Integrated pest management (IPM) tactics may effectively control focal pests, but it is also important to test the compatibility of different tactics, and consider non-target organisms. We investigated the effects of a neonicotinoid seed treatment and Rag resistance genes used for soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura) control on reproduction of a non-target herbivore (twospotted spider mite,...

Acaricide is a pesticide designed to control harmful species of mites (Acari)1. In crop protection practices, acaricides are used against phytophagous mites, pests causing economic injuries to agricultural crops and ornamental plants. Until mid-twentieth century, in agroecosystems of low-level productivity, phytophagous mite populations usually stayed below economic injury levels, due to natura...

Adult female twospotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae Koch, reared on lima bean plants were moved to cucumber, maize, or new lima bean plants (the latter being a control) and evaluated after 24 h or 7 d for changes in susceptibility to three pesticides and in levels of related detoxification enzymes. The largest and most consistent changes were observed in mites feeding on cucumber. Suscept...

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), is an economically important pest of ornamental plant in Iran. The population abundance and spatial distribution were studied on five Rosa cultivars including Maroussia, Wendela, Elderado, Wenedetta, and Hot Lady during two growing seasons of 2011 and 2012 in greenhouse. The k parameter, index of dispersion, Lloyd’s m...

Spider mites, a cosmopolitan pest of agricultural and landscape plants, thrive under hot and dry conditions, which could become more frequent and extreme due to climate change. Recent work has shown that neonicotinoids, a widely used class of systemic insecticides that have come under scrutiny for non-target effects, can elevate spider mite populations. Both water-stress and neonicotinoids inde...

Understanding the impact of a pest species on a particular crop is critical for the success of a pest management program. Field studies were conducted to determine the effect of the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, on marketable yield of strawberries during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 growing seasons. Low, medium, and high mite infestation levels were established by initial ino...

lations sometimes develop. Such variations are apparently the result of predators and parasites, climatic differences, varying tree conditions such as tree vigor and the plant growth cycle, all o€ which affect the feeding mites. The effects of temperature and humidity were the only considerations in the study reported here. Climatological conditions were found to vary from grove to grove and fr...

The negative cross-talk between induced plant defences against pathogens and arthropod herbivores is exploited by vectors of plant pathogens: a plant challenged by pathogens reduces investment in defences that would otherwise be elicited by herbivores. This negative cross-talk may also be exploited by non-vector herbivores which elicit similar antiherbivore defences in the plant. We studied how...

Carotenoids underlie many of the vibrant yellow, orange, and red colors in animals, and are involved in processes ranging from vision to protection from stresses. Most animals acquire carotenoids from their diets because de novo synthesis of carotenoids is primarily limited to plants and some bacteria and fungi. Recently, sequencing projects in aphids and adelgids, spider mites, and gall midges...

Group-living animals frequently have to trade off the costs and benefits of leaving an established group and joining another group. Owing to their high fitness relevance, group-joining decisions are commonly nonrandom and may be based on traits of both individual members and the group such as life stage, body size, social status and group density or size, respectively. Many group-living animals...