Without sensory feedback, flies cannot fly. Exactly how various feedback controls work in insects is a complex puzzle to solve. What do insects measure to stabilize their flight? How often and how fast must insects adjust their wings to remain stable? To gain insights into algorithms used by insects to control their dynamic instability, we develop a simulation tool to study free flight. To stab...

Two insecticide formulations containing the naturalyte insecticide spinosad, GF-120 Fruit Fly Bait and SpinTor 2 SC, were compared for control of apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh), and blueberry maggot, Rhagoletis mendax Curran. In 2002 and 2003, larval infestation in blueberries and apples was significantly lower in plots treated with GF-120 (spinosad bait) or SpinTor than in untreate...

Palm fruit juice (PFJ) containing oil palm phenolics is obtained as a by-product from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) fruit milling. It contains shikimic acid, soluble fibre and various phenolic acids including p-hydroxybenzoic acid and three caffeoylshikimic acid isomers. PFJ has also demonstrated beneficial health properties in various biological models. Increasing concentrations of PFJ and diff...

Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that fruit flies spend much of their lives surrounded by microbes, they do not readily succumb to infectious disease. For nearly fifteen years, Drosophila melanogaster has been a fruitful model system for studying the molecular genetics of innate immunity (Fig. 1). This year, studies of infection and immunity featured prominently in several sessions duri...

In 1910, Thomas Hunt Morgan [4] performed an experiment at Columbia University [5], in New York City, New York, that helped identify the role chromosomes play in heredity. That year, Morgan was breeding Drosophila [6], or fruit flies. After observing thousands of fruit fly offspring with red eyes, he obtained one that had white eyes. Morgan began breeding the white-eyed mutant fly and found tha...

background: in this study, the toxicity of the different xenobiotics was tested on the fruit fly drosophila melanogaster model system.  methods: fly larvae were raised on food supplemented with xenobioticsat different concentrations (sodium nitroprusside (0.1-1.5 mm), s-nitrosoglutathione (0.5-4 mm), and potassium ferrocyanide (1 mm)). emergence of flies, food intake by larvae, and pupation hei...

Bactrocera invadens, the Asian fruit fly, was first reported in Kenya in 2003, and it spread fast to most tropical countries in Africa. To our knowledge, there is no detailed data on the fruit damage and status of fruit flies in Arba Minch and elsewhere in Ethiopia. Hence, information on the species composition and pest status of the fruit fly species is urgent to plan management strategies in ...

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is an invasive insect pest that has spread into many fruit production regions of the world. Strategies to protect fruit from infestation by this insect are currently dominated by insecticide applications, so producers need information on relative efficacy and residual activity of insecticides to be able to select effective treatments. Semi-field bioa...

BACKGROUND Egg-laying animals, such as insects, ensure the survival of their offspring by depositing their eggs in favorable environments. To identify suitable oviposition sites, insects, such as the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster, assess a complex range of features. The fly selectively lays eggs in fermenting fruit. However, the precise cues and conditions that trigger oviposition remain ...

BACKGROUND Beyond insecticides, alternative methods to control insect pests for agriculture and vectors of diseases are needed. Management strategies involving the mass-release of living control agents have been developed, including genetic control with sterile insects and biological control with parasitoids, for which aerial release of insects is often required. Aerial release in genetic contr...