Very little is known about the searching behavior and sensory cues that Laricobius spp. (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) predators use to locate suitable habitats and prey, which limits our ability to collect and monitor them for classical biological control of adelgids (Hemiptera: Adelgidae). The aim of this study was to examine the visual ability and the searching behavior of newly emerged L. nigri...

During a survey of insect gut micro-organisms, we consistently isolated Pichia stipitis-like yeasts (Fungi: Ascomycota, Saccharomycetes) from the wood-ingesting beetles, Odontotaenius disjunctus and Verres sternbergianus (Coleoptera: Passalidae). The yeasts were isolated from passalid beetles over a wide area, including the eastern and midwestern USA and Panama. Phylogenetic analyses of the nuc...

The Chinese rose beetle (Adoretus sinicus Burmeister (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)) is an introduced, widely-established pest in Hawai'i. The adult beetles feed on the leaves of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.), which can lead to defoliation and even death of young trees. We evaluated the impact of five commercially available products with different active ingredients (imidacloprid, azadirachtin, Beauve...

The importance of symbiotic microbes to insects cannot be overstated; however, we have a poor understanding of the evolutionary processes that shape most insect-microbe interactions. Many bark beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) species are involved in what have been described as obligate mutualisms with symbiotic fungi. Beetles benefit through supplementing their nutrient-poor diet ...

Studies of predation of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) have focused on a limited number of predator taxa, such as birds and ants, while other potential predators have received limited attention. I here consider amphibians as predators of ladybirds. Published amphibian gut analyses show that ladybirds are quite often eaten by frogs and toads (Anura), with recorded frequencies reaching up to 15...

Aggregation behavior of adult western spotted cucumber beetles (Diabrotica undecimpunctata undecimpunctata Mannerheim) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was examined in six snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) fields adjacent to corn fields in western Oregon in 2004-2006. In the 2004 and 2005 studies, sweep net sampling was used to estimate beetle numbers along transect lines running perpendicular to the e...

An annotated checklist of the jewel beetles (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) Doña Ana County, New Mexico is provided. Records compiled from museum specimens, available literature, and field collections yielded 79 species representing 21 genera 4 subfamilies. The greatest number were recorded subfamilies Polycestinae (31 species) Buprestinae (25 species). Acmaeodera yuccavora Knull (Polycestinae) Agril...

The polyphagous shot hole borer and Kuroshio shot hole borer, two members of the Euwallacea fornicatus species complex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), are invasive ambrosia beetles that harbor distinct species of Fusarium fungal symbionts. Together with the damage caused by gallery construction, these two phytopathogenic Fusarium species are responsible for the emerging tree disease Fu...

We examined log-inhabiting arthropods and their associated mites for ectoparasitic fungi (Ascomycetes: Laboulbeniales) in South-east Queensland and Far North Queensland. Fungus host records were: Rickia berlesiana (Baccarini) on most species of Fedrizziidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) and three species of Passalidae (Coleoptera); Rickia leptaulacis Thaxter on two species of Fedrizzia (Fedrizziidae), ...

Numerous studies of host starvation have emphasized pathological effects of parasites on their insect host, but little attention has been focused on the effects of host starvation on the parasites. This study addressed the possibility that parasite life-cycle events could be manipulated by withholding food from the host. The system used was Gregarina niphandrodes (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinida) in...