The insect growth regulator (IGR) hydroprene is a juvenile hormone analogue used in urban and stored-product insect control programs in the United States and in other developed countries. Hydroprene can be considered as an alternative to conventional insecticides because of its specific activity against immature insect stages, low persistence in the environment, and virtually non-toxic effects ...

control of insect pests of agriculture, economic, and medical importance usually focuses on the use of insecticides. the susceptibility levels of eleven strains of german cockroaches, blattella germanica (l.), were compared with a standard susceptible strain against permethrin and fipronil. the strains were collected from nine infested students’ dormitories and two infested hospitals in tehran,...

Heritable symbionts that protect their hosts from pathogens have been described in a wide range of insect species. By reducing the incidence or severity of infection, these symbionts have the potential to reduce the strength of selection on genes in the insect genome that increase resistance. Therefore, the presence of such symbionts may slow down the evolution of resistance. Here we investigat...

Non-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) in plants have important roles in regulating biological processes, including development, reproduction, and stress responses. Recent research indicates significant roles for sRNA-mediated gene silencing during plant-hemipteran interactions that involve all three of these biological processes. Plant responses to hemipteran feeding are determined by changes in the ho...

Bacillus thuringiensis is an important source of insect resistance traits in commercial crops. In an effort to prolong B. thuringiensis trait durability, insect resistance management programs often include combinations of insecticidal proteins that are not cross resistant or have demonstrable differences in their site of action as a means to mitigate the development of resistant insect populati...

Insecticides are the most important component in insect pest-control efforts worldwide. Pyrethroids are among the insecticides that have been most widely used for this purpose for many years because of their safe, cheap, effective and long-lasting nature (Bulter et al. 2011). However, the widespread development of insecticide resistance, especially pyrethroid resistance, and the fact that resis...

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulates environmental releases of plants with novel traits, which include transgenic plants such as Bt crops. Bt crops are regulated in Canada because they express insect resistance novel to their species. Commercialization of crops with novel traits such as the production of insecticidal Bt proteins requires an approval for environmental release, as...

Interspecific interactions between insect herbivores predominantly involve asymmetric competition. By contrast, facilitation, whereby herbivory by one insect benefits another via induced plant susceptibility, is uncommon. Positive reciprocal interactions between insect herbivores are even rarer. Here, we reveal a novel case of reciprocal feeding facilitation between above-ground aphids (Amphoro...

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are ligand-gated ion channels which mediate fast cholinergic synaptic transmission in insect and vertebrate nervous systems. The great abundance of nAChRs within the insect central nervous system has led to the development of insecticides targeting these receptors, such as neonicotinoid insecticides. Neonicotinoid insecticides act selectively on insect...

Common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) link multiple plants together. We hypothesized that CMNs can serve as an underground conduit for transferring herbivore-induced defence signals. We established CMN between two tomato plants in pots with mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae, challenged a 'donor' plant with caterpillar Spodoptera litura, and investigated defence responses and insect resistan...