Parasitoids utilize various sugar resources in nature, and rely on odor cues from plants to locate their food and hosts. However, lack of sugar in the diet may negatively impact odor reception in parasitoids, thus affecting foraging efficiency. We used Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a larval endoparasitoid of Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), as a mo...

We use the moth Heliothis virescens as model organism for studying the neural network involved in chemosensory coding and learning. The constituent neurons are characterised by intracellular recordings combined with staining, resulting in a single neuron identified in each brain preparation. In order to spatially relate the neurons of different preparations a common brain framework was required...

Although the mode of action of Cry1A toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis is fairly well understood, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms by which lepidopteran species have evolved resistance to them is still in its infancy. The most common type of resistance has been called "Mode 1" and is characterized by recessive inheritance, >500-fold resistance to and reduced binding by at least one...