the influence of parasitoids on population dynamics is affected by host instar preference. the preference pattern of host instars is not fixed and is modified by the availability and relative abundance of host instars, intensity of defensive behaviors in a particular instar, and also maternal effects of the female forager. in this study, host instar preference of the thelytokous strain of lysip...

Insects possess antennae equipped with a large number of segments (flagellomeres) on which sensory organs (sensilla) are located. Hemimetabolous insects grow by molting until they reach adulthood. In these species, the sensory structures develop and mature during each stage of development; new flagellomeres are generated at each molt elongating the antennae, and new sensilla appear. The praying...

Observation on predation activities of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) on the larvae of three species of mosquito, namely Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus was carried out under laboratory conditions. Male and female guppies were used as predators for predation experiments on the 4th instars of mosquito larvae. The daily feeding rates comparing male and female guppies on...

This paper examines some biological aspects and the predatory capacity of Chrysoperla externa fed nymphs of Sipha flava and reared at different temperatures. Recently hatched larvae were placed individually in Petri dishes, fed ad libitum with S. flava and reared at either 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 or 32 ± 1°C, a RH of 70 ± 10% and a 12-h photophase. The experiment was fully randomized with 30 replica...

BACKGROUND Predators can have profound impacts on the dynamics of their prey that depend on how predator consumption is affected by prey density (the predator's functional response). Consumption by a generalist predator is expected to depend on the densities of all its major prey species (its multispecies functional response, or MSFR), but most studies of generalists have focussed on their func...