Vegetables, cultivated on 4.65 million ha with annual production of 53.5 million t in South and Southeast Asia, are subject to severe yield losses from insect pests and diseases in the tropics. Chemical pesticides account for onethird to one-half of the total mean material input cost for vegetable production in the region. Extensive and inappropriate pesticide use has led to pests developing re...

There are two general mechanisms through which sexual selection can operate: mate choice and competition for mates. In some cases, mate choice and competition can act in a complementary fashion, selecting for the elaboration of the same traits, but this is not always true; in some cases, male–male competition can subvert active female choice, hence changing the path of sexual selection (Qvarnst...

A phylogenetic analysis of all species belonging to the weevil genus Mecinus Germar, 1821 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Curculioninae: Mecinini) was carried out. Mecinus are exclusively Palaearctic and feed on Plantaginaceae belonging to the tribes Plantagineae and Antirrhineae. Based on a cladistic analysis of six outgroup and 47 ingroup taxa, and 31 adult morphological and three ecological char...

Berenty Reserve is a privately owned reserve established in 1936. At 200 ha, it holds the largest remaining gallery forest on the Mandrare River. Scientists of many nationalities have studied there: research follows their diverse interests rather than being coordinated overall. One finding which emerged from long-term monitoring concerns the importance of both withinand between-troop competitio...

The generic placement of Parapsallus vitellinus (Scholtz) has remained confused with the species having been placed in the genera, Capsus Fabricius, 1803 (Scholtz, 1847); Psallus Fieber, 1858 (Fieber, 1861); and Plagiognathus Fieber, 1858 (Henry & wheeler, 1973; Schuh, 2001), in addition to Parapsallus. In the latest study of the taxon, Schuh (2001) treated this as belonging to Plagiognathus Fi...

The diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (L), has been recorded in Malaysia since 1925. From 1941, it has been the major pest of crucifers grown in the Cameron Highlands and in the lowlands. The insect occurs in high numbers in the drier periods of the year and control has been mainly with the use of insecticides. The indiscriminate use of insecticides on DBM has led to the development o...