various molecular techniques are available to make differences and to study the genetic divergences among species and populations, of which the most efficient ones are pcr-based markers. one of these methods, molecular fingerprinting, enables the distinction of closely related populations. issr-primers are universal primers that can be used for such studies. the utility of these primers was tes...

Millions of years of co-evolution have driven parasites to display very complex and exquisite strategies to manipulate the behaviour of their hosts. However, although parasite-induced behavioural manipulation is a widespread phenomenon, the underlying neuronal mechanisms are only now beginning to be deciphered. Here, we review recent advancements in the study of the mechanisms by which parasito...

Phauda flammans Walker (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae) is one of the notorious defoliators on Ficus spp. trees. In order to avoid environmental pollution, potential biological control agents for P. flammans need to be investigated instead of chemical control. Four species of insect parasitoids were identified from P. flammans, including three hymenopteran species (i.e., Gotra octocinctus, Apanteles s...

Functional responses by Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson), a common parasitoid of small grain aphids, on greenbug, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), were measured at seven temperatures (14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 degrees C) during a 24-h period (12-h light: 12-h dark). Oviposition by L. testaceipes ceased at temperatures <4 degrees C. At all experimental temperatures, a type I, rather than a type ...

Augmentative releases of parasitoid wasps are often used successfully for biological control of fruit flies in programs worldwide. The development of cheaper and more effective augmentative releases of the parasitoid wasp Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) may allow its use to be expanded to cover Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae),...

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Therophilus unimaculatus, attack the larval stage of this pest. D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus is mainly active in native vegetation. We sought to understand why they differ in their use of habitats. Plants are a major componen...

1. Polyembryonic wasps provide dramatic examples of intra-specific developmental conflict. In these parasitoids, each egg proliferates into a clonal lineage of genetically identical larvae. If more than one egg is laid in a host (superparasitism), individuals of different clones may compete for food resources. 2. In the polyembryonic encyrtid Copidosoma koehleri , one larva per clone can differ...

Many insect parasitoids are highly specialized and thus develop on only one or a few related host species, yet some hosts are attacked by many different parasitoid species in nature. For this reason, they have been often used to examine the consequences of competitive interactions. Hosts represent limited resources for larval parasitoid development and thus one competitor usually excludes all o...

The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia is the most widespread bacteria in insects, yet the ecology of novel acquisitions in natural host populations is poorly understood. Using temporal data separated by 12 years, I tested the hypothesis that immigration of a parasitoid wasp led to transmission of its Wolbachia strain to its dipteran host, resulting in double-strain infection, and I used geograp...

We describe a new genus, and a new species, of parasitoid--Tanzawana flavomaculata Watanabe & Kasparyan (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ctenopelmatinae)--based on material collected in Honshu, Japan. As T. flavomaculata is found on Fagineura crenativora Vikberg & Zinovjev, 2000 (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae), a serious pest of beech tree, this parasitoid is an important natural enemy of F. crenativ...