Virgin female gland extracts of sugarcane moth Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), from three locations in Brazil, have been analyzed. By GC-MS analysis and comparison of the chromatographic retention time of the components of the pheromone gland with those retention times of synthetic standards, we observed the presence of (Z)-hexadec-11-enal (1), hexadecanal (2), (9E,11...

A blend of ethyl trans-cinnamate, methyl 2-epijasmonate, methyl jasmonate, and (R)-(-)-mellein, identified from the hairpencils of male Oriental fruit moths, attracts sex pheromone-releasing females several centimeters away. The chemicals thereby duplicate the behavioral effect elicited by hairpencil-displaying males during courtship; the chemicals also produce the herbal scent emanating from t...

Interval suction traps were used to study the attractant effect of CO2 and 1-octen-3-ol on trap catches of mosquito populations at 2 different locations in Florida. There was no significant increase in the numbers of mosquitoes caught when the concentration of CO2 was increased from 200 to 1,000 cc/min. One-octen-3-ol used by itself attracted mosquitoes in numbers similar to CO2 released at 200...

Since its introduction into the United States in the past 10 yr, soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), has been a damaging pest to soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill. During 2008 and 2009, fields in central and north central Iowa experienced pockets of high soybean aphid populations. Electroantennograms have shown that soybean aphid alatae are capable of detecting host ...

Neonicotinoids are widely used insecticides, but their use is subject of debate because of their detrimental effects on pollinators. Little is known about the effect of neonicotinoids on other beneficial insects such as parasitoid wasps, which serve as natural enemies and are crucial for ecosystem functioning. Here we show that sublethal doses of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid impair sexual com...

Anthropogenic pollutants have the potential to disrupt reproductive strategies. Little is known about how lead (Pb2+) exposure disrupts individual-level responses in reproductive behaviors, which are important for fitness. Drosophila melanogaster was used as a model system to determine the effects of: 1) developmental lead exposure on pre-mating reproductive behaviors (i.e., mate preference), a...

Phyllophaga lissopyge (Bates) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) is reported for the first time from South America. Male sex pheromone response is described for P. lissopyge and two other co-occurring Phyllophaga species. Adults of P. lissopyge and P. menetriesi (Blanchard) flew to traps baited with methyl 2-(methylthio) benzoate whereas adults of P. obsoleta (Blanchard) flew irregularly...

We studied male locomotory response to trails and patches of sex pheromone (left respectively by free-ranging females and females constrained to stay on a small area) in the two parasitoids Aphelinus asychis (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) and Trichogramma brassicae (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). Under the hypothesis that the spatial distribution of virgin females differs between these species (s...

Pheromone-baited traps have been widely used in integrated pest management programs, but their economic value for growers has never been reported.  We analyzed the economic benefits of long-term use of traps baited with the citrus fruit borer Gymnandrosoma aurantianum sex pheromone in Central-Southern Brazil. Our analysis show that from 2001 to 2013 citrus growers avoided accumulated pest losse...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 is repelled by trichloroethylene (TCE), and the methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins PctA, PctB, and PctC serve as the major chemoreceptors for negative chemotaxis to TCE. In this study, we found that the pctABC triple mutant of P. aeruginosa PAO1 was attracted by TCE. Chemotaxis assays of a set of mutants containing deletions in 26 potential mcp genes revealed that ...