A field experiment was conducted with outplantings of the native perennial shrub Senna mexicana var. chapmanii in a semi-natural area adjacent to native pine rockland habitat in southern Florida. The presence of ants and the availability of extrafloral nectar were manipulated in a stratified random design. Insect communities were monitored and recorded over a period of six months with a view to...

Zoophytophagy is an omnivorous activity that occurs when a primarily carnivorous species feeds on plant material. Plant feeding by beneficial predators may have negative consequences if the plant material has been chemically treated, contains toxins, or was transgenically altered. Although common in predaceous Hemiptera, zoophytophagy has been rarely studied in aphidophagous coccinellids. This ...

Chilocorus nigritus (F.) has been one of the most successful coccidophagous coccinellids in the history of classical biological control. It is an effective predator of many species of Diaspididae, some Coccidae and some Asterolecaniidae, with an ability to colonize a relatively wide range of tropical and sub-tropical environments. It appears to have few natural enemies, a rapid numerical respon...

The predator Brumoides foudrasii (Mulsant) (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) has been naturally found in plants infested by mealybugs. In this study, the striped mealybug Ferrisia dasylirii (Cockerell) (Hemiptera, Pseudococcidae) and Anagasta kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) eggs were evaluated as diets for the development and reproduction of B. foudrasii. Brumoides foudrasii immatures deve...

Immature development and reproductive life history of Delphastus catalinae (Horn) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) feeding on Bemisia tabaci biotype B (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) (= B. argentifolii Bellows and Perring) immatures was studied at three constant temperatures: 22, 26 and 30 degrees C. Lower developmental threshold temperatures (T0) were estimated at 9 and 9.9 degrees C, for male...

Propylea japonica (Thunberg) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are prevalent predators and pollen feeders in East Asian maize fields. They are therefore indirectly (via prey) and directly (via pollen) exposed to Cry proteins within Bt-transgenic maize fields. The effects of Cry1Ie-producing transgenic maize pollen on the fitness of P. japonica was assessed using two dietary-exposure experiments in th...

Recently, several invasive mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) have rapidly spread to Asia and have become a serious threat to the production of cotton including transgenic cotton. Thus far, studies have mainly focused on the effects of mealybugs on non-transgenic cotton, without fully considering their effects on transgenic cotton and trophic interactions. Therefore, investigating the potent...

Çalışmada, en önemli unlubit avcılarından biri olan Nephus includens Kirsch (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)’in, bağların zararlılarından Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)’un farklı dönemleri üzerindeki tüketim kapasitesi ve dönem tercihi araştırılmıştır. Denemeler 25 ± 1 ºC sıcaklık, %60 10 nem 16:8 (aydınlık/karanlık) koşullarındaki iklim kabinlerinde yürütülmüştür. N. inclu...