Choice of livestock bedding has been shown to affect density of filth fly maggots. Here, laboratory experiments indicate that bedding type can also affect natural enemies of the flies, specifically the parasitoid wasps Spalangia endius Walker and Urolepis rufipes (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) parasitizing a natural host, the house fly Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae). For both par...

The persistent pods of the tree, Acacia caven that do not fall from the tree provide opportunities for the appearance of a diverse group of insects the following season. Such pods collected during the spring of 1999 in Chile were indehiscent with highly sclerified pod walls. In contrast, persistent pods collected in Uruguay after a wet winter and spring (2002) were partially dehiscent, inducing...

Cerocephalinae (Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae) is a small group of parasitoid wasps characterized by a number of derived diagnostic features. Their hosts are endophytic beetles. So far, 43 species of Cerocephalinae have been described, including one fossil species from the Miocene. In this study, we add two new genera and species from Baltic and Dominican amber to the fossil record. Tenuicornus do...

Intracellular bacteria of the genus Wolbachia are found in a variety of arthropod hosts, where they cause various reproductive disorders. Attempts to study the fitness advantages and disadvantages of carrying these symbionts have yielded contradicting results. Using various doses of the antibiotic rifampicin, we were able to manipulate the density of Wolbachia in the uniparental parasitoid Musc...

Optimal foraging theory, specifically the marginal value theorem, predicts quicker leaving (shorter residence time) from poorer patches. One proximal mechanism for achieving the leaving is that exposure to lower-quality resources may trigger increased restlessness (proportion of time in locomotion). Which aspects of host quality, if any, affect restlessness was examined in females of the parasi...