We investigated intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids of Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), as the former has the potential to be a facultative hyperparasitoid of the latter. We assessed the suitability of N. viridula eggs for the developme...

Indian Himalayan region is one of the richest sources of biodiversity in the world, having a wide range of medicinal and aromatic plants. The present studies were undertaken to record the insect-pest complex of some important medicinal plants. In all fifteen insect species belonging to four orders were observed to be associated with ten medicinal plants in different parts of Himachal Pradesh. A...

Trissolcus egg parasitoids, when perceiving the chemical footprints left on a substrate by pentatomid host bugs, adopt a motivated searching behaviour characterized by longer searching time on patches were signals are present. Once in contact with host chemical footprints, Trissolcus wasps search longer on traces left by associated hosts rather than non-associated species, and, in the former ca...

Worldwide, avian communities inhabiting agro-ecosystems are threatened as a consequence of agricultural intensification. Unravelling their ecological role is essential to focus conservation efforts. Dietary analysis can elucidate bird-insect interactions and expose avian pest-reduction services, thus supporting avian conservation. In this study, we used next-generation sequencing to analyse the...

Adult parasitoids of pest insects rely on floral resources for survival and reproduction, but can be food-deprived in intensively managed agricultural systems lacking these resources. Stink bugs are serious pests for crops in southwest Georgia. Provisioning nectar-producing plants for parasitoids of stink bugs potentially can enhance biocontrol of these pests. Knowledge of spatial and temporal ...

Communication through substrate-borne vibrations has for long been recognized but in comparison with air-borne sound it has received very little attention. However, in recent years it has become increasingly clear that vibrational signals play a crucial role in communication in many insect groups and we provide a short overview. Vibrational signals are related to sexual behavior, alarm and defe...

Conventional soybean weed management and transgenic herbicide-tolerant management were examined to assess their effects on soybean insect pest populations in south Georgia in 1997 and 1998. Soybean variety had very little impact on the insect species observed, except that maturity group effects were observed for stink bug, primarily Nezara viridula (L.), population densities on some sampling da...