The reproductive success of herbivorous insects largely depends on the mother's oviposition preference. In nocturnal insects, olfaction is arguably the most important sensory modality mediating mate finding, foraging, and host location. In most habitats, gravid females select among a number of plants of varying suitability, yet assessment of the neuroethological mechanisms underlying odor-guide...

In most phytophagous insects, the larval diet strongly affects future fitness and in species that do not feed on plant parts as adults, larval diet is the main source of nitrogen. In many of these insect-host plant systems, the immature larvae are considered to be fully dependent on the choice of the mothers, who, in turn, possess a highly developed host recognition system. This circumstance al...

Cues used in below-ground host-searching behaviour and host discrimination were examined for Tiphia vernalis Rohwer and Tiphia pygidialis Allen (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae), ecto-parasitoids of root-feeding larvae of the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, and masked chafers, Cyclocephala spp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), respectively. Response to potential stimuli was compared in dual choice...

The host range of insect parasitoids and herbivores is influenced by both preference-related traits which mediate host choice behaviour, and performance-related traits which mediate the physiological suitability of the consumer-resource interaction. In a previous study, we characterised the influence of preference- and performance-related traits on the host range of the aphid parasitoid Binodox...

The suitability of the balsam woolly adelgid, Adelges piceae Ratzeburg (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) as an alternate mass rearing host for the adelgid predator, Sasajiscymnus tsugae Sasaji and McClure (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) was studied in the laboratory. This predator is native to Japan and has been introduced to eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière (Pinales: Pinaceae), forests through...

Premature infants may be more vulnerable to fungal infections because of their immature immune system, poorly developed epithelial skin and mucosal barriers, and the high rate of invasive procedures, such as central venous catheters and intubation, which compromise host defenses (eg, skin integrity).Voriconazole is a newer systemic antifungal agent effective against Candida and Aspergillus. The...

Black vine weevils, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), are globally-distributed polyphagous pests of many horticultural crops. We investigated how adult weevils were affected by host switching and, in particular, how host plant species nutritional and defensive chemistry affected subsequent host plant species selection and oviposition. Adults were fed one of three ho...

An experiment was performed to test the influence of two factors on assortative mating in the Jewel wasp (Nasonia vitripennis): (1) inherited eye-color genotype, and (2) conditioned foraging phenotype. To determine the female choice of sires, genetically marked wasps were used of two recessive mutant eye-color genotypes: white or red. Each female (of independently crossed eye-color and juvenile...

We describe indirect genetic benefits of mate choice in two allopatric populations of cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. By manipulating mate choice opportunity, we show that greater mate choice among sexually mature adults leads to shorter offspring egg-to-adult development times; the extent of this reduction was influenced by population origin and by host plant environment. We performed multi...

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, is a pest of soybean in Asia, and it has become a major pest of this crop in North America with large outbreaks that cause significant yield loss. Host-plant resistance is one management tactic being developed against soybean aphid in North America, and resistance may be manifested as antixenosis, antibiosis, or tolerance. In this study, choice tests were cond...