Coccinella quinquepunctata (the five-spot ladybird), was considered extinct in the UK until 1987. Since this time species is abundant, however, only very specific habitat Wales and Scotland. As a result, it classified as (RDB3) Rare, mainly result of its preferred habitat; exposed riverine sediment. This constant state alteration by natural anthropogenic means with quality being degraded to poi...

Plants produce metabolites that directly decrease herbivore performance, and as a consequence, herbivores are selected for resistance to these metabolites. To determine whether these metabolites actually function as defenses requires measuring the performance of plants that are altered only in the production of a certain metabolite. To date, the defensive value of most plant resistance traits h...

The predation and searching efficiency of fourth instar of predatory C. septempunctata at various densities of mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) and predator was investigated under laboratory conditions. The feeding rate of predatory stage decreased at increased prey- and predator densities. Highest percent (92.80%) prey consumption was observed at initial prey density and lowest per...

Insect tarsal adhesive structures secrete a thin layer of fluid into the contact area. It was previously reported that the presence of this fluid significantly increases adhesion on various substrata. Previous data obtained from representatives of different insect groups suggest a difference not only in the chemical composition of the fluid, but also in its physical properties. In the present s...

Many insects possess hairy adhesive foot pads, supplemented with a tarsal secretion, which allow them to securely and reversibly attach to various kinds of natural substrates, also under complex environmental conditions. Conditions such as ambient temperature and humidity have been shown to influence the attachment ability of the dry adhesive foot pads in spiders and geckos. For insects, howeve...