To isolate potential insect biocontrol agents, entomogenous nematodes were surveyed in Tennessee plant nurseries in 1991. Soil samples from 113 nursery sites were baited with greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) larvae, house cricket (Acheta domesticus) adults, lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperings) adults, and house fly (Musca domestica) larvae. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernem...

This study documents the flowering phenology and its potential consequences on a nursery pollination mutualism between a dioecious plant, in which honest male plants, but not cheating females, allow the specific pollinator to reproduce within inflorescences. Very few pollinators were found to emerge during plant anthesis, leading to a low (if any) potential benefit through pollen dispersal. Thi...

Many newly set pineapple plants die from pineapple mite, Dolichotetranychus floridanus (Banks), infestations. Other infested plants remain small and produce very little or no fruit. Although this mite infests plants of all ages, it is a serious pest only on young ones. Nursery stock distributed or sold by nurserymen, or used by fruit producers, should be free of mites and other pests. Control o...

The high diversity of mutualisms has probably limited the development of a general theory about their evolution and their stability. Here we review conflicts of interests occurring in the 13 known nursery pollination systems, where pollinators reproduce within the inflorescence they pollinate. We found three main conflicts of interest between mutualists that correspond to the following evolutio...

Guayule seedlinos were received fromi the federal nursery of the Emergency Guayule Project at various times of the year for use in a general study of the growth of this species under greenhouse conditions (1). Stock removed from the nursery at different times of the year showed markedly different powers of regenerationi when transplanted to soil in the greenhouse. The best growth was obtained f...

Augmentative release of the endoparasitoid Cotesia plutellae (Kurdjumov) to control diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), in cabbage, Brassica oleracea variety capitata (L.), would be expensive for growers if done continually during a growing season. A method for establishing released parasitoids would be very beneficial in the control of this pest. One method under consideration is to us...

To help farmers in the mid hills of Nepal improve their crop management and rice yields, we conducted a study testing different nursery management options and their effect on grain yield and yield components under rainfed conditions. The experiment was conducted in a farmer’s field during the cropping season 2009 and 2010 at Sundarbazar, Lamjung, Nepal, using a 3-factor factorial RCB design wit...