We monitored the phenology of oviposition by grape berry moth, Paralobesia viteana (Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in grape (Vitis spp.) vineyards, to determine the optimal timing for control of this pest. Egg deposition was monitored throughout the growing season by visually inspecting grape clusters twice weekly and counting the number of eggs. Male moths were captured on pheromone-bait...

Abstract Okra shoot and fruit borers, Earias insulana vittella are the major pests of economically important crops like okra cotton. It is to understand pest biology ecology before initiating control measures, however little known about their comparative on okra. Therefore, we studied biometrics E. in laboratory conditions fruits recorded duration different life stages along with morphological ...

Destructive host-feeding is common in hymenopteran parasitoids. Such feeding may be restricted to host stages not preferred for oviposition. However, whether this is a fixed strategy or can vary according to resource levels or parasitoid needs is less clear. We tested the trade-off between host feeding and oviposition on two whitefly parasitoids under varying host densities. Females of two aphe...

Bovine blood inoculated with bacteria isolated from screwworm [Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)]-infested animal wounds was tested as an attractant for oviposition for gravid screwworms. Eight species of gram-negative coliform (Enterobacteriaceae) bacteria mixed with bovine blood singly or all species combined and incubated for various times produced volatiles that at...

Innate recognition templates (IRTs) in insects are developed through many years of evolution. Here we investigated olfactory cues mediating oviposition behavior in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, and their role in triggering an IRT for oviposition site recognition. Behavioral assays with electrophysiologically active compounds from a preferred host, mango, revealed that one of the ...

The maternal manipulation hypothesis states that ectothermic females modify thermal conditions during embryonic development to benefit their offspring (anticipatory maternal effect). However, the recent theory suggests that the ultimate currency of an adaptive maternal effect is female fitness that can be maximized also by decreasing mean fitness of individual offspring. We evaluated benefits o...

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) represent a threat to fruit growing worldwide, mainly the citrus culture, however, biological studies show that fruit flies are not perfectly adapted to this host. This study investigated oviposition of Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann, 1830) and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) and its relation with the pericarp of citrus fruits. We evaluated the relatio...

The times of oviposition are affected little by the use of a night lighting program. Egg shell weight is not changed by the time of oviposition. Egg weight, shell percentage and it's color vary according to the time of oviposition. The egg characteristics have not been affected by the use of night lighting. Night lighting reduces the percentage of eggs downgraded, in particular reducing by 37 %...

The beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, undertakes long-distance migration. We used flight mills to investigate the interaction between flight and reproduction in this species given the apparent absence of the oogenesis-flight syndrome. This syndrome, common in many migratory insects, is characterized by a suite of traits including migration during the pre-oviposition period followed by a switch ...