The Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), a key pest of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) and rice, Oryza sativa L., in Texas, has not been controlled with chemical insecticides or biological agents, but some sugarcane varieties have shown degrees of resistance. Assessment of selected sugarcane leaf characteristics indicate that preference for oviposition sites is mostly...

Plant infestation, stem borer density, parasitism, and parasitoid abundance were assessed during two years in two host plants, Zea mays (L.) (Cyperales: Poaceae) and Sorghum bicolor (L.) (Cyperales: Poaceae), in cultivated habitats. The four major host plants (Cyperus spp., Panicum spp., Pennisetum spp., and Sorghum spp.) found in natural habitats were also assessed, and both the cultivated and...

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a major pest of corn, Zea mays L., in North America, Europe and Asia. Before the introduction of transgenic Bt corn targeting lepidopteran pests, the European corn borer was responsible for over $1 billion in damage and control measures annually in the U.S. alone (Mason et al. 1996). Management of this insect historically ...

Novel plant or animal derived insecticides are in the process of development following resistance to the contemporary organochlorine and organophosphate compounds. Cartap hydrochloride is one such novel analogue of nereistoxin and is commercially known as ‘padan’. It was first manufactured in Japan in 1966 and has been used in India since 1988. It was first isolated in Japan in 1967 from marine...

Antennal olfaction, which is extremely important for insect survival, mediates key behaviors such as host preference, mate choice, and oviposition site selection. In insects, odor detection is mediated by multiple proteins in the antenna, especially the odorant receptors (ORs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs), which ensure the specificity of the olfactory sensory neuron responses. In this study, ...