2020 February - 73 articles
Nilaparvata lugens is one of the major pests of rice and results in substantial yield loss every year. Our previous study found that the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae showed effective potential for controlling this pest. However, the...
Acromyrmex fracticornis grass-cutting ants construct conspicuous chimney-shaped nest turrets made of intermeshed grass fragments. We asked whether turrets are constructed by merely piling up nearby materials around the entrance, or whether ants incor...
The plantation area of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is expanding in many European countries due to increasing demand for berries, thus creating suitable conditions for the rapid expansion of the fruit fly Rhagoletis batava, a pest of econo...
Species of the click-beetle genus Agriotes Eschscholtz are economically important crop pests distributed mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. They can inflict considerable damage on various field crops. Therefore, the detection, monitoring, and control...
The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), is a significant agricultural pest that has developed resistance to many insecticides that are used to control it. Investigating the mechanisms of insecticide detoxification in this pest is...
Insect brood parasites have evolved a variety of strategies to avoid being detected by their hosts. Few previous studies on cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae), which are natural enemies of solitary wasps and bees, have shown that chemical mimicr...
Management of the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) necessitates the use of multiple control techniques. In addition to synthetic pesticides and mechanical interventions, plant-derived essential oils represent one of the control options. Mixtures...
Formica polyctena belongs to the red wood ant species group. Its nests provide a stable, food rich, and temperature and humidity controlled environment, utilized by a wide range of species, called myrmecophiles. Here, we used the high-throughput sequ...
Spittlebugs are the vectors of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa Wells in Europe, the causal agent of olive dieback epidemic in Apulia, Italy. Selection and distribution of different spittlebug species on host-plants were investigated during field sur...
The development of cost-effective diets for mass-rearing fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and their parasitoids in pest control programs based on the Sterile Insect Technique is a high priority worldwide. To this end, we tested carrageenan, agar, g...
Pollinator nutritional ecology provides insights into plant–pollinator interactions, coevolution, and the restoration of declining pollinator populations. Bees obtain their protein and lipid nutrient intake from pollen, which is essential for l...
The development of integrated pest management strategies becomes more and more pressing in view of potential harmful effects of synthetic pesticides on the environment and human health. A promising alternative strategy against Delia radicum is the us...
The larvicidal activity of essential oils (EOs) extracted from Cymbopogon citratus, Cymbopogon winterianus, Eucalyptus citriodora, and Eucalyptus camaldulensis aromatic plants grown in Vietnam was evaluated on Aedes aegypti larvae. The EOs were hydro...
Knowledge of the role of ants in many agroecosystems is relatively scarce, and in temperate regions the possibility to exploit ants as biocontrol agents for crop protection is still largely unexplored. Drawing inspiration from mutualistic ant–p...
The oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) is a pest that causes large economic losses in the fruit and vegetable industry, so its control is a major challenge. Nuclear receptors (NRs) are a superfamily of ligand-dependent transcription factors tha...
Nosema ceranae is a widespread obligate intracellular parasite of the ventriculus of many species of honey bee (Apis), including the Western honey bee Apis mellifera, in which it may lead to colony death. It can be controlled in A. mellifera by feedi...
Bees need food of appropriate nutritional quality to maintain their metabolic functions. They largely obtain all required nutrients from floral resources, i.e., pollen and nectar. However, the diversity, composition and nutritional quality of floral...
The pale grass blue butterfly Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) has been used as an environmental indicator species for radioactive pollution after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Here, based on the one-individual tracking method in the field,...
Hangingflies are characterized by the interesting nuptial feeding behavior and unusual belly-to-belly hanging mating position. However, the mating behavior and the copulatory mechanism remain poorly known for Bittacidae, especially how the elongated...
The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis, is an invasive pest that can cause massive damage to many host plants of agricultural importance. P. solenopsis is highly polyphagous, and shows extreme sexual dimorphism between males and females. The fun...
Titanus giganteus is one of the largest insects in the world, but unfortunately, there is a lack of basic information about its biology. Previous papers have mostly described Titanus morphology or taxonomy, but studies concerning its anatomy and phys...
The silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is one of the most destructive agricultural pests in the world, vectoring a large number of devastating viruses, including Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV). When selecting a host, B. tabaci is primarily i...
Dendrolimus punctatus walker (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) is the most serious coniferous forest defoliator in China. This species has long life history, and shows different activity rhythms and light response behaviors at larval and adult stages. Ins...
Host plant affinity and geographic distance can play critical roles in the genetic divergence of insect herbivores and evolution of insect biotypes, but their relative importance in the divergence of insect populations is still poorly understood. We...
In the UK, severe infestations by Plutella xylostella occur sporadically and are due mainly to the immigration of moths. The aim of this study was to develop a more detailed understanding of the phenology of P. xylostella in the UK and investigate me...
