Many organisms are protected from natural enemies by a tough exterior. Such protection is particularly important for immobile stages, such as pupae. The pupa of some insects is protected by a puparium, which is a shell formed from the exoskeleton of the last larval instar. However, the puparium of certain fly species is drilled through by adult females of the wasp Spalangia endius Walker. The f...

The efficacy of leaf extracts of Momordica charantia and Bacillus thuringiensis has been proven against larvicidal and pupicidal activities of the malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi. The present study investigated the larvicidal and pupicidal activity against the first to fourth instar lavae and pupae of the laboratory-reared mosquitoes, An. stephensi. The plant extract showed larvicidal and ...

Male Bombus griseocollis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) share in the brood care of nestmates by incubating pupae (usually during the first few days after they emerge as adults). Male posture during incubation of a pupa is identical to that observed for females. Pupae incubated by males were 4 degrees C-6 degrees C above the temperature of unincubated pupae. Although this increase was not as great as tha...

To explore the mechanisms by which the wasp Scleroderma sichuanensis Xiao regulates the physiology and biochemistry of its host, effects of S. sichuanensis venom and parasitism on host the Tenebrio molitor L. pupae were examined. Significant differences in nutritional content were noted between parasitized and non-parasitized pupae and between venom- and phosphate buffered saline-injected pupae...

Red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, colonies were infected horizontally by introducing live brood (mainly larvae and pupae) infected with Thelohania solenopsae. Live, infected brood introduced into uninfected colonies were adopted and raised to adulthood instead of being executed by the recipient colony. Introductions of infected larvae with uninfected pupae, which eclose into adult work...

A discriminating irradiation dose of 150 gray (Gy) was used to determine the most tolerant immature stages of Opogona sacchari (Bojer) (Lepidoptera: Tineidae). Based on adult emergence, early and late pupae were determined to be the most tolerant stages, and they were significantly more tolerant than eggs, neonate larvae, and larvae that were 1, 2, or 3 wk old. Irradiation treatment of eggs, ne...

Juvenile hormone (JH), ecdysterone and some antibiotics cause Tenebrio molitor to form a second pupa or pupal-adult intermediate. Incorporation of labelled leucine into the cuticular proteins of JH-induced second pupae did not differ from incorporation in normal pupae, and the soluble cuticular proteins from these young second pupae were indentical to those extracted from normal pupal exocuticl...

Mosquitoes act as a vector for the transmission of disease. The World Health Organization has recommended strict control of mosquito larvae because of their "few, fixed, and findable" features. The respiratory system of mosquito larvae and pupae in the water has a weak point. As aquatic organisms, mosquito larvae and pupae inhale atmosphere oxygen. However, the mosquito pupae have a non-feeding...