Stable endosymbiosis of a bacterium into a host cell promotes cellular and genomic complexity. The mealybug Planococcus citri has two bacterial endosymbionts with an unusual nested arrangement: the γ-proteobacterium Moranella endobia lives in the cytoplasm of the β-proteobacterium Tremblaya princeps These two bacteria, along with genes horizontally transferred from other bacteria to the P. citr...

Ethyl formate (EF) in combination with CO2 was tested for control of arthropods commonly infesting California table grapes. In addition, table grape tolerance to EF exposure was evaluated. LC99 estimates were developed for target pests by using a range of EF concentrations (0.04-4.7% EF). Response to treatments varied greatly between species, as well as life stages within species. Western flowe...

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) are pests constraining the international trade of Brazilian table grapes. They damage grapes by transmitting viruses and toxins, causing defoliation, chlorosis, and vigor losses and favoring the development of sooty mold. Difficulties in mealybug identification remain an obstacle to the adequate management of these pests. In this study, our primary aim was ...

Pseudococcus comstocki (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is a mealybug species native to Eastern Asia and present as an invasive pest in northern Italy and southern France since the start of the century. It infests apple and pear trees, grapevines and some ornamental trees. Biocontrol programmes against this pest proved successful in central Asia and North America in the second half of the 20th centu...

Mango mealybug, an exotic pest of mango, was first observed in Benin in 1986. In a biological control programme, natural enemies were successfully released in the following years. The present study is the first attempt to measure the impact of the biological control of mango mealybug over a large area, through a survey of mango producers. Most producers attributed the observed improvement of ma...

Studies of predation of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) have focused on a limited number of predator taxa, such as birds and ants, while other potential predators have received limited attention. I here consider amphibians as predators of ladybirds. Published amphibian gut analyses show that ladybirds are quite often eaten by frogs and toads (Anura), with recorded frequencies reaching up to 15...

the specimens of the mealybug peliococcus kimmericus (kiritshenko) were collected on lactuca serriola l. from different parts of the fars province, iran. four parasitoid wasps, anagyrus orbitalis (ruschka), leptomastix histrio mayr, cheiloneurus kollari (mayr) and c. paralia (walker) (hym.: encyrtidae), were reared from this mealybug and the identifications confirmed by dr zhihong xu. the relat...

The pupal defensive secretion of the 24-pointed ladybird beetle, Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata, consists of a mixture of macrocyclic polyamines, dominated by the three dimeric, 30-membered macrocycles 11-13, derived from the two building blocks 11-(2-hydoxyethylamino)-5-tetradecenoic acid (9) and 11-(2-hydoxyethylamino)-5,8-tetradecadienoic acid (10). Smaller amounts of the four possible...

Defensive fluids obtained from the Garden Tiger, Scarlet Tiger and Burnet Moths and from the Monarch Butterfly and the Seven-Spot Ladybird Beetle, haemolymphs taken from the wasp, the Burying Beetle and the Rat Flea, and fluids from the eggs of the Garden Tiger, Gypsy Moth and Oak Eggar Moth were examined in the electron microscope after negative staining. Except for the ladybird all the defens...

Many animals have bright colours to warn predators that they have defences and are not worth attacking. However, it remains unclear whether the strength of warning colours reliably indicate levels of defence. Few studies have unambiguously established if warning signals are honest, and have rarely considered predator vision or conspicuousness against the background. Importantly, little data exi...