melon ladybeetle, epilachna chrysomelina (f.) is one of the most injurious cucurbit attacking pests. sampling program and host preference of this ladybeetle were studied in ahvaz, southwest iran. suitable sample size, suitable location for sampling as well as suitable sampling life stage of the insect were obtained to be 12 on, lower leaf surface and egg stage of the ladybeetle, respectively. e...

The genus Phyllactinia is one of the members of Erysiphaceae (Erysiphales, Ascomycota) which parasitize several host plant families. This taxon is well characterized by having acicular appendages with bulbous swelling at the base and penicillate cells which are outgrowth of some ascoma wall cells. A number of challenges exist to distinguish species assigned to this taxon. This is because of a f...

In this study, 10 species of Bipolaris viz.B. bicolor, B. cynodontis, B. cylindrica, B. hawaiiensis,B. prieskaensis, B. sorghicola, B. sorokiniana,B. spicifera, B. zeae and B. zeicola and four species of Curvularia viz.C. fallax, C. heteropogonicola, C. inaequalis and C. lunata were identified on graminicolous species or soil. Bipolaris cylindrica, B. prieskaensis, B. zeae,C. fallax and C. hete...

Scabies is an important disease that affects many species and can greatly reduce population sizes in some species, yet have little effect on populations of other species. Here, we develop an exploratory mechanistic model to examine scabies epidemiology in the context of host demographics. As a starting point, we use empirical estimates from a well-studied coyote population to generate realistic...

Increasing evidence indicates that there is ample diversity of plant virus species in wild ecosystems. The vast majority of this diversity, however, remains uncharacterized. Moreover, in these ecosystems the factors affecting plant virus infection risk and population genetic diversity, two traits intrinsically linked to virus emergence, are largely unknown. Along 3 years, we have analyzed the p...

Animal and plant species differ dramatically in their quality as hosts for multi-host pathogens, but the causes of this variation are poorly understood. A group of small mammals, including small rodents and shrews, are among the most competent natural reservoirs for three tick-borne zoonotic pathogens, Borrelia burgdorferi, Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, in eastern North Americ...

Parasitic taxa span an antagonistic continuum, with some parasites inflicting no fitness costs to some that kill the host after feeding. Host-associated differentiation is postulated as a major process facilitating speciation in many parasitic taxa. Here, I examined the importance of host-associated differentiation in a parasitoid wasp that develops on yucca moths in the genus Prodoxus. Prodoxu...

insect immunity comprises behavioral, physical and innate immunity. in this study, innate immune response of the greater wax moth larvae, galleria mellonella against two species of entomopathogenic nematodes, heterorhabditis bacteriophora and steinernema feltiae,   as important biocontrol agents were studied. total haemocyte count in larvae injected with h. bacteriophora increased immediately. ...

Anthropogenic changes in the landscape result in an environmental mosaic with serious consequences for biodiversity. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of the anthropogenic changes on Asteraceae richness and abundance, and to evaluate the consequences for the richness of Tephritidae assemblages in five sampling sites, with three sampled habitats in each: cerrado (Brazilian s...