http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.04.024 0003-3472/ 2014 The Association for the Study of A Social insects use multiple lines of collective defences to combat pathogens. One example of a behavioural group defence is the use of antimicrobial plant compounds to disinfect the nest. Indeed, wood ants collect coniferous tree resin, and the presence of resin in their nest protects them against...

The alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a major pest of alfalfa Medicago sativa L. (Fabaceae). While H. postica usually causes the most damage before the first cutting, in summer of 2015 damaging levels of the pest persisted in Montana well after the first harvest of alfalfa. Although conventional insecticides can control H. postica, these chemicals have adverse effec...

Ant queens that attempt to disperse and found new colonies independently face high mortality risks. The exposure of queens to soil entomopathogens during claustral colony founding may be particularly harmful, as founding queens lack the protection conferred by mature colonies. Here, we tested the hypotheses that founding queens (I) detect and avoid nest sites that are contaminated by fungal pat...

Susceptibility of different biological stages of Spodoptera litura to various strains of entomopathogenic fungi was evaluated under laboratory conditions at Department of Entomology University of Agriculture, Faisalabad using the insect immersion method. Virulence potential of the entomopathogenic fungi varied with different biological stages of the insect pest. Eggs and larvae were comparative...

A non-autoclaved solid diet was used to evaluate the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae) strain NI8 and the insect growth regulator novaluron (Diamond® 0.83EC insecticide) for control of the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Miridae). The diet was composed of toasted wheat germ, ground lima bean meal...

The insect gut microbiota plays crucial roles in modulating the interactions between the host and intestinal pathogens. Unlike viruses, bacteria, and parasites, which need to be ingested to cause disease, entomopathogenic fungi infect insects through the cuticle and proliferate in the hemolymph. However, interactions between the gut microbiota and entomopathogenic fungi are unknown. Here we sho...

The white grub Laniifera cyclades Druce of prickly pear cactus or nopal is a pest that limits the commercial production of Opuntia . The gregarious larvae perforate the cladodes devouring the inner part, thereby forming large galleries until reaching the central axis of the plant; during their movement through the inner part of the cactus, the larvae make orifices to the exterior to expel their...

The common bean is the most important food legume in the world. We examined the potential of the fungal entomopathogens Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae applied as seed treatments for their endophytic establishment in the common bean. Endophytic colonization in sterile sand:peat averaged ca. 40% higher for fungus treatments and ca. six times higher for volunteer fungi (other fungal...