This week Arikawa et al. find that in the small white butterfly, the sexes actually see the world differently. The authors compared the male and female eyes of Pieris rapae crucivora that are equipped with three classes of photoreceptors sensitive to short-wavelength light. In both sexes, the authors detected mRNAs for three novel opsins, one per type of photoreceptor. Intracellular recordings ...

Aphid parasitoids are common in Brazilian wheat fields, and parasitize aphids at the wheat tillering stage. However, there is little information available about when this natural enemy occurs in wheat crops. This study investigated the initial occurrence of aphid parasitoids in four commercial wheat crops in northern Paraná during the 2009 crop season. We installed two Malaise traps at each whe...

The Pachyprotasis melanosoma group is defined as a part of the former P. rapae group, and a key to this species of this group from China is provided. Six new species from China are described in this paper: P. coximaculata Zhong & Wei, sp. n.; P. coxipunctata Zhong & Wei, sp. n.; P. hengshani Zhong & Wei, sp. n.; P. maculoscutellata Zhong & Wei, sp. n.; P. pailongensis Zhong & Wei, sp. n. and P....

The turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae Linnaeus, is a pest on cruciferous crops. Larvae sequester secondary plant compounds, namely glucosinolates, in their haemolymph. When attacked, their integument is easily disrupted and a droplet of haemolymph is exuded ('easy bleeding'). This has been shown to be an effective, chemical-based, defence against invertebrate predators. The efficiency of this propos...

Understanding the evolution of herbivore–plant interactions requires detailed information on proximate responses to relevant dietary variability and genetic variance, if any, associated with these responses. We measured the behavioral and developmental responses of Pieris rapae larvae to variation in the nitrogen (N) and carbohydrate (CARB) content of chemically-defi ned diets, using diff erenc...

Polydnaviruses are endogenous particles that are crucial for the survival of endoparasitoid wasps, providing active suppression of the immune function of the lepidopteran host in which wasp larvae develop. The Cotesia rubecula bracovirus (CrBV) is unique in that only four gene products are detected in larval host (Pieris rapae) tissues and expression of CrBV genes is transient, occurring betwee...