Natural enemies of the gall maker Eugeniamyia dispar (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) were studied on the urban area of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil from October 1993 to March 1996. Galls and associated arthropods were followed weekly in the field on individual host plants (Eugenia uniflora, Myrtaceae) and also in the laboratory. Three species of ants attacked the galls, the most common being Pseudomyrmex ...

BACKGROUND Surveys of host plants of insect galls have been performed in different regions of Brazil. The knowledge of species of host plants of insect galls is fundamental to further studies of plant-galling insect interactions. However, a list of host plant species of gall-inducing insects has not yet been compiled for the flora of the Midwest Region of Brazil. NEW INFORMATION We provide a ...

Pharmacognostical studies on the South Indian market sample of Karkatasringi (Terminalia chebula leaf galls) were carried out along with comparative studies on Pistacia integerima which is the accepted source of Karkatasringi. The galls of T. chebula are also known as Kadukkai Poo in Siddha system.

Global climate change is mostly characterized by temperature increase and fluctuating precipitation events, which may affect the spring phenology and mortality rate of insects. However, the interaction effect of temperature and precipitation on species performance has rarely been examined. Here we studied the response of the gall-making Tephritid fly Urophora stylata (Diptera: Tephritidae) to a...

Many parasitic organisms have an ability to manipulate their hosts to increase their own fitness. In parasitoids, behavioral changes of mobile hosts to avoid or protect against predation and hyperparasitism have been intensively studied, but host manipulation by parasitoids associated with endophytic or immobile hosts has seldom been investigated. We examined the interactions between a gall ind...

Agrobacterium tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes transport single-stranded DNA (ssDNA; T-strands) and virulence proteins into plant cells through a type IV secretion system. DNA transfer initiates when VirD2 nicks border sequences in the tumour-inducing plasmid, attaches to the 5' end, and pilots T-strands into plant cells. Agrobacterium tumefaciens translocates ssDNA-binding protein VirE2 into plan...

We tested the enemy hypothesis for gall morphology on a model system comprising two Diplolepis rose gall wasp species and their associated parasitoids. The enemy hypothesis predicts both that gall traits will influence parasitoid attack rates within species, and that galls with contrasting morphologies will support different parasitoid communities. This hypothesis is supported by studies at bot...

A quantitative catalogue of the parasitoids (almost exclusively Chalcidoidea) and inquiline Cynipidae recorded in the western Palaearctic from galls induced on Quercus by Cynipidae (Cynipini) is presented. Quantitative and national data are included with bibliographic references to almost all records published in 2011 and earlier. The catalogue is followed by two checklists, firstly one of the ...