biological and demographic parameters of the mealybug ladybird, cryptolaemus montrouzieri (mulsant) were evaluated on citrus mealybug, planococcus citri (risso) and obscure mealybug, pseudococcus viburni (signoret) under 24 ± 2 ºc, 80 ± 5% relative humidity and a photoperiod of 16:8 (l: d) h. the mealybugs had a significant effect on developmental time and reproductive and demographic parameter...

Although density-dependent benefits to hemipterans from ant tending have been measured many times, few studies have focused on integrated effects such as interactions between ant tending, natural enemy density, and hemipteran density. In this study, we tested whether the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis is affected by tending by ghost ants (Tapinoma melanocephalum), the presence of para...

SIMILAR MEALYBUGS: There are several mealybugs that are reported as occurring on orchids, and in Florida the most commonly encountered mealybugs on orchids are: pineapple mealybug (Dysmicoccus brevipes), longtailed mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus), Jack Beardsley mealybug (Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi), orchid mealybug (Pseudococcus microcirculus) and the obscure mealybug (Pseudococcus viburn...

Legs are locomotor appendages used by a variety of evolutionarily distant vertebrates and invertebrates. The primary biological leg function, locomotion, requires the formation of a specialised appendicular musculature. Here we report evidence that ladybird, an orthologue of the Lbx1 gene recognised as a hallmark of appendicular myogenesis in vertebrates, is expressed in leg myoblasts, and regu...

It is hypothesised here that some mealybug (Pseudococcidae) and root mealybug (Rhizoecidae) prepupae and pupae are mobile. The prepupa and pupa of the mealybug Promyrmococcus dilli Williams and the prepupa of the root mealybug Ripersiella malschae (Williams) are described and illustrated and their probable mobility is discussed. It is also suggested that the prepupae and pupae of the mealybug M...

ladybird early and ladybird late genes, tandemly located in the Drosophila 93E homeobox gene cluster, encode highly related homeodomain-containing transcription factors. Here we report the cloning of the complete cDNA sequences of both genes and a study of their expression and regulatory interactions with the segment polarity gene wingless in the epidermis. ladybird genes are co-expressed with ...

ABSTRACT Closterovirus-like particles associated with mealybug wilt of pineapple were acquired and transmitted by the pink pineapple mealybug, Dysmicoccus brevipes, and the gray pineapple mealybug, D. neobrevipes. Mealybugs acquired pineapple mealybug wilt-associated virus (PMWaV) from infected pineapple plants or detached leaves. The virus was detected in plants by tissue blot immunoassay and ...

Microscopic localization of endosymbiotic bacteria in three species of mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus, the long-tailed mealybug; Pseudococcus calceolariae, the citrophilus mealybug; and Pseudococcus viburni, the obscure mealybug) showed these organisms were confined to bacteriocyte cells within a bacteriome centrally located within the hemocoel. Two species of bacteria were present, with th...

Predators are generally considered to be less effective biological control agents than parasites (DeBach, 1964). The famous exception is the control of the cottony-cushion scale, Icerya purchasi Maskell, by the ladybird beetle Rodolia cardinalis (Mulsant). This outstanding success resulted in the widespread and haphazard introduction of ladybird beetles. However, aphidophagous species of ladybi...

In the mesoderm of Drosophila embryos, a defined number of cells segregate as progenitors of individual body wall muscles. Progenitors and their progeny founder cells display lineage-specific expression of transcription factors but the mechanisms that regulate their unique identities are poorly understood. Here we show that the homeobox genes ladybird early and ladybird late are expressed in on...