Parasitoid host selection behaviour has been extensively studied in experimentally simplified tritrophic systems formed by one single food chain (one plant, one herbivore and one parasitoid species). The "Mother knows best" hypothesis predicts that the preference for a plant-host complex should be positively correlated with plant quality for offspring performance. We studied the host selection ...

The use of alternative hosts imposes divergent selection pressures on parasitoid populations. In response to selective pressures, these populations may follow different evolutionary trajectories. Divergent natural selection could promote local host adaptation in populations, translating into direct benefits for biological control, thereby increasing their effectiveness on the target host. Alter...

Many insects possess a sexual communication system that is vulnerable to chemical espionage by parasitic wasps. We recently discovered that a hitch-hiking (H) egg parasitoid exploits the antiaphrodisiac pheromone benzyl cyanide (BC) of the Large Cabbage White butterfly Pieris brassicae. This pheromone is passed from male butterflies to females during mating to render them less attractive to con...

In order to evaluate the efficiency of biocontrol agents of corn stem borer ,Ostrinia nubilalis, experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block by five treatments and four replication, including, Indoxacarb (Avant)®, Trichogrammawasps, Bacillus thuringiensis var: kurstaki, integration of Trichogramma sp. and Bt., and cont...

In order to evaluate the efficiency of biocontrol agents of corn stem borer ,Ostrinia nubilalis, experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block by five treatments and four replication, including, Indoxacarb (Avant)®, Trichogrammawasps, Bacillus thuringiensis var: kurstaki, integration of Trichogramma sp. and Bt., and cont...

In nature, larvae of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster are commonly infected by parasitoid wasps, and so have evolved a robust immune response to counter wasp infection. In this response, fly immune cells form a multilayered capsule surrounding the wasp egg, leading to death of the parasite. Many of the molecular mechanisms underlying this encapsulation response are conserved with human immu...

in the course of study on larval parasitoids of carob moth, ectomyelois ceratoniae zeller (lep.: pyralidae), an hyperparasitoid wasp, pachycrepoideus vindemmiae rondani, was collected from pupae of apanteles sp. (hym.: braconidae). the latter species is the larval parasitoid of the carob moth. the p. vindemmiae belongs to the family pteromalidae and is a new record for iran insect fauna.

Parasites and parasitoids control behaviors of their hosts. However, the origin of the behavior evoked by the parasitic organism has been rarely identified. It is also not known whether the manipulation is universal or host-specific. Polysphinctine wasps, koinobiont ectoparasitoids of several spider species that manipulate host web-spinning activity for their own protection during pupation, pro...