Galepsus Stäl is a genus within the Mantodea and has hardly been studied in Africa. The distribution of the Galepsus genus in Southern Africa was established, based on insect collection records, and the biology of Galepsus (Lygdamia) lenticulari...
The mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is a bark beetle that attacks and kills ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), among other pine species throughout the western conifer forests of the United States and Canada, particularly in dense...
Invasive species often encounter rapid environmental changes during invasions and only the individuals that successfully overcome environmental stresses can colonize and spread. Chromatin remodeling may be essential in environmental adaptation. To as...
Systemic insecticides have been applied through drip irrigation for controlling crop pests, but few studies have addressed potential negative effects of the application on non-target organisms. In this study, the safety of sulfoxaflor applied at 450...
The pentatomid bug Bagrada hilaris is a key pest of brassicaceous crops in several areas of the world. Previous studies suggest that mate location of this species is mediated by volatile chemicals produced by males, among which the main compound is (...
Insect populations were studied within two commercial peanut shelling facilities located in the southeastern United States. Commercially available pheromone/kairomone-baited dome traps and pheromone-baited flight traps were deployed throughout proces...
Sirex noctilio F. (Hymenoptera: Siricidae: Siricinae), a new invasive species in China, is a significant international forestry pest which, transported via logs and related wood packing materials, has led to environmental damage and substantial econo...
Temperature is a critical single factor influencing insect population dynamics, and is foundational for improving our understanding of the phenology of invasive species adapting to new agroecosystems or in the process of range expansion. An age-stage...
Pseudacteon flies (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitize individual ant workers, causing decapitation of the host during pupariation. Phorid flies that attack South American fire ants in the Solenopsis saevissima (Smith) complex are distributed across a wide...
Spätzle is an extracellular protein that activates the Toll receptor during embryogenesis and immune responses in Drosophila. However, the functions of the spätzle proteins in the innate immune response against bacteria or fungi in T. molit...
Forcipomyia taiwana is an irritating hematophagous midge that preferentially attacks humans and affects leisure industries in Taiwan. Understanding the female reproductive biology of such pests would facilitate the development of pest control strateg...
Physiological thermal limits of organisms are linked to their geographic distribution. The assessment of such limits can provide valuable insights when monitoring for environmental thermal alterations. Using the dynamic critical thermal method (CTM),...
This study aims to evaluate several life-history traits of a T. drosophilae population from southern China and its parasitic preference of three Drosophila species. For mated T. drosophilae females, the mean oviposition and parasitization period were...
We investigated the repellent effect of 12 Apiaceae plant essential oils on nymphal and adult (male and female) forms of the bean bug, Riptortus clavatus (Thunberg) (Hemiptera: Alydidae), using a four-arm olfactometer. Among the essential oils tested...
The olive grove is a key landscape across the Mediterranean basin. This agroecosystem is threatened by Xylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of the olive tree quick decline syndrome, Philaenus spumarius being the main vector. A way to limit pest popul...
The invasion of Vespa velutina presents a great threat to the agriculture economy, the ecological environment, and human health. An effective strategy for this hornet control is urgently required, but the limited genome information of Vespa velutina...
Plant secondary metabolites such as terpenes, phenolics, glycosides, and alkaloids play various functional roles including pigmentation, foliar and floral volatile synthesis, hormonal regulation, and direct and indirect defenses. Among these, phenoli...
In the current study it was investigated the suitability of semolina, cracked wheat and cracked maize as feeding commodities for the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). The pest completed its development on all...
Ant-hemipteran mutualism has been well documented, and many studies have reported the interference competition between ant species for the mutualism. However, little is known on how this interference competition impacts the reciprocally beneficial as...
Deployment of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes carrying the endosymbiont bacterium Wolbachia has been identified as a promising strategy to reduce dengue, chikungunya, and Zika transmission. We investigated whether sampling larvae from ovitraps can provide r...
Western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is a highly invasive pest which is harmful to many cash crops globally and resistant to various insecticides. Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF), as biological control agents, have demonst...
Population control of small sucking insects has been challenging, and alternative control methods are constantly being sought. Visual traps have long been used to monitor and control pests. Colored sticky cards are widely used for diurnal pests, but...
The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the most notorious vector of illness-causing viruses. The use of entomopathogenic fungi as bioinsecticides is a promising alternative for the development of novel mosquito control strategies. We investigate whether diffe...
The first records of outbreaks of the Pine Spittle bug Ocoaxo assimilis Walker were recently identified from Puebla, Mexico, which promoted more than 2600 ha of forest foliar fall. Beyond the taxonomic and distribution information of this species, th...
Urbanization is one of the most important global trends which causes habitat reduction and alteration which are, in turn, the main reasons for the well-documented reduction in structural and functional diversity in urbanized environments. In contrast...
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