Cruciferous crops on Guam are infested by cabbage webworm, Hellula undalis (F.), cabbage cluster caterpillar, Crocidolomia pavonana Zeller, mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Davis), armyworm, Spodoptera litura (F.), flea hopper, Halticus tibialis (Reuter), fire ant, Solenopsis geminata (F.), leaf miners, Liriomyza spp., diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), corn earworm, Helicoverpa armige...

In disparate organisms adaptation to thermal stress has been linked to changes in the expression of genes encoding heat-shock proteins (Hsp). The underlying genetics, however, remain elusive. We show here that two AT-rich sequence elements in the promoter region of the hsp70 gene of the fly Liriomyza sativae that are absent in the congeneric species, Liriomyza huidobrensis, have marked cis-regu...

Two natural enemy species are frequently released simultaneously to control one pest species in augmentative biological control in greenhouses. Intraguild predation (IGP) and interspecific competition between natural enemies might affect the biological control. IGP occurs between two parasitoids, between one parasitoid and one predator, and between two predators. Although unidirectional IGP has...

Changes in morphological traits along elevation and latitudinal gradients in ectotherms are often interpreted in terms of the temperature-size rule, which states that the body size of organisms increases under low temperatures, and is therefore expected to increase with elevation and latitude. However other factors like host plant might contribute to spatial patterns in size as well, particular...

Liriomyza trifolii is a highly-invasive leafmining insect that causes significant damage to vegetables and horticultural crops worldwide. Relatively few studies have quantified gene expression in L. trifolii using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), which is a reliable and sensitive technique for measuring gene expression. RT-qPCR requires the selection of reference genes to normalize gene ex...