Internal feeding is considered to shield sessile herbivorous insects from exposure nonsystemic insecticides aerially sprayed against forest defoliators, although this has not been tested. It is, however, established that leaf damage caused by defoliators affects the survivorship and oviposition behavior of herbivores. Thus ecology competition may mediate nontarget effects on these insects. We t...

To achieve a sustainable salmonid aquaculture industry, the environmental impacts of chemicals used to treat sea lice (Caligidae) infestations need be considered. Our ability assess risks associated with these treatments in relation human and wildlife health is limited by lack information on their concentrations marine coastal environments. Diflubenzuron teflubenzuron are chitin synthesis inhib...

The bacterial isolate Paracoccus sp. strain FLN-7 hydrolyzes amide pesticides such as diflubenzuron, propanil, chlorpropham, and dimethoate through amide bond cleavage. A gene, ampA, encoding a novel arylamidase that catalyzes the amide bond cleavage in the amide pesticides was cloned from the strain. ampA contains a 1,395-bp open reading frame that encodes a 465-amino-acid protein. AmpA was ex...

A field test was conducted to evaluate a commercial biolarvicide based on Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis and Lysinibacillus sphaericus to control mosquitoes breeding in catch basins in southern Switzerland. The efficacy and residual activity of the microbial mosquito larvicide applied at the recommended rate of 10 g per catch basin was compared to the currently used larvicide diflubenz...

Insecticides are still largely applied in public health to control disease vectors. In Brazil, organophosphates (OP) and pyrethroids (PY) are used against Aedes aegypti for years. Since 2009 Insect Growth Regulators (IGR) are also employed in the control of larvae. We quantified resistance to temephos (OP), deltamethrin (PY), and diflubenzuron (IGR) of A. aegypti samples from 12 municipalities ...

Tensile properties of the larval cuticle of Manduca sexta were measured during the fifth instar. It was found that as the larvae grew and the cuticle thickened, the tangent modulus (intrinsic stiffness) for the cuticle declined rapidly. The extensibility of the cuticle during the growth period remained relatively high and fairly constant, while the flexural stiffness remained low. Subsequently,...