Food characteristics strongly regulate digestive enzymatic activity of insects through direct influences on their midgut mechanisms. Insect performance is better on diets that contain nutrients in proportions that fit its digestive enzymes. Little is known about the influences of rearing history on parasitism success of Habrobracon hebetor Say. This research focused on the effect of nutrient re...

The objective of this work was to study the insecticidal effect of labramin, a protein that shows lectin-like properties. Labramin was isolated from seeds of the Beach Apricot tree, Labramia bojeri A. DC ex Dubard (Ericales: Sapotaceae), and assessed against the development of the Mediterranean flour moth Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), an important pest of stored products ...

Effects of temperature, adult feeding, and host instar on life table parameters of Venturia canescens Gravenhorst (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) parasitizing larvae of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) were studied in the laboratory. Experimental adults lived under various regimes of temperature (15, 20, 25, and 30 degrees C), food supply (with or without access to honey), and h...

Intraspecific competition and food shortage due to high population density during early life can have a profound effect on adult fitness. Organisms often mitigate negative effects of by adjusting resource allocation morphological life-history traits. In Lepidoptera with short-lived adults that do not feed, it is predicted females developed from dense larval aggregations invest more in reproduct...

The parasitoid Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) is often released to manage lepidopteran pests in cotton crops. However, growers rely on multiple insecticide applications pests. A harmonious integration of control tactics required for proper pest management, and the use selective insecticides (i.e., those promoting effective while causing little impact natural enemi...

In the present study, we examined insecticidal effect of Carifend® (BASF AG, Ludwigshafen, Germany; 163.2 mg m−2), an alpha-cypermethrin-coated polyester net, as well Carifend-like nets containing different rates alpha-cypermethrin, specifically 10, 30, 80, and 325 m−2, against two major stored tobacco insect pests, i.e., Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) Ephestia elutel...