The cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, produces pierisin-1, a protein inducing apoptosis of mammalian cells. In the present study, the biological activity of pierisin-1 as a protective agent against parasitic wasps for P. rapae was examined. Pierisin-1 caused detrimental effects on eggs and larvae of non-habitual parasitoids for P. rapae, Glyptapanteles pallipes, Cotesia kariyai and Cotesia...

The braconid Cotesia plutellae (Kurdjumov) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a major solitary, larval endoparasitoid of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae). The impact of dietary protein was investigated in the laboratory by comparing performance of C. plutellae on honey, which is commonly used to rear the parasitoid, to that on a novel diet made of honey and pr...

Several Brassica crops have been transformed with -endotoxin genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to provide resistance to the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and other lepidopteran pests. This paper describes studies of the direct and indirect effects of Bt plants on a parasitoid of P. xylostella using Cry1Acexpressing transgenic oilseed rape (canola) as an example. The braconid wasp ...

Toxicity of 17 commonly used insecticides used to control diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) was evaluated against adults of Cotesia plutellae Kurdjumov. The insecticide concentrations studied were equivalent to those recommended in the field. Adults of the parasitoid were released into exposure kits with fresh dry insecticide film for 24 hours, at which time mortalities were noted. The...

Attempts to control diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.) using insect parasitoids have not been entirely successful. Parasitoids which have been utilized include Diadegma species and Cotesia plutellae. A better understanding of the systematics of these Hymenoptera could lead to their more effective exploitation in biological control. Diadegma is a very large and difficult genus of lchneumo...

The parasitoid, Cotesia plutellae, is used as a biological control agent for diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, in many countries and has been evaluated as a candidate for release in New Zealand. C. plutellae was originally released in Australia in 1951, but is rarely found. A glasshouse host specificity trial was conducted in Australia to assess whether C. plutellae would parasitise Nyctem...

Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine selection by Cotesia plutellae between host larvae feeding on two plant species: Chinese cabbage, Brassica campestris ssp. pekinensis and common cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. capitata. When C. plutellae wasps were provided with equal numbers of Plutella xylostella larvae on both species of plants in one arena, the parasitoid parasitised 4-15 fo...

Fourteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated in this transcriptome-based data analysis for Cotesia plutellae, which is an important larval parasitoid of the worldwide pest Plutella xylostella. A subsequent test was performed for a wild C. plutellae population (N = 32) from Fuzhou, Fujian, southeastern China, to verify the effectiveness of the 14 microsatellite loci in future studies o...

Cotesia plutellae is being assessed as a potential biological control agent for introduction against Plutella xylostella in New Zealand. As the literature on C. plutellae provided variable assessments of its host specificity, further information was collected from the laboratory and field. Our field assessments in Fiji indicated that this parasitoid did not attack other Lepidoptera in or around...