Aphids are major pests of cereal crops and a suite of hymenopteran primary parasitoids play an important role in regulating their populations. However, hyperparasitoids may disrupt the biocontrol services provided by primary parasitoids. As such, understanding cereal aphid-primary parasitoid-hyperparasitoid interactions is vital for a reliable parasitoid-based control of cereal aphids. For this...

One method of control of house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), and other filth flies is by repeated release of large numbers of pupal parasitoids such as Spalangia endius Walker. Rearing these parasitoids may be facilitated by understanding how host factors affect their production. Previous studies have examined the effects of host size and host age on parasitoid production, but ...

Functional response describes the number of prey or hosts attacked by a predator or parasitoid as a function of prey or host density. Using three different experimental designs, we found a linear functional response by two insect parasitoids (the pteromalid Pachycrepoideus vindemiae and the diapriid Trichopria drosophilae) to their hosts (the drosophilids Drosophila suzukii and D. melanogaster)...

An insecticidal exclusion method was used to assess the effect of parasitoids on level of infestation by the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), in cabbage. In field trials conducted at Rietondale, Pretoria, Gauteng Province and Brits, North-West Province, South Africa, a selective organophosphate pesticide, with systemic and contact action, dimethoate, ...

Effective biological control of pests is determined by the abundance, retention and searching efficacy of natural enemies. To assure their reproductive fitness, natural enemies such as predators and parasitoids must effectively balance competing resource needs such as an adequate frequency of encounter with prey and hosts for reproduction, requirements of food other than prey and hosts, and oth...

Two species of cerambycid beetles that attack eucalypts, Phoracantha semipunctata (Fabricius) and P. recurva Newman, have been accidentally introduced from Australia into most regions of the world in which their hosts have been planted. The beetles cause extensive mortality in plantations and landscape plantings of the trees. Management programmes have focused on integration of silvicultural pr...

To develop a better understanding of the natural distribution of the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and to update the knowledge of the incidence of its complex of parasitoids. S. frugiperda, samplings in whorl-stage corn were carried out in provinces of Argentina from 1999 to 2003. S. frugiperda larvae were collected from corn in localities of the provinc...

Parasitoids utilize various sugar resources in nature, and rely on odor cues from plants to locate their food and hosts. However, lack of sugar in the diet may negatively impact odor reception in parasitoids, thus affecting foraging efficiency. We used Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a larval endoparasitoid of Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), as a mo...

We examined the relationship of yellow sticky trap captures of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) biotype B parasitoids to the local population of parasitoids as measured by leaf samples of parasitized whiteflies and mass release of parasitoids. Traps were placed in experimental collard and cowpea field plots in Charleston, SC, and in commercial organic fields of spring cantaloupe and watermelon in the...

We describe Piper kelleyi sp. nov., a new species from the eastern Andes of Ecuador and Peru, named in honor of Dr. Walter Almond Kelley. Piper kelleyi is a member of the Macrostachys clade of the genus Piper and supports a rich community of generalist and specialist herbivores, their predators and parasitoids, as well as commensalistic earwigs, and mutualistic ants. This new species was recogn...