We investigated the effects of fragmentation due to urbanisation on the species composition and functional roles of ants, beetles, spiders, flies and wasps. The study was conducted in 21 fragments of heath and woodland in south-eastern Australia classed as either ‘small’ (4 4 km) or ‘large’ (5 80 km). Arthropods were pitfall-trapped and identified to family or genus and morphospecies and microh...

In insects, mating often occurs after natal dispersal, and hence relies on a coevolved combination of sexual communication and movement allowing mate encounter. Volatile sex pheromones are widespread, generally emitted by females and triggering in-flight orientation of conspecific males. In parasitoid wasps, unmated females can start laying unfertilized eggs via parthenogenesis so that host pat...

struggled for years with parasites that evolve resistance to commonly used drugs. Why should it be any different in animals? Yet as far as we know, no study has ever looked at whether parasites become resistant to the chemicals in the plants that hosts use for protection, though in the Drosophila example referenced above, ethanol did not negatively affect larvae of specialist wasps as strongly ...

■ Abstract In almost all species of parasitic wasps in the Coccophaginae, a subfamily of Aphelinidae, males have host relationships different from females. In these “heteronomous” species, females are generally endoparasitoids of sternorrhynchous Hemiptera, such as scale insects, mealybugs, and whiteflies. In contrast, males may be hyperparasitoids, developing in or on conspecific females or ot...

Trichogramma species (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) are haplo-diploid egg parasitoids that are frequently used as biological control agents against lepidopteran pests. These wasps display two reproductive modes, including arrhenotoky (bisexuality) and thelytoky (unisexuality). Thelytokous forms are often associated with the presence of endosymbiotic Wolbachia bacteria. The use of thelytokous ...

We examined the effects of supplemental food sources on parasitism of turf-infesting white grubs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) by tiphiid wasps (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae). Survival of spring active Tiphia vernalis Rohwer and late summer active Tiphia pygidialis Allen, parasitoids of Japanese beetle, Popillia japonicaNewman, andmasked chafer,Cyclocephala spp., grubs, respectively, was signiÞcantly in...

Many insects host facultative, bacterial symbionts that confer conditional fitness benefits to their hosts. Hamiltonella defensa is a common facultative symbiont of aphids that provides protection against parasitoid wasps. Protection levels vary among strains of H. defensa that are also differentially infected by bacteriophages named APSEs. However, little is known about trait variation among s...

Blueberry gall midge, Dasineura oxycoccana (Johnson), is a key pest of blueberries in Florida. As a larva, this insect feeds in developing flower and leaf buds. Management of D. oxycoccana relies principally on chemical insecticides; however, efficacy is limited because D. oxycoccana is sheltered within the plant during most of its life cycle. Natural enemies, particularly parasitoids, may play...

Parasitism of ants that nest in rotting wood by eucharitid wasps was studied in order to examine whether habitat and season influence ant parasitism, vegetation complexity and agrochemical use correlate with ant parasitism, and whether specific local and landscape features of agricultural landscapes correlate with changes in ant parasitism. In a coffee landscape, 30 coffee and 10 forest sites w...

Most parasitoids of aphids are small wasps belonging to the families Braconidae or Aphelinidae. However, some dipteran parasitoids are also known to use aphids as hosts. We describe and give life-history information on a new species of aphid parasitoid, Endaphis fugitiva Gagné and Muratori, found to parasitize the banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel, the vector of banana bunchy top v...