The spider mite, Tetranychus truncatus, is a polyphagous agricultural pest harboring various endosymbionts, such as Wolbachia and Spiroplasma. How they interact with each other in the same host not clear. temperature impacts their interaction endosymbionts remains largely unknown. Furthermore, little known about bacterial communities of truncatus molecular mechanism underlying regulation genes....

Parasitic mites associated with spiders are spreading world-wide through the trade in tarantulas and other pet species. Ljunghia pulleinei Womersley, a mesostigmatic laelapid mite originally found in association with the mygalomorph spider Selenocosmia stirlingi Hogg (Theraphosidae) in Australia, is redescribed and illustrated on the basis of specimens from the African theraphosid spider Pterin...

With the public perception that synthetic pesticides leave harmful residues in crop produce for human consumption, there has been increased interest in using natural products for pest control. The potential of using fruit extracts of hot pepper for controlling the cabbage looper, Trichopulsia ni (Hübner) and spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch is explored in this investigation. Crude extracts...

The objective of this study was to evaluate a ground-based multispectral optical sensor as a remote sensing tool to assess foliar damage caused by the two-spotted spider mite (TSSM), Tetranychus urticae Koch, on greenhouse grown cotton. TSSM is a polyphagous pest which occurs on a variety of field and horticultural crops. It often becomes an early season pest of cotton in damaging proportions a...

Wolbachia are maternally inherited intracellular bacteria that infect a wide range of arthropods and cause an array of effects on host reproduction, fitness and mating behavior. Although our understanding of the Wolbachia-associated effects on hosts is rapidly expanding, our knowledge of the host factors that mediate Wolbachia dynamics is rudimentary. Here, we explore the interactions between W...

Life history theory predicts that females should produce few large eggs under food stress and many small eggs when food is abundant. We tested this prediction in three female-biased size-dimorphic predatory mites feeding on herbivorous spider mite prey: Phytoseiulus persimilis, a specialized spider mite predator; Neoseiulus californicus, a generalist preferring spider mites; Amblyseius anderson...

BACKGROUND In group-living animals, social interactions and their effects on other life activities such as foraging are commonly determined by discrimination among group members. Accordingly, many group-living species evolved sophisticated social recognition abilities such as the ability to recognize familiar individuals, i.e. individuals encountered before. Social familiarity may affect within...

Fourteen U.S plant introduction (PI) accessions of C. lanatus var. lanatus (4), C. lanatus var. citroides (5) C. colocynthis (5) and a known susceptible commercial cultivar 'Sugar Baby' were evaluated for resistance to the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, in a limited free-choice and free-choice bioassay under laboratory conditions. The limited free choice bioassay, involved ni...

Organosilicone molecules are important surfactant ingredients used in formulating pesticides. These methylated silicones are considered inert ingredients, but their superior surfactant properties allow them to wet, and either suffocate or disrupt important physiological processes in mites and insects. Aqueous solutions of the tri-siloxane surfactants Silwet L-77, Silwet 408, and Silwet 806 were...