The biology of Bracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) reared on fifth instars of Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) (natural diet) and in vitro (artificial diet) was evaluated. Data on the number of instars, development time and food intake were collected, and histochemical tests were conducted to detect proteins and lipids in the parasitoid's digestive tract. The data ...

BACKGROUND The insect predator, Arma chinensis, is capable of effectively controlling many pests, such as Colorado potato beetle, cotton bollworm, and mirid bugs. Our previous study demonstrated several life history parameters were diminished for A. chinensis reared on an artificial diet compared to a natural food source like the Chinese oak silk moth pupae. The molecular mechanisms underlying ...

Fungi of the genusAspergillus werea continuing problem on the newly developed eldana diet in multicell trays. Various control attempts are outlined. They include hygiene practises, adjustment of dietary pH, and incorporation of the fungicides benomyl, mancozeb, captab, methyl paraben and sodium propionate into the diet. Treatment of the corn cob grits used for larval inoculation was also invest...

The effects that different fruit sugar types and concentrations have on food preferences of avian frugivores have been relatively poorly studied. Although it has been recently advocated that preference is based on equicaloric energy it is also important to note whether preferences change as energy content changes. Therefore, sugar preferences of equicaloric and equimolar artificial fruit of dif...

Bt cotton plants are genetically engineered to produce insecticidal toxins from the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) bacterium and target key lepidopteran pests. In all previous strains of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) selected in the laboratory for resistance to insecticidal Cry1Ac toxin using an artificial diet cont...

BACKGROUND The importance of exchanging sucrose for artificial sweeteners on risk factors for developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases is not yet clear. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of a diet high in sucrose versus a diet high in artificial sweeteners on fasting and postprandial metabolic profiles after 10 weeks. DESIGN Healthy overweight subjects were randomised to consume d...

Fragments of two artificial diet up-regulated and two prey up-regulated transcripts were isolated from the predatory Pentatomid Perillus bioculatus using suppression subtractive hybridization. A BlastX search found similarities for two diet-upregulated clones, i.e., the tyrosine-3-monooxygenase gene and the gene for the chitin binding protein, Gasp. The probe generated from the tyrosine-3-monoo...

Clerid beetles are common natural enemies of bark beetles, and could potentially be used as biological control agents if they could be reared in sufficient numbers. We developed an artificial diet devoid of insect components for rearing Thanasimus dubius (Fabricius), a clerid that attacks several economically important bark beetles in eastern North America. We reared larvae of this predator usi...

The inhibitory potential of purified α amylase inhibitors of sorghum on the digestive enzyme of Tribolium Castaneum, a devastating insect pest of economic importance have been studied. Qualitative and quantitative differences in α amylase of Tribolium Castaneum upon feeding on natural and artificial diets were evident. Natural diets were legumes like Black gram, Pigeon Pea, Red lentil, Cowpea a...

Invasive Indo-Pacific red lionfish, Pterois volitans, were first reported in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) in summer 2010. To examine potential impacts on native reef fish communities, lionfish density and size distributions were estimated from fall 2010 to fall 2013 with a remotely operated vehicle at natural (n = 16) and artificial (n = 22) reef sites. Lionfish (n = 934) also were sample...