Communicational disruptionmechanisms for Oriental fruit moth,Grapholita molesta (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), were determined using a suite of mathematical tools and graphical operations that enable differentiation between competitive attraction and non-competitive mechanisms of disruption. Research was conducted in 20 field cages, each covering 12 mature apple trees. Commercial monitorin...

In this paper, we incorporate pheromone courtship mode of biology to improve particle swarm optimizer. The particle swarm optimization technique has ever since turned out to be a competitor in the field of numerical optimization. A particle swarm optimization consists of a number of individuals refining their knowledge of the given search space. Particle swarm optimizations are inspired by part...

The sex pheromone of the leafminer Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) was deployed in a Florida citrus (Citrus spp.) grove by using a novel deployment device (IFM-413) containing SPLAT, a flowable formulation of an emulsified wax compound designed to provide slow release of semiochemicals. The device consisted of two disks connected by string. Each disk was loaded wit...

The navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella is a major agricultural pest causing large losses in a variety of tree crops. Control of this insect pest may be achieved by interfering with olfactory pathways to block detection of female-produced sex pheromones and consequently, disrupt mating. The first component of this pathway is the pheromone-binding protein AtraPBP1, which recognizes the pherom...

Mating disruption techniques are used in pest control for many species of insects, yet little is known regarding the environmental persistence of these pheromones following their application and if persistence is affected by climatic conditions. We first studied the persistent effect of ground applications of Luretape® GM in Lymantria dispar (L) mating disruption in VA, USA in 2006. The removal...

A quorum-sensing mechanism involving the pheromone ComX and the ComP-ComA two-component system controls natural competence in Bacillus subtilis. ComX is expressed as a cytoplasmic inactive precursor that is released into the extracellular medium as a cleaved, modified decapeptide. This process requires the product of comQ. In the presence of ComX, the membrane-localized ComP histidine kinase ac...

10 Sex specific pheromones are known to play an important role in butterfly courtship, and may 11 influence both individual reproductive success and reproductive isolation between species. 12 Extensive ecological, behavioural and genetic studies of Heliconius butterflies have made a 13 substantial contribution to our understanding of speciation. However, although long suspected 14 to play an im...

All aphid species studied so far share the same sex pheromone components, nepetalactol and nepetalactone. Variation by different enantiomers and blends of the two components released by different aphid species are limited and can only partially explain species-specific attraction of males to females. While some host-plant odours are known to enhance specific attraction of aphid species, herbivo...