The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, is one of the most important economic pests affecting soybean production in Wisconsin and neighboring states. Since its discovery in 2000, the soybean aphid has become established in the North Central Region and presents a potential threat to the soybean industry. Insecticides are available for control of the soybean aphid, but are an additional prod...

Rapid evolution has rarely been assessed in biological control systems despite the similarity with biological invasions, which are widely used as model systems. We assessed post-introduction climatic adaptation in a population of Longitarsus jacobaeae, a biological control agent of Jacobaea vulgaris, which originated from a low-elevation site in Italy and was introduced in the USA to a high-ele...

The genus Acanthaleyrodes Takahashi is reported for the first time from India. Acanthaleyrodes elevatus sp. n. is described from Bridelia retusa in Kerala, India, with a key to puparia of Acanthaleydes species. The new species differs in its exceptionally elevated eighth abdominal tergite, circular vasiform orifice and eight pairs of subdorsal setae. The generic characteristics of Acanthaleyrod...

In late 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the agency that regulates field release of genetically engineered (transgenic) plants, found that the biotechnology company ProdiGene, Inc. failed to follow government regulations for growing genetically modified (GM) corn (Zea mays), engineered to produce a specialty pharmaceutical pro...

The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera Aphididae), is one of the most important sap sucking pests in many cotton-growing areas world-wide. In this study, the efficacies of seven insecticides [organophosphate (Fenitrothion & Pirimiphos-methyl), carbamate (Carbosulfan & Aldicarb), pyrethroid (Lambda-Cyhalothrin & Deltamethrin) and imidaclopride (Confidor)] were determined against four...

Laboratory bioassays using leaf disks of apple dipped in test solutions of insecticides demonstrated that the apple aphid, Aphis pomi De Geer, and the spirea aphid, Aphis spiraecola Patch, differed significantly in susceptibility to a number of insecticides registered for control of aphids on apple (Malus spp.). Compared with A. pomi, A. spiraecola was approximately four- and three-fold less su...