on young rolled leaves, or on those insects that live inside the water-filled floral bracts. I hypothesize that Heliconia floral morphology, in which flowers are protected in water-filled, cuplike bracts, evolved as a defense against flower-feeding and seed-eating insects. This small body of water has, however, attracted a varety of aquatic insects which are Heliconia-specific. Much of the research on Heliconia insect communities sheds light on more general hypotheses concerning the ecology and evolution of tropical insect communities. Heliconia research has pointed out the importance of plant biochemistry, plant phenology, and local plant distributions in determining the life history patterns, species diversity, and population densities of obligate insect ass...