—The apparently aposematic immature stages of a tropical shining leaf beetle, Lema insularis, are described, the host plant is revealed to be Dioscorea mexicana, and observations on the camouflaged larvae of a co-existing herbivore, the sawfly Acorduloceridea compressicornis, and the adults of a co-mimic, Diabrotica godmani, are made.

Materials and Methods Varieties selected for the 2003 organic soybean variety trial included the following: IA3011, IA3021, IA3022, Pioneer 9305, Schillinger 240F.Y, and Schillinger 290F.HP. Plots measuring 20 × 40 feet were laid out in a completely randomized block design with four replications of each variety. Soybeans were planted at a depth of 2 inches on May 28, 2003, at a rate of 200,000 ...

The majority of herbivorous insects are specialized feeders restricted to a plant family, genus, or species. The evolution of specialized insect-plant interactions is generally considered to be a result of trade-offs in fitness between possible hosts. Through the course of natural selection, host plants that maximize insect fitness should result in optimal, specialized, insect-plant association...

A new species of chrysomeline leaf beetle, Paropsisterna selmani Reid & de Little, is described, including all larval in-stars. This species, native to Australia, is now a significant pest of Eucalyptus plantations in Australia and Ireland, and has been recorded in southern England. Its occurrence in the British Isles represents the first record of establishment of a eucalypt feeding chrysomeli...

The red pumpkin beetle, Aulacophora foveicollis (Lucas) is a common, serious and major pest of a wide range of cucurbitaceous vegetables. It is injurious to the crops and cause severe damage to almost all cucurbits. The present study was conducted to find out the host suitability of red pumpkin beetle, Aulacophora foveicollis (Lucas) among different cucurbit hosts in the Laboratory and Field La...

The Mediterranean Region is one of the world's biodiversity hot-spots, which is also characterized by high level of endemism. Approximately 2100 species of leaf beetle (Coleoptera; Chrysomelidae) are known from this area, a number that increases year after year and represents 5/6% of the known species. These features, associated with the urgent need to develop a DNA-based species identification...

The biosynthesis of chrysomelidial and plagiodial was studied in the rove beetle subtribe Philonthina (Staphylinidae). Glandular homogenates were found to convert synthetic (2E,6E)-[trideuteromethyl-5,5-(2)H(5)]octa-2,6-diene-1,8-diol (10) into nor-chrysomelidial (14) and nor-plagiodial (13). The overall transformation requires; i) oxidation of the substrate at C(1) and C(8), ii) cyclization of...

The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) Order Coleoptera and the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris) Order Homoptera, are the major insect pests of potato in eastern North America. In two years of field trials, we compared the effectiveness of three pest management options for the control of Colorado potato beetle and potato leafhopper: natural host plant resistance (...

Increased concentrations of CO2 and ozone are predicted to lower nutritional quality of leaves for insect herbivores, which may increase herbivory as insects eat more to meet their nutritional demands. To test this prediction, we measured levels of herbivory in soybean grown in ambient air and air enriched with CO2 or O3 using free air gas concentration enrichment (FACE). Under open-air conditi...