The invasive pest Drosophila suzukii was introduced to southern Europe in 2008 and spread throughout Central Europe in the following years. Precise reliable data on the temperature-dependent behavior of D. suzukii are scarce but will help forecasting and cultivation techniques. Depending on physico-chemical properties, surface temperature of objects may differ from ambient temperatures, determi...

Species interactions are a major source of adaptive radiation. In mutualisms, such diversification can take the form of evolution of parasites that exploit the resources needed for maintenance of the mutualism. Mutualistic associations often have associated parasitic species, and in some cases, parasitic species have indeed evolved from the mutualists. For example, obligate mutualisms, such as ...

the life history of an acarid mite, tyrophagus putrescentiae (schrank), on fusarium graminearum clade was investigated at 25 â± 1â°c, 60 â± 5% rh and a photoperiod of 16: 8 (l: d) h. incubation period for egg hatch, larval and nymphal periods and adult longevity were 2.22 â± 0.06, 3.46 â± 0.12, 4.84 â± 0.16 and 10.05 â± 0.9 days, respectively. the average life span of males and females were 22....

The eclosion and oviposition rhythms of flies from a population of Drosophila melanogaster maintained under constant conditions of the laboratory were assayed under constant light (LL), constant darkness (DD), and light/dark (LD) cycles of 10:10h (T20), 12:12h (T24), and 14:14h (T28). The mean (+/- 95% confidence interval; CI) free-running period (tau) of the oviposition rhythm was 26.34 +/- 1....

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 ...

This laboratory study investigated whether the larval-pupal parasitoid Oomyzus sokolowskii females adjust their brood size and sex ratio in response to body size and stage of Plutella xylostella larval hosts, as well as to their own body size and the order of oviposition. These factors were analyzed using multiple regression with simultaneous entry of them and their two-way interactions. Parasi...

The tyraminergic/octopaminergic system is central for the control of arthropod oviposition. Previous works demonstrated that the pharmacological perturbation of this system inhibits oviposition in the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus. In this work, we describe a physiologically active whole-mount preparation of the contractile tick ovary that allows the quantitative videometrical analysis of...

Three mosquito species, Culex tarsalis Coquillett, Culex quinquefasciatus Say and Aedes aegypti L. (Diptera: Culicidae), were examined in laboratory binary choice experiments to investigate whether fish exudates from the mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis (Baird & Girard) (Cyprinodontiformes: Poecilliidae), deter oviposition and whether the responses of these mosquito species to fish exudates in ov...

This study assesses the potential of cladocerans as competitors for controlling the oviposition and larval abundances of mosquitoes. Control of mosquito larvae involving the use of antagonists has focused mostly on predators. We hypothesized that cladoceran competitors have a strong potential to control larval populations of some species of mosquitoes that can be early colonizers of newly-fille...

Argyrotaenia sphaleropa (Meyrick) is associated with various fruit species in South America. This tortricid was first detected in citrus, Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck, in Brazil, in commercial groves in northern Paraná, during the 1994/95-crop season. The aim of this work was to study the biology of this lepidopteran under laboratory conditions (28 +/- 2 degrees C, 70 +/-10% UR, 14h photofase) u...