A survey of the green lacewings associated with the melon agroecosystem was carried out with the aim of including lacewings into the integrated management program of melon pests. Three species of this predator were found: Ceraeochrysa cubana (Hagen), Chrysoperla externa (Hagen) and Chrysoperla genanigra Freitas. A key to these species is presented.

Hydrozoans are known for their complex life cycles, which can alternate between an asexually reproducing polyp stage and a sexually reproducing medusa stage. Most hydrozoan species, however, lack a free-living medusa stage and instead display a developmentally truncated form, called a medusoid or sporosac, which generally remains attached to the polyp. Although evolutionary transitions in medus...

Clonal plants, fungi, and invertebrate animals often display both intra- and interspecific heterochronic variation in the relative proportions of ramets (e.g., polyps, plantlets) and stolons (or rhizomes, hyphae). Treatment of developing colonies of Podocoryne carnea, a hydractiniid hydroid, with dilute solutions of 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation, accelerates...

Spinosad (Dow AgroSciences) is a mixture of tetracyclic-macrolide compounds produced by a soil actinomycete and has been classified as a bioinsecticide. Spinosad is highly active against Lepidoptera but is reported to be practically nontoxic to insect natural enemies. We assessed the impact of Spinosad in a granular maize-flour formulation on a selection of insect predators over periods of 2–14...