Predators frequently compete with other species for prey but can also interact by preying on each other’s vulnerable stages. Because eggs and juveniles are more to this intraguild predation than adults, their survival will depend maternal strategies reduce risk. Recently, we reported that adult female predatory mites Gynaeseius liturivorus Ehara (Acari: Phytoseiidae) remaining at oviposition si...

The temporal development of biological control of arthropod pests in perennial cropping systems is largely unreported. In this study, the development of biological control of twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, and hop aphid, Phorodon humuli (Schrank), in a new planting of hop in Oregon is described over a period of 9 yr (2005-2013). Both the abundance and diversity of natural ene...

We propose an optimal control framework to describe intra-seasonal predator-prey interactions, which are characterized by a continuous-time dynamical model comprising predator and prey density, as well as the energy budget of the prey over the length of a season. The model includes a time-dependent decision variable for the prey, representing the portion of the prey population in time that is a...

Biological indicators based on abundances of soil organisms are powerful tools for inferring functional and diversity changes in soils affected by agricultural perturbations. Field plots, combining organic and conventional practices with no tillage, conservation tillage and standard tillage maintained different nematode assemblages and soil food webs. Soil food web indices based on nematode ass...

BACKGROUND Insect herbivory induces plant odors that attract herbivores' natural enemies. Assuming this attraction emerges from individual compounds, genetic control over odor emission of crops may provide a rationale for manipulating the distribution of predators used for pest control. However, studies on odor perception in vertebrates and invertebrates suggest that olfactory information proce...

The twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is a worldwide pest of numerous agronomic and horticultural plants. Sulfur fungicides are known to induce outbreaks of this pest on several crops, although mechanisms associated with sulfur-induced mite outbreaks are largely unknown. Studies were conducted during 2007-2009 in Oregon and Washington hop yards to evaluate the effect of timing ...

The predatory mite, Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor, 1954) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is one of the principal natural enemies of tetranychid mites in several countries, promoting efficient control of those mites in several food and ornamental crops. Pest attacks such as that of the spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, 1836 (Acari: Tetranychidae), is one of the problems faced by farmers, especial...

Amblyseius swirskii, native to the east and southeast Mediterranean region, is a successful biological control agent of whiteflies. In this study, we investigated intraguild predations (IGP) between each stage of A. swirskii and each stage of two Phytoseiid species that occur in China, Amblyseius orientalis and Neoseiulus californicus. When there was no whitefly egg provided as the extraguild p...