laboratory experiments were conducted to understand the influence of host-finding behaviour of apanteles subandinus blanchard and orgilus lepidus muesebeck, two endoparasitoids of the potato tuber moth (ptm) phthorimaea operculella zeller (lepidop-tera: gelechiidae), in a successful biological control of the pest. responses of the two parasitoids to their host and to three host plants of the pt...

Genetic variation in plants can influence the community structure of associated species, through both direct and indirect interactions. Herbivorous insects are known to feed on a restricted range of plants, and herbivore preference and performance can vary among host plants within a species due to genetically based traits of the plant (e.g., defensive compounds). In a natural system, we expect ...

Consumption rates, development times, and life table parameters of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner), were determined on Þve host plants: cabbage, Brassica oleracea capitata L; cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L.; bell pepper, Capsicum annuum L.; pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus L.; and sunßower, Helianthus annuus L. Mean total leaf weight consumed by larvae was highest in cabbage (2.7 g) ...

The foundation of many plant-ant mutualisms is ant protection of plants from herbivores in exchange for food and/or shelter. While the role of symbiotic ants in protecting plants from stem- and leaf-feeding herbivores has been intensively studied, the relationship between ant defense and measures of plant fitness has seldom been quantified. We studied ant aggression, damage by herbivores and se...

Herbivore associated bacteria are vital mediators of plant and insect interactions. Host plants play an important role in shaping the gut bacterial community of insects. Colorado potato beetles (CPB; Leptinotarsa decemlineata) use several Solanum plants as hosts in their natural environment. We previously showed that symbiotic gut bacteria from CPB larvae suppressed jasmonate (JA)-induced defen...