Pollen beetles (Brassicogethes spp.) are the main pests of oilseed rape (OSR, Brassica napus) in Europe and responsible for massive yield losses. Upcoming pesticide resistances highlight need other means crop protection, such as natural pest control. Sown flower fields aim to counteract decrease insect biodiversity agricultural landscapes by providing resources ecosystem service providers. Howe...

In proovigenic parasitoids such as Leptopilina boulardi, the female emerges with a limited egg load and no further eggs are produced during its adult life. A female thus runs the risk of exhausting this limited supply of eggs before the end of her life. Given that the production of an egg is costly, what is the evolutionarily stable egg load at emergence? This question has attracted a lot of at...

Behaviors of Eretmocerus sp. nr. californicus females attacking Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring infesting cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., and melon, Cucumis melo L., were quantified. Adult female behaviors were described and quantified for Eret. sp. nr. californicus to establish a behavioral time budget analysis. Females readily searched for host whitefly nymphs on cotton leaves with walk...

If typical host plants are absent, some herbivorous insects “dump” eggs on unsuitable substrates, even though this can cause complete larval mortality and reduced maternal life span. In the seedbeetleCallosobruchusmaculatus (F.) (Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), the tendency to dump eggs varies genetically both within and between populations. A previous study hypothesized that egg-dumping ...