Temperature- and Diet-Induced Plasticity of Growth and Digestive Enzymes Activity in Spongy Moth Larvae.

Temperature and food quality are the most important environmental factors determining the performance of herbivorous insects. The objective of our study was to evaluate the responses of the spongy moth (formerly known as the gypsy moth) [ L. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)] to simultaneous variation in these two factors.

Pure Camphor and a Thujone-Camphor Mixture as Eco-Friendly Antifeedants against Larvae and Adults of the Colorado Potato Beetle.

The Colorado potato beetle (CPB) is a serious pest of economically important Solanaceae species. The use of essential oil compounds in pest management has been proposed as an alternative to harmful chemical insecticides that disturb human health and ecosystem functioning. We examined the antifeedant activity of three concentrations (0.

Assessment of Sex-Specific Toxicity and Physiological Responses to Thymol in a Common Bean Pest Say.

Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), is one of the most important pests of the common bean L. Without appropriate management it may cause significant seed loss in storages. In search for means of environmentally safe and effective protection of beans we assessed biological activity of thymol, an oxygenated monoterpene present in essential oils of many aromatic plants.

Potential of Essential Oils from Anise, Dill and Fennel Seeds for the Gypsy Moth Control.

The gypsy moth ( L. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)) is a serious pest of hardwood forests. In the search for an environmentally safe means of its control, we assessed the impact of different concentrations of essential oils (EOs) from the seeds of three Apiaceae plants (anise , dill , and fennel ) on behavior, mortality, molting and nutritional physiology of gypsy moth larvae (GML).

Toxic, Oviposition Deterrent and Oxidative Stress Effects of Essential Oil against .

The bean weevil Say (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) can cause significant losses in production of its primary host common bean L. To avoid bean protection with environmentally risky chemical insecticides and provide sustainable and safe production of food, new pest management methods based on natural compounds are investigated. In the present study, we evaluated protective potential of the essential oil (EO) from the common thyme L.

Repellent activity of (L.) and (L.) essential oils against (Say).

The Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), is one of the most destructive pest species to have developed resistance to most chemical insecticides. We determined the composition and evaluated the potential of Tanacetum parthenium L. and Tanacetum vulgare L.

Evaluation of tansy essential oil as a potential "green" alternative for gypsy moth control.

The development of "green" alternatives to chemical pesticides could play a crucial role in integrated pest management (IPM). Their use is considered either as a substitution for or in addition to hazardous synthetic products. We analysed the influence of three concentrations of tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.

Sex-specific mitonuclear epistasis and the evolution of mitochondrial bioenergetics, ageing, and life history in seed beetles.

The role of mitochondrial DNA for the evolution of life-history traits remains debated. We examined mitonuclear effects on the activity of the multisubunit complex of the electron transport chain (ETC) involved in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) across lines of the seed beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus selected for a short (E) or a long (L) life for more than >160 generations. We constructed and phenotyped mitonuclear introgression lines, which allowed us to assess the independent effects of the evolutionary history of the nuclear and the mitochondrial genome.

Extraordinary Adaptive Plasticity of Colorado Potato Beetle: "Ten-Striped Spearman" in the Era of Biotechnological Warfare.

Expanding from remote areas of Mexico to a worldwide scale, the ten-striped insect, the Colorado potato beetle (CPB, Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say), has risen from being an innocuous beetle to a prominent global pest. A diverse life cycle, phenotypic plasticity, adaptation to adverse conditions, and capability to detoxify or tolerate toxins make this insect appear to be virtually "indestructible". With increasing advances in molecular biology, tools of biotechnological warfare were deployed to combat CPB.

Co-expression of the proteinase inhibitors oryzacystatin I and oryzacystatin II in transgenic potato alters Colorado potato beetle larval development.

Colorado potato beetle (CPB; Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say, Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) has shown a remarkable adaptability to a variety of control measures. Although oryzacystatin I and II (OCI and OCII) have potential in controlling pests that use cysteine proteinases for food digestion, expression of a single OC gene in potato exhibited a minimal or no effect on CPB fitness traits. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of coexpressed OCI and OCII in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.

Glutathione S-transferase in the midgut tissue of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars exposed to dietary cadmium.

Activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST) in midgut of gypsy moth caterpillars exposed to 10 and 30μg Cd/g dry food was examined. Based on the enzyme reaction through conjugation with glutathione, overall activity remained unaltered after acute and chronic treatment. No-observed-effect-concentration (10μg Cd/g dry food) significantly increased activity only after 3-day recovery following cadmium administration.

Experimentally induced host-shift changes life-history strategy in a seed beetle.

Expansion of the host range in phytophagous insects depends on their ability to form an association with a novel plant through changes in host-related traits. Phenotypic plasticity has important effects on initial survival of individuals faced with a new plant, as well as on the courses of evolutionary change during long-term adaptation to novel conditions. Using experimental populations of the seed beetle that evolved on ancestral (common bean) or novel (chickpea) host and applying reciprocal transplant at both larval and adult stage on the alternative host plant, we studied the relationship between the initial (plastic) phases of host-shift and the subsequent stages of evolutionary divergence in life-history strategies between populations exposed to the host-shift process.

Response of α-glucosidase in gypsy moth larvae to acute and chronic dietary cadmium.

We investigated the effects of acute and chronic treatments with cadmium at 10 μg Cd/g dry food and 30 μg Cd/g dry food on α-glucosidase activity of the 4th instar larvae of Lymantria dispar (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) as well as subsequent recovery. Enzyme inhibition was recorded during acute exposure to 30 μg Cd/g dry food and during chronic treatment at the lower metal concentration. After three days recovery from 10 μg Cd/g dry food, the α-glucosidase activity returned to the control level.

