Differences in pest management of olive orchards may affect the development of olive trees and may be reflected in terms of absolute and relative asymmetry, mass, and quality of the leaves. Leaf mass and residual leaf mass of olive trees were significantly greater under organic management than other pest management regimes. The analysis revealed that leaves from trees under different pest manag...

A series of bioassays were conducted to determine the relative toxicities and residual activities of insecticides labeled for use in blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) on natural enemies, to identify products with low toxicity or short duration effects on biological control agents. In total, 14 insecticides were evaluated using treated petri dishes and four commercially available natural enemi...

Many insects show a greater attraction to multimodal cues, e.g. odour and colour combined, than to either cue alone. Despite the potential to apply the knowledge to improve control strategies, studies of multiple stimuli have not been undertaken for stored product pest insects. We tested orientation towards a food odour (crushed white maize) in combination with a colour cue (coloured paper with...

Small farmers' perceptions of coffee Coffea arabica L. herbivores and their natural enemies, how those perceptions relate to field infestation levels, and pest management practices being implemented by members from two organic and nonorganic coffee grower organizations in the Soconusco region, southeastern Mexico, were analyzed through an interview survey, diagnostic workshops, and field sampli...

Inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate [IP3] receptors binding protein released with IP3 (IRBIT) was previously reported as an activator of NBCe1-B. Recent studies have characterized IRBIT homologue S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase-like 2 (AHCYL2). AHCYL2 is highly homologous to IRBIT (88%) and heteromerizes with IRBIT. The two important domains in the N-terminus of AHCYL2 are a PEST domain and a coiled-c...

Integrated pest risk maps and their underlying assessments provide broad guidance for establishing surveillance programs for invasive species, but they rarely account for knowledge gaps regarding the pest of interest or how these can be reduced. In this study we demonstrate how the somewhat competing notions of robustness to uncertainty and potential knowledge gains could be used in prioritizin...

BACKGROUND The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Stål, is a major rice pest in many parts of Asia. Neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid and dinotefuran are widely used for control of this pest, and resistance to these insecticides has developed in recent years. This pest has also been widely exposed to triazophos and fenvalerate, although these insecticides are not used for the control...

Dichlorvos-impregnated resin strips (DDVP pest strips) are among the few organophosphate products still available for indoor residential use. The residential uses for most other organophosphate products, including most DDVP products, were canceled because they posed unreasonable risks to children. DDVP pest strips act by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain and nerves of insect...