American foulbrood disease of honey bees is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. Infection occurs per os in larvae and systemic infection requires a breaching of the host peritrophic matrix and midgut epithelium. Genetic variation exists for both bacterial virulence and host resistance, and a general immunity is achieved by larvae as they age, the basis of which has not been identified...

Survivorship of larvae of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), was measured after they were raised on one of six diets. The effects of container shape (wide and shallow vs. narrow and deep), soil depth (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 cm), and temperature (28°, 32°, or 35° C) on pupation success was measured. Diet influenced larval survivorship, but did not hav...

Division of labor among the workers of insect societies is a conspicuous feature of their biology. Social tasks are commonly shared among age groups but not between larvae and adults with completely different morphologies, as in bees, wasps, ants, and beetles (i.e., Holometabola). A unique yet hardly studied holometabolous group of insects is the ambrosia beetles. Along with one tribe of ants a...

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) society is characterized by a helper caste of essentially sterile female bees called workers. Workers show striking changes in lifespan that correlate with changes in colony demography. When rearing sibling sisters (brood), workers survive for 3-6 weeks. When brood rearing declines, worker lifespan is 20 weeks or longer. Insects can survive unfavorable periods on endog...

Paenibacillus larvae is the etiological agent of American foulbrood (AFB) disease, a contagious bacterial disease that infects honeybees (Apis mellifera L.). Screening naturally occurring compounds to negate concerns related wide use antibiotics an urgent need for prevention and treatment AFB disease. In this study, we demonstrated crude ethanolic extracts (CEEs) from leaves Trapa bispinosa Rox...

Laboratory colonies of the ghost ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum (F.) were administered sugar solution (10%) baits containing the insecticides boric acid, fipronil (REGENT), hydramethylnon (SIEGE), or diflubenzuron (DIMILN). Colonies were exposed to the baits for 21 d, and development of workers, queens, and brood (larvae and pupae) was observed for 4 wk. Fipronil (0.05%) caused 100% mortality in ...