The effect of mitochondrial complex I inhibitor on longevity of short-lived and long-lived seed beetles and its mitonuclear hybrids.

Mitochondria are suggested to play a central role in ageing and evolution of longevity. Gradual decline in mitochondrial function during ageing and concomitant increase in production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to oxidative damage of macromolecules and impairment of ATP synthesis. To assess relationship between ageing and oxidative stress resistance we exposed different longevity lines of the seed beetle (Acanthoscelides obtectus) to four concentrations of tebufenpyrad, mitochondrial complex I inhibitor.

Cadmium-induced changes of gypsy moth larval mass and protease activity.

Cadmium uptake takes place mainly through food. Lymantria dispar larvae were exposed to dietary cadmium in concentrations of 10 and 30μg Cd/g dry food (NOEC, no-observed-effect and LOEC, lowest-observed-effect concentration, respectively) for acute and chronic treatment and recovery. We established that metal contamination decreased mass only during the chronic treatment at 30μg Cd/dry food with no recovery on removal of cadmium for 3days.

Resistance to prooxidant agent paraquat in the short- and long-lived lines of the seed beetle (Acanthoscelides obtectus).

In the present study we test whether variation in resistance to paraquat (PQ), a free radical generator, correlates with variation in longevity in two sets of seed beetles (Acanthoscelides obtectus) experimental lines that were selected either for early reproduction and short-life or late reproduction and long-life. Long-lived late reproduction lines (L) showed increased resistance to PQ, while opposite was true for short-lived early reproduction line (E). Striking outcome of the selection for early and late reproduction in A.

Responses of PTTH-producing neurosecretory neurons in Lymantria dispar caterpillars exposed to cadmium.

Lymantria dispar, as most invasive insect species, is very adaptable and reacts quickly to changing environment. Neuroendocrine system first reacts to stress in insects, and specific neurohormonal reorganization may be used in early heavy metal risk assessment. Prothoracicotropic neurohormones (PTTH) control ecdysteroid synthesis (morphogenetic and stress hormones) in insects.

Cadmium effects on the fitness-related traits and antioxidative defense of Lymantria dispar L. larvae.

Cadmium, like many other pollutants, is nondegradable and can be accumulated by Lymantria dispar at a level that affects fitness components, physiology, and development, which could indicate presence of environment pollution by heavy metals. The cadmium effect on fitness-related traits in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth instar of L. dispar L.

Changes in activity of non-specific esterases in cadmium treated Lymantria dispar larvae.

Many biochemical, physiological and histological criteria have been used as indicators of exposures and effects of the contaminants. These changes can indicate the response of an organism to a specific environmental stressor. In the present paper, the effect of the acute and chronic exposure to cadmium as well as recovery from two cadmium concentrations (10 and 30 μgCd/g dry food) on gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) midgut esterases was investigated.

The effects of acute exposure to magnetic fields on morphometric characteristics of bombyxin-producing neurosecretory neurons in gypsy moth caterpillars.

Purpose: To examine the effects of acute exposure to strong static magnetic fields and extremely low frequency magnetic fields, on neurosecretory neurons which synthesise insulin-like neurohormone.

Materials And Methods: Immunocytochemical detection of bombyxin-like material in the protocerebral neurosecretory neurons of Lymantria dispar caterpillars was performed using a monoclonal antibody directed against a synthetic dekapeptide corresponding to the N-terminus of the bombyxin A-chain. Caterpillars were exposed to strong static magnetic fileds (235 mT) and extremely low frequency magnetic fields (2 mT) for three days after moulting into the 4th instar.

Effects of cadmium on protocerebral neurosecretory neurons and fitness components in Lymantria dispar L.

Changes in fitness components including larval stage duration, relative growth rate (RGR), and mass of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), were investigated in caterpillars fed a synthetic diet with or without a cadmium supplement (10, 30, 100, 250 microg Cd/g dry food weight). Morphometric changes of large protocerebral dorsomedial A2 neurosecretor neurons, their nuclei and the electrophoresis profiles of brain proteins were analyzed in the 4 instar gypsy moths fed the examined diets.

Partial characterization of a lipase from gypsy moth (lymantria dispar L.) larval midgut.

Lipase activity of the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) was studied by the spectrophotometric method using crude homogenate of fifth-instar larval midgut tissues as the enzyme source and p-nitrophenyl caprylate (pNPC) as substrate. A Km value of 0.

Plastic responses of larval mass and alkaline phosphatase to cadmium in the gypsy moth larvae.

Biochemical analyses can point to toxicant presence before its effects can be detected at higher organizational levels. We investigated responses of larval mass and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) to different cadmium treatments in 4th instar gypsy moth larvae from 20 full-sib families. Changes in trait values and trait plasticities as well as their variation were monitored after acute and chronic exposure or recovery from two cadmium concentrations (Cd(1)=10microg and Cd(2)=30microg Cd/g dry food).

Effects of rearing density on larval growth and activity of digestive enzymes in Lymantria dispar L. (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae).

Density dependent responses of 4th, 5th and 6th instar gypsy moth larvae were studied at the level of larval mass, midgut loading and activities of three digestive enzymes (alpha-amylase, trypsin and leucine aminopeptidase). High density significantly reduced larval mass while midgut loading (expressed as relative midgut mass) did not change except in the 5th instar where it was increased at high density. Specific amylase and leucine aminopeptidase activities were not affected by crowding.