Avian interspecific brood parasites differ considerably in their commitment to parasitism; 87 species are obligate brood parasites, whereas 35 species are known to be facultative brood parasites. This variation is strongly related to mode of development. Obligate parasitism is found almost exclusively in altricial species, whereas facultative interspecific parasitism is predominant in precocial...

Inferring evolutionary history of parasitism genes is important to understand how evolutionary mechanisms affect the occurrences of parasitism genes. In this study, we constructed multiple domain trees for parasitism genes and genes under free-living conditions. Further analyses of horizontal gene transfer (HGT)-like phylogenetic incongruences, duplications, and speciations were performed based...

The most evolutionary advanced adaptations for plant parasitism by nematodes are the products of parasitism genes expressed in their esophageal gland cells and secreted through their stylet into host tissue to control the complex process of parasitism. Molecular analyses of nematode parasitism genes are revealing the complexity of the tools that enable the nematode to attack plants, and the res...

The parasitoid wasp, Eretmocerus delhiensis (Hymenoptera, Aphelinidae) is a thelytokous and syn-ovigenic parasitoid. To evaluate E. delhiensis as a biocontrol agent in greenhouse, the killing efficiency of this parasitoid by parasitism and host-feeding, were studied. Killing efficiency can be compared by estimation of functional response parameters. Laboratory experiments were performed in cont...

Three laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the side-effects of four common herbicides used to control weeds associated with local crops on egg of the parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens. These herbicides are Glyphosate 48%SL, Bromoxynil 24%EC, Thiobencarb 50% and Clodinafop-propargyl 15%WP. The biological aspects such% parasitism, % adult emergence, sex ratio, developmental period a...

Sirex noctilio F. is an exotic woodwasp now found in eastern North America where it shares natural enemies with native woodwasps of Pinus spp. To study the extent to which native hymenopteran parasitoids and parasitic nematodes could affect woodwasp populations, 60 Pinus trees with symptoms of S. noctilio attack were felled in 2007 and 2008 in Ontario, Canada. Each tree bole was cut into 1-m s...

Understanding the ways in which human environmental modifications affect biodiversity is a key challenge in conservation planning, pest control and evolutionary ecology. Parasitoid communities, particularly those associated with agricultural pests, may be susceptible to such modifications. We document here changes in the larval parasitoid communities of Ostrinia nubilalis--the main pest of maiz...

Landscape diversification is a key element for the development of sustainable agriculture. This study explores whether the implementation of habitats for pest natural enemies enhances conservation biological control in an adjacent field. In the present study conducted in Gembloux (Belgium) in 2016, the effect of two different habitats (wildflower strips and a forest) and aphid abundance on the ...

The parasitoid wasp, Hyposoter horticola, parasitizes a nearly fixed fraction of its host butterfly larvae within a host metapopulation of 300–500 local populations in a 50 3 70-km area. We show, through laboratory observation, that the wasp lays eggs in fully developed larvae that have not yet hatched from the egg, constraining the period of host vulnerability to several hours out of the host’...

In this study, the performance of an irreversible regenerative Brayton cycle is sought through power maximizations using finite-time thermodynamic concept in finite-size components. Optimizations are performed using a genetic algorithm. In order to take into account the finite-time and finite-size concepts in the current problem, a dimensionless mass-flow rate parameter is used to deploy ti...