Biological control of pest insects by natural enemies may be an effective, cheap and environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides. The cosmopolitan parasitoid wasp species Bracon brevicornis Wesmael B. hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) use lepidopteran as hosts, including insect pests like Ephestia kuehniella or Ostrinia nubilalis . Here, we compare the reproductive success ...

Biological control using hymenopteran parasitoids presents an attractive alternative to insecticides for reducing infestations and damage from the Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), in retail and warehouse environments. We examined the potential for using combinations of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma deion Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), and the ...

Phenoloxidase (PO) is a major component of the insect immune system. The enzyme is involved in encapsulation and melanization processes as well as wound healing and cuticle sclerotization. PO is present as an inactive proenzyme, prophenoloxidase (PPO), which is activated via a protease cascade. In this study, we have cloned a full-length PPO1 cDNA and a partial PPO2 cDNA from the Indianmeal mot...