The time courses of wing and body kinematics of three freely hovering droneflies (Eristalis tenax) were measured using 3D high-speed video, and the morphological parameters of the wings and body of the insects were also measured. The measured wing kinematics was used in a Navier-Stokes solver to compute the aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the insects. The time courses of the geometrica...

Use of gap (created by tree falls) and non-gap forest understory sites by migrating birds in central Illinois was studied during spring and autumn for three years (19781980). Fruit and understory foliage were concentrated in gaps. Birds that relied on these resources (foliage-gleaning insectivores, frugivores in autumn) used gaps more than non-gaps. Birds that fed on food other than fruit and f...

Plant secondary metabolites play an important role in plant-insect interactions and therefore such compounds may have insecticidal or biological activity against insects. Fumigant toxicity of essential oils of leaves and fruits from oriental arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis [L.] Franco) (Cupressaceae) was investigated against adults of cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus Fab.), rice weevi...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Ibicella lutea and Proboscidea parviflora are two American semi-desert species of glandular sticky plants that are suspected of carnivory as they can catch small insects. The same characteristics might also hold for two semi-desert plants with glandular sticky leaves from Israel, namely Cleome droserifolia and Hyoscyamus desertorum. The presence of proteases on foliar hairs,...

Several recent studies have highlighted the importance of wild insects in crop pollination. In this study, we performed an exploratory evaluation pollination avocado grown under organic and conventional management practices Quillota, central Chile. The diversity floral visitors was estimated for each tree. rate visits by honeybees correlated with number fruit sets. Regardless practice, on avera...

Insects have presented human society with some of its greatest development challenges by spreading diseases, consuming crops and damaging infrastructure. Despite the massive human and financial toll of invasive insects, cost estimates of their impacts remain sporadic, spatially incomplete and of questionable quality. Here we compile a comprehensive database of economic costs of invasive insects...

Domestication of crop plants selects for numerous traits that often distinguish them dramatically from their wild progenitors. In some cases, these modifications lead to increased herbivory, by enhancing their attractiveness to herbivorous insects or reducing the efficiency of natural enemies, or both. This study investigated the effects of fruit enlargement on the olive (Olea europaea L.), the...