Grape root borer, Vitacea polistiformis (Harris), is an oligophagous and potentially destructive pest of grape in commercial vineyards throughout much of the eastern United States. Larvae feed on vine roots, although little is known about their below-ground interactions with host plants. The behavioral response of groups of grape root borer neonates to stimuli from host and nonhost roots was ev...

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), an invasive phloem-feeding insect native to Asia, threatens at least 16 North American ash (Fraxinus) species and has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in landscapes and forests. We conducted laboratory bioassays to assess the relative efficacy of systemic insecticides to control emerald ash borer larvae in wint...

Bark beetles are known to have complex associations with a variety of microorganisms (Paine and others 1987; Ayres and others 2000; Six and Klepzig 2004). However, most of our knowledge involves fungi, particularly external species. In contrast, we know very little about their associations with bacterial gut symbionts (Bridges 1981). Similarly, work with wood colonizing insects such as termites...

Transgenic corn (Zea mays L.) products expressing multiple Bt proteins targeting a same group of insect pests have become commercially available in the U.S. The first commercialized pyramided Bt corn technologies for managing lepidopteran pests include Genuity® VT Triple ProTM and Genuity® SmartStaxTM. In this study, larval survival and plant injury of Cry1Ab-susceptible (Cry1Ab-SS), -resistant...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the coffee germplasm of the Paraná Agronomic Institute (IAPAR) for resistance to the coffee-berry-borer. Preliminary field evaluation was performed in August 2004 and the fruits of less damaged genotypes in the field were evaluated under controlled condition with obligated and free choice experiments established in a randomized complete design with three re...

Three species of Doryctinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitize larvae of oak longhorn beetle Massicus raddei Blessig (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), a serious wood borer pest in North China. Rhoptrocentrus quercusi sp. nov., is described as a new species and Doryctes petiolatus Shestakov, as well as Zombrus bicolor (Enderlein). The three species are idiobiont ectoparasitoids, and may have potenti...

A new species of Lixophaga Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Colombia, Lixophaga puscolulo Carrejo & Woodley, sp. nov., is described and illustrated. It is a parasitoid of the tomato fruit borer, Neoleucinodes elegantalis (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an insect pest of Solanum quitoense Lam., in Colombia. Aspects of its biology are briefly discussed.

Three cryptic species in the Euwallacea fornicatus species complex were reared in laboratory colonies and investigated for the presence of pheromones. Collections of volatiles from combinations of diet, fungus, beetles, and galleries from polyphagous shot hole borer (Euwallacea sp. #1) revealed the presence of 2-heneicosanone and 2-tricosanone only in the presence of beetles, regardless of sex....

This analysis uses data from field evaluations of pyrethroid insecticides to estimate the uncertainty (risk) and expected value of additional insecticide applications and IPM to control European corn borer larvae in processing sweet corn. Preliminary empirical results indicate that IPM can increase expected returns around $5-$9/ac and reduce the risk (variability) of net returns.