Aphidius transcaspicus Telenga, a mealy plum aphid (Hyalopterus pruni Geoffroy) parasitoid from the Mediterranean, was recently introduced into Hawaii for control of invasive aphids. Under laboratory conditions the parasitoid successfully attacked several important aphid pests in Hawaii, including the melon aphid Aphis gossypii Glover, the banana aphid Pentalonia nigronervosa (Coquerel), the gr...

Local adaptation is promoted when habitat or mating preferences reduce gene flow between populations. However, gene flow is not only a function of dispersal but also of the success of migrants in their new habitat. In this study I investigated mating preference in conjunction with phenotypic plasticity using Aphidius parasitoids adapted to different host species. Males actively attempted to ass...

fumigant toxicity of camphor was studied against the aphid aphis craccivora koch and three associated natural enemies, i.e. coccinella undecimpunctata l., aphelinus albipodus hayat & fatima and aphidius colemani viereck. aphis craccivora was the most tolerant one compared with all tested natural enemies as the recorded lc50 values were 12.71, 6.33, 1.16 and 0.48 mg camphor/liter space for t...

The within-field spatial distribution of beneficial arthropods was assessed using two-dimensional grids of pitfall traps and suction sampling across two winter wheat fields of 4 and 16 ha, before and after an application of dimethoate. An unsprayed 6 m wide buffer zone was left around half the edge of the larger field. Arthropod numbers fluctuated to varying extents prior to spraying. Two speci...