Incidence of parasitism is often underestimated because ‘ghost’ parasitoids (dead unemerged or those that have emerged leaving the host carcasses) are difficult to detect and identify. This study demonstrates use melting curve analysis (MCA) carcasses can identify DNA ghost even a month after death. The coccinellid hosts Cycloneda sanguinea, Eriopis connexa, Harmonia axyridis Hippodamia converg...

The implementation of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program requires selecting and using chemicals which are least harmful to natural enemies. In this study, the acute toxicity of the recommended field concentration of four conventional insecticides was evaluated in reference to the different life stages (L3, L4 and adult) of the variegated lady beetle Hippodamia variegata (Goeze) (Coleop...

A series of bioassays were conducted to determine the relative toxicities and residual activities of insecticides labeled for use in blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) on natural enemies, to identify products with low toxicity or short duration effects on biological control agents. In total, 14 insecticides were evaluated using treated petri dishes and four commercially available natural enemi...

The majority of overwintering insects avoid lethal freezing by lowering the temperature at which ice spontaneously nucleates within their body fluids. We examined the effect of ice-nucleating-active bacteria on the cold-hardiness of the lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens, a freeze-intolerant species that overwinters by supercooling to ca. -16 degrees C. Topical application of the ice-nucleating...

Seasonal occurrence of aphids and aphidophagous insects was monitored for six years (2006 2011) from full leaf expansion in May to leaf fall in October variety pecan trees that were not treated with insecticides. Aphid outbreaks occurred two times per season, once in the spring and again in the late summer. Yellow pecan and blackmargined aphids exceeded the recommended treatment thresholds one ...

BACKGROUND: The susceptibility of adult house cricket, Acheta domesticus (L.), adult convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Méneville), and larval fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith), to resmethrin and δ-phenothrin synergized with piperonyl butoxide (PBO) was evaluated in a laboratory bioassay procedure. RESULTS: The 1 day LC50 values for resmethrin + PBO were 23.2, 3...

The nutritive value of two cereal aphid species, Schizaphis graminum and Rhopalosiphum padi, for Hippodamia convergens development was compared as pureand mixed-species diets and as suboptimum and ad libitum quantities. Comparisons were based on the following daily aphid quantities and combinations: 4 mg R. padi, 4 mg S. graminum, 3:1 mg mixture of R. padi and S. graminum, 2:2 mg mixture of R. ...

The convergent lady beetle, Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is an important predator of soft-bodied insect pests in many regions of the United States, but generally uncommon in Florida citrus. Certain citrus producers in Florida recently initiated releases of commercially available H. convergens from California against the Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citr...

Naïve adults and larvae of the native lady beetles Coleomegilla maculata (DeGeer), Cycloneda munda (Say), Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville, Olla v-nigrum (Mulsant), and the exotic lady beetle Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were tested for their initial response to eggs of these five lady beetle species and for egg consumption on first contact and after 3 h. Additio...

1049-9644/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Inc. A doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2010.05.013 * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Silve Ants frequently protect honeydew-excreting hemipterans from their natural enemies in exchange for food, and these interactions can have a negative impact on biological control. Invasive ant species, such as the Argentine ant, Linepithe...