First report of black leaf streak disease in bananas caused by on Mauritius island.

Pseudocercospora fijiensis, the causal agent of the black leaf streak disease of bananas (plants in the genus Musa) (BLSD), is considered to be the major economic threat to export-banana cultivation (de Bellaire, Fouré, Abadie, & Carlier, 2010). The disease has a worldwide distribution throughout the humid tropical regions and has been previously reported in the Southwestndian Ocean (SWIO) area: in 1993 in Mayotte and Comoros islands (DR Jones & Mourichon, 1993), in 2000 in Madagascar (Jones, 2003; Rivas, Zapater, Abadie, & Carlier, 2004) and in 2018 in Reunion Island (Rieux et al., 2019).

Caught on camera: Field imagery reveals the unexpected importance of vertebrates for biological control of the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus Col. Curculionidae).

Understanding of ecological interactions is necessary for the application of biological control. Banana is the second most produced fruit worldwide and the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) is the most important pest of banana and plantain. Its biological control remains challenging because of the robustness and cryptic behaviour of the adult and the hidden development of larval stages.

Assessing the effect of complex ground types on ground-dwelling arthropod movements with video monitoring: Dealing with concealed movements under a layer of plant residues.

Understanding the effect of ground types on foraging movements of ground-dwelling arthropods is a key step to managing their spatial distribution as required for successful conservation biological control. Indeed, fine movements at the centimeter scale can strongly influence the foraging ability of pest predators. However, because radio frequency identification or harmonic tracking techniques are not yet suitable for small species and video tracking focuses on uniform and light backgrounds, foraging movements have rarely been studied in relation to ground types.

Associated cultivated plants in tomato cropping systems structure arthropod communities and increase the regulation.

Cultivating plant mixtures is expected to provide a higher productivity and a better control of pests and diseases. The structure of the arthropod community is a major driver of the magnitude of natural pest regulations.With the aim of optimizing pest management, a study was carried out to determine the effect of the cropping system type (tomato mono-cropping vs.

Ecological Regulation of Black Leaf Streak Disease Driven by Plant Richness in Banana Agroecosystems.

Black leaf streak disease (BLSD), caused by the fungus Mycosphaerella fijiensis, is an important threat to banana production. Although its control relies on costly and unsustainable use of fungicides, ecological regulation of BLSD linked to field-scale plant diversity has received little attention. We monitored banana phytometers in plots in banana-based fields where no fungicides were applied.

Dataset on the regulation of banana weevil abundance and corm damage associated with plant richness and the ground-dwelling arthropods' food web.

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Plant richness enhances banana weevil regulation in a tropical agroecosystem by affecting a multitrophic food web " [1]. It provides information about plant species richness, weevil corm damage and the abundance of different arthropod groups, including the banana weevil and its potential natural enemies and alternative preys.

Vegetation structure of plantain-based agrosystems determines numerical dominance in community of ground-dwelling ants.

In tropics, ants can represent an important part of animal biomass and are known to be involved in ecosystem services, such as pest regulation. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the structuring of local ant communities is therefore important in agroecology. In the humid tropics of Africa, plantains are cropped in association with many other annual and perennial crops.

Dominance in a ground-dwelling ant community of banana agroecosystem.

In tropical ecosystems, ants represent a substantial portion of the animal biomass and contribute to various ecosystem services, including pest regulation and pollination. Dominant ant species are known to determine the structure of ant communities by interfering in the foraging of other ant species. Using bait and pitfall trapping experiments, we performed a pattern analysis at a fine spatial scale of an ant community in a very simplified and homogeneous agroecosystem, that is, a single-crop banana field in Martinique (French West Indies).

Balancing competition for resources with multiple pest regulation in diversified agroecosystems: a process-based approach to reconcile diversification and productivity.

Agroecosystem plant diversification can enhance pest biological regulation and is a promising alternative to pesticide application. However, the costs of competition for resources between plants may exceed the benefits gained by pest regulation. To disentangle the interactions between pest regulation and competition, we developed a generic process-based approach that accounts for the effects of an associated plant and leaf and root pests on biomass production.

Dataset on the abundance of ants and Cosmopolites sordidus damage in plantain fields with intercropped plants.

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Ant abundance and Cosmopolites sordidus damage in plantain fields as affected by intercropping" (A.G. Dassou, D.

Data on the abundance of the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus and of the earwig Euborellia caraibea in bare soil and cover crop plots.

The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Cover cropping reduces the abundance of the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus but does not reduce its damage to the banana plants" (Carval et al., in press) [1]. This article describes how the abundance of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus, and the abundance of the earwig Euborellia caraibea were affected by the addition of a cover crop.

Local and neighboring patch conditions alter sex-specific movement in banana weevils.

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the movements and spread of a species over time and space is a major concern of ecology. Here, we assessed the effects of an individual's sex and the density and sex ratio of conspecifics in the local and neighboring environment on the movement probability of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus. In a "two patches" experiment, we used radiofrequency identification tags to study the C.

Effect of environment and fallow period on Cosmopolites sordidus population dynamics at the landscape scale.

Understanding how the population dynamics of insect pests are affected by environmental factors and agricultural practices is important for pest management. To investigate how the abundance of the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is related to environmental factors and the length of the fallow period in Martinique, we developed an extensive data set (18,130 observations of weevil abundance obtained with pheromone traps plus associated environmental data) and analysed it with generalized mixed-effects models. At the island scale, C.

A unified model for the coevolution of resistance, tolerance, and virulence.

We present a general host-parasite model that unifies previous theory by investigating the coevolution of virulence, resistance, and tolerance, with respect to multiple physiological, epidemiological, and environmental parameters. Four sets of new predictions emerge. First, compared to virulence coevolving with resistance or tolerance, three-trait coevolution promotes more virulence and less tolerance, and broadens conditions under which pure defenses evolve.

Kin discrimination and altruism in the larvae of a solitary insect.

Kin selection theory predicts altruism between related individuals, which requires the ability to recognize kin from non-kin. In insects, kin discrimination associated with altruistic behaviour is well-known in clonal and social species but in very few solitary insects. Here, we report that the solitary larvae of a non-social insect Aleochara bilineata Gyll.