Plant phenolics are generally thought to play significant roles in plant defense against herbivores and pathogens. Many plant taxa, including Solanaceae, are rich in phenolic compounds and some insect herbivores have been shown to acquire phenolics from their hosts to use them as protection against their natural enemies. Here we demonstrate that larvae of an insect specialist on Solanaceae, the...

Artificial food colors (AFCs) have not been established as the main cause of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but accumulated evidence suggests that a subgroup shows significant symptom improvement when consuming an AFC-free diet and reacts with ADHD-type symptoms on challenge with AFCs. Of children with suspected sensitivities, 65% to 89% reacted when challenged with at least 1...

Aspartame (NutraSweet--The NutraSweet Co., Deerfield, IL) an artificial intense sweetener, was tested for its cariogenicity alone and in the presence of sucrose. Sprague-Dawley rat pups (Charles River Laboratories, Bloomington, MA) inoculated with Streptococcus mutans were fed basal diet 2000 with one of the following added: 50% sucrose; 30% sucrose; 30% sucrose + 0.15% aspartame; 0.30% asparta...

We used carbon and nitrogen isotopes to investigate changes in the diet of California condors from the Pleistocene to the recent. During the Pleistocene, condors from California fed on both terrestrial megafauna and marine mammals. Early accounts reported condors feeding on the carcasses of marine mammals, but by the late 1700s, condor diets had shifted predominantly to terrestrial animals, fol...

Abstract Climate change can affect biological pest control by altering trophic interactions. Elevated carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations reduce host plant quality and, in turn, alter herbivore and natural enemy preference performance. Using the Geisenheim VineyardFACE (free-air enrichment) facility, we studied plant- herbivore-mediated bottom-up effects of elevated CO concentration on Europe...

Abstract We investigated the feeding behavior of larvae wood-destroying beetle Nicobium hirtum (Coleoptera: Anobiidae), an important wood pest in Japan, to determine effects dietary variation on lignocellulose degradation and larval growth survival. Cultured colonies N. were fed artificial diets containing various amounts starch (20, 50, 80 wt%) mixed with hardwood ( Shorea ) lignocellulose. Th...

The present work aimed at assessing the possibility of compensating notorious deficiencies bioflocs in lipids by supplementing tilapia commercial diet with soybean oil. In positive control, there was no feeding restriction nor dietary supplementation experimental treatments, restricted 25% over control level. negative tanks, and artificial had oil supplementation. mixed daily levels 0.6%, 1.2 2...

The ladybird beetle, Coleomegilla maculata (DeGeer), is a common and abundant predator in many cropping systems. Its larvae and adults are predaceous, feeding on aphids, thrips, lepidopteran larvae and plant tissues, such as pollen. Therefore, this species is exposed to insecticidal proteins expressed in insect-resistant, genetically engineered cotton expressing Cry proteins derived from Bacill...

The major proteinase activity in extracts of larval midguts from the southern corn rootworm (SCR), Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi, was identified as a cysteine proteinase that prefers substrates containing an arginine residue in the P1 position. Gelatin-zymogram analysis of the midgut proteinases indicated that the artificial diet-fed SCR, corn root-fed SCR, and root-fed western corn rootwo...

Adults of the common green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), are prevalent pollen-consumers in maize fields. They are therefore exposed to insecticidal proteins expressed in the pollen of insect-resistant, genetically engineered maize varieties expressing Cry proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the...