Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Mediterranean flour moth, is a major pest of stored food products, causing significant economic losses. Understanding the life history and population dynamics E. crucial for developing effective management strategies improving sustainability industry. In this study, we conducted an age-stage, two-sex table analysis reared on maize oat flours....

This study was conducted to determine the insecticidal activity of essential oils from oregano, Origanum onites L. (Lamiales: Lamiaceae), savory, Satureja thymbra L. (Lamiales: Lamiaceae), and myrtle, Myrtus communis L. (Rosales: Myrtaceae) against three stored-product insects. Essential oils from three species of plants were obtained by Clevenger-type water distillation. The major compounds in...

The suitability of ten diets for the development and reproduction of Franklinothrips orizabensis Johansen, the key natural enemy of Scirtothrips perseae Nakahara, a pest of California grown avocados, was determined in the laboratory. The experimental diets evaluated were: (i) irradiated Ephestia kuehniella Zeller eggs; (ii) irradiated E. kuehniella eggs and avocado pollen; (iii) Tetranychus pac...

The highly specialized genomes of bacterial endosymbionts typically lack one of the major contributors of genomic flux in the free-living microbial world-bacteriophages. This study yields three results that show bacteriophages have, to the contrary, been influential in the genome evolution of the most prevalent bacterial endosymbiont of invertebrates, Wolbachia. First, we show that bacteriophag...

While maintained under all combinations of three temperatures and two RH, fifth instar larvae of the Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella were fed wheat treated with spores and crystals of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki. Larvae that had fed on wheat with the bacterial preparation contained higher concentrations of nodules in their haemocoel than did larvae fed on wheat without ba...

In this study we assessed the relationship between the laboratory and field performance of different isofemale lines of Trichogramma pretiosum Riley. In comparative assays, we used three rare mitochondrial haplotypes as genetic markers of the isofemale lines, and by introgressing these mitochondrial haplotypes into each of 15 genetically different nuclear lines, also tested the assumption that ...

Abstract Background Augmentative biological control is a crucial component of Integrated Pest Management, and Orius laevigatus Fieber (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) an important predator used commercially. However, the two-sex life table parameters O. on Planoccocus citri Risso , P. solenopsis Tinsley Pseudococcidae) have not been fully characterised. This study aimed to assess potential and, as pre...

Insect pests represent a major threat to food crops and human health, therefore have be combated in several ways, including chemical methods. However, researchers demonstrated that these molecules are dangerous for the farmers, consumers environment general. For this reason, scientists permanently searched friendly alternatives such as use of bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis classified one best...

The predatory bug, Orius laevigatus (Fieber, 1860) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), is an important biological control agent and widely used for augmentative of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande, 1895 (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in greenhouse crops. This bug generally reared using Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, 1879 (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). aim this ...