Parasites Stinging Pupa of Pieris Rapae

The Genome of Pieris rapae Granulovirus.

Pieris rapae granulovirus (PrGV) can infect and kill larvae of Pieris rapae, a worldwide and important pest of mustard family crops. The PrGV genome consists of 108,592 bp, is AT rich (66.8%), and is most structurally and organizationally similar to the Choristoneura occidentalis granulovirus genome. Of the predicted 120 open reading frames (ORFs), 32 genes specifically occurred in GVs, includi...

Introduction and evaluation of Cotesia rubecula, a parasitoid of Pieris rapae in New Zealand

The host specificity of Cotesia rubecula (Marshall) was examined through literature searches, behavioural and ecological observations, and host specificity tests of a South Australian population. The results led to the importation and testing of C. rubecula in quarantine in New Zealand where its specificity to the genus Pieris was confirmed. Introduction of the parasitoid was approved and the s...

Pieris rapae – a nectar feeding butterfly: Composition of the cuticle of the proboscis

Mayolenes: labile defensive lipids from the glandular hairs of a caterpillar (Pieris rapae).

Larvae of the European cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae (Pieridae), are beset with glandular hairs, bearing droplets of a clear oily secretion at their tip. The fluid consists primarily of a series of chemically labile, unsaturated lipids, the mayolenes, which are derived from 11-hydroxylinolenic acid. In bioassays with the ant Crematogaster lineolata, the secretion was shown to be potently dete...

Isolation and characterization of a Cotesia rubecula bracovirus gene expressed in the lepidopteran Pieris rapae.

Polydnaviruses are endogenous particles that are crucial for the survival of endoparasitoid wasps, providing active suppression of the immune function of the lepidopteran host in which wasp larvae develop. The Cotesia rubecula bracovirus (CrBV) is unique in that only four gene products are detected in larval host (Pieris rapae) tissues and expression of CrBV genes is transient, occurring betwee...