Pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum L.) oviposition on pods of specific genetic lines of pea (Pisum sativum L.) stimulates cell division at the sites of egg attachment. As a result, tumor-like growths of undifferentiated cells (neoplasms) develop beneath the egg. These neoplasms impede larval entry into the pod. This unique form of induced resistance is conditioned by the Np allele and mediated by a re...

Postrelease studies can provide data with which to evaluate expectations based on prerelease tests of biological control insects. In 2004, we observed Trichosirocalus horridus Panzer (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), the rosette weevil introduced into North America against Eurasian thistles, feeding on native tall thistle, Cirsium altissimum L. Spreng., in tallgrass prairie. In this study, we examin...

—Seed predation has the potential to strongly reduce seed production and thereby act as a selective force on the evolution of flowering traits and other defenses against herbivory. We characterized levels of predispersal seed predation on Hibiscus moscheutos (Malvaceae) during 2001 and 2002 at four sites in Ohio and Maryland, USA. The seed predators were a weevil, Conotrachelus fissinguis (Cole...

The use of cold treatments to kill the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), before eclosionbut allow theparasitoidAnisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) tocompletedevelopment and eclosion was examined. Cold tolerance, crystallization temperature, and developmental stage of rice weevilswere examined at 2-d intervals between 18 and 30d after riceweevil oviposition. Themedian crystallization temperatu...

A retrospective study was conducted in 1993 which quantified the effectsof overstoryshading on both spruce weevil, Pissodes strobi (Peck) damage, and leader growth oninterior white spruce, Picea g/auca(Moench) Voss x engelmannii (Parry ex Englem.).The study was undertaken inthe Prince George and Cariboo Forest Regionsof BritishColumbia where the weevil is causing...

BACKGROUND The cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) is a serious insect-pest in the Americas, particularly in Brazil. The use of chemical or biological insect control is not effective against the cotton boll weevil because of its endophytic life style. Therefore, the use of biotechnological tools to produce insect-resistant transgenic plants represents an important strategy to reduce the dam...

Because boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis Boh. develops partially protected inside cotton fruiting structures, once they become established in a field, they are difficult to control, even with nearly continuous insecticide spray. During two cotton-growing seasons in the Semiárido region of Pernambuco State, Brazil, we tested the use of kaolin sprays to disrupt plant colonization through visual cu...

In this paper we report on the large induction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a single leaf of the mossy sorrel, Rumex confertus Willd. (Polygonaceae), by herbivory of the red dock weevil (Apion miniatum Germ., Coleoptera: Apionidae). VOC blends induced by the red dock weevil herbivory included 5 green leaf volatiles (GLVs) ((Z)-3-hexenal, (E)-2-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexenol, (E)-2-hexenol,...

Some microbes, among them a few species of cyanobacteria, are able to excavate carbonate minerals, from limestone to biogenic carbonates, including coral reefs, in a bioerosive activity that directly links biological and geological parts of the global carbon cycle. The physiological mechanisms that enable such endolithic cyanobacteria to bore, however, remain unknown. In fact, their boring cons...

The Egyptian alfalfa weevil (alfalfa weevil in some areas) during most years is the most severe insect pest of alfalfa in California. These pests feed on alfalfa leaflets and stems, reducing hay yields. Several insecticides provide acceptable control of this pest. Historically, product choice has been driven by efficacy on the pest, cost, presence of other pests, i.e., aphids, days before harve...