Abstract Background Pathogenicity of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) depends mainly on their ability to produce efficient enzymes, which degrade insect’s integument and other cellular components. Lipases are the first enzymes secreted by these fungi, then proteases, phospholipases, chitinases. Results Twenty-six fungal strains, isolated from aphids, Aphis sp., Linnaeus (Homoptera, Aphididae), toma...

The complex pattern of mines made by leafminers is postulated to hinder the host-searching behaviour of parasitoids, and if this is true, parasitoids should have evolved strategies of searching mines in a way that will achieve the highest efficiency. We investigated the possible deterrent effect of mine pattern complexity on a parasitoid searching for a host within a patch, and the searching be...