A detailed study of the distribution of egg masses of Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) and H. liturata Ball was done across a 2-yr period (2001-2003) on six host plants in southern California (Marsh grapefruit, Lisbon lemon, Washington navel, Dancy tangerine, rough lemon, and jojoba in Riverside; jojoba in Desert Center). The majority of egg masses in Riverside belonged to H. vitripennis (84-10...

Abstract Okra shoot and fruit borers, Earias insulana vittella are the major pests of economically important crops like okra cotton. It is to understand pest biology ecology before initiating control measures, however little known about their comparative on okra. Therefore, we studied biometrics E. in laboratory conditions fruits recorded duration different life stages along with morphological ...

Destructive host-feeding is common in hymenopteran parasitoids. Such feeding may be restricted to host stages not preferred for oviposition. However, whether this is a fixed strategy or can vary according to resource levels or parasitoid needs is less clear. We tested the trade-off between host feeding and oviposition on two whitefly parasitoids under varying host densities. Females of two aphe...

Bovine blood inoculated with bacteria isolated from screwworm [Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)]-infested animal wounds was tested as an attractant for oviposition for gravid screwworms. Eight species of gram-negative coliform (Enterobacteriaceae) bacteria mixed with bovine blood singly or all species combined and incubated for various times produced volatiles that at...

Innate recognition templates (IRTs) in insects are developed through many years of evolution. Here we investigated olfactory cues mediating oviposition behavior in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, and their role in triggering an IRT for oviposition site recognition. Behavioral assays with electrophysiologically active compounds from a preferred host, mango, revealed that one of the ...

The bean plataspid, Megacopta cribraria (F.), recently was discovered in the United States feeding on kudzu, Pueraria montana Lour. (Merr.) variety lobata (Willd.), an economically important invasive vine. We studied its biology on kudzu and its impact on kudzu growth. We also tested its ability to use other common forest legumes for oviposition and development. Flight intercept traps operated ...

The maternal manipulation hypothesis states that ectothermic females modify thermal conditions during embryonic development to benefit their offspring (anticipatory maternal effect). However, the recent theory suggests that the ultimate currency of an adaptive maternal effect is female fitness that can be maximized also by decreasing mean fitness of individual offspring. We evaluated benefits o...

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) represent a threat to fruit growing worldwide, mainly the citrus culture, however, biological studies show that fruit flies are not perfectly adapted to this host. This study investigated oviposition of Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann, 1830) and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) and its relation with the pericarp of citrus fruits. We evaluated the relatio...

Background: Endoparasitoid wasps inject venom proteins at oviposition to alter host immunity. Results: The venom of Leptopilina boulardi but not of a related species contains an active extracellular SOD. Recombinant SODs inhibit the Drosophila host phenoloxidase activity. Conclusion: An extracellular SOD is secreted and active in an insect fluid. Significance: SODs may be used as immune suppres...

Understanding oviposition behavior is important to behavioral and vector ecologists because of its potential use in developing vector control strategies for insect-borne infectious diseases. Our study compared the oviposition behaviors of Anopheles gambiae s.s mosquitoes from two different regions of East Africa, Mbita Point, Kenya and Ifakara, Tanzania. The work sought behavioral evidence for ...