Social evolution in honey bees has produced strong queen-worker dimorphism for plastic traits that depend on larval nutrition. The honey bee developmental programme includes both larval components that determine plastic growth responses to larval nutrition and nurse components that regulate larval nutrition. We studied how these two components contribute to variation in worker and queen body si...

the population response of heliothis armigera larvae to nuclear polyhedrosis virus (npv) was investigated. the virus was introduced by permitting the larvae to feed on lettuce leaves. median lethal doses (ld50) were determined. the estimated ld50 values for the first, second, third, early, and late fourth larval instars were 5, 141, 1226, 5168 and 24553 polyhedra per larva respectively. in ...

BACKGROUND Ontogenetic variation in salinity adaptation has been noted for the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, which uses the export strategy for larval development: females migrate from the estuaries to the coast to spawn, larvae develop in the ocean, and postlarvae (megalopae) colonize estuarine areas. We hypothesized that C. sapidus larvae may be stenohaline and have limited osmoregulatory c...

Pattern formation in muscle development is often mediated by special cells called muscle organizers. During metamorphosis in Drosophila, a set of larval muscles function as organizers and provide scaffolding for the development of the dorsal longitudinal flight muscles. These organizers undergo defined morphological changes and dramatically split into templates as adult fibers differentiate dur...

Context: Pyrethroid insecticides and natural products individually or in mixture can protect stored products by retarded growth and delayed larval period. Objectives: To investigate the effects of cypermethrin, deltamethrin and azadirachtin either alone or in combinations on the larval development of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). Materials and Methods: T. castaneum larvae were reared in flour m...

Effective pest management with lower amounts of pesticides relies on accurate prediction of insect pest growth rates. Knowledge of the factors governing this trait and the resulting fitness of individuals is thus necessary to refine predictions and make suitable decisions in crop protection. The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana, the major pest of grapes in Europe, is responsible for hug...