The sweat bee Halictus rubicundus is an important pollinator with a large latitudinal range and many potential barriers to gene flow. Alongside typical physical barriers, including mountain ranges and oceans, the climate may also impose restrictions on gene flow in this species. The climate influences voltinism and sociality in H.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe occurrence of facultative endosymbionts has been studied in many commercially important crop pest aphids, but their occurrence and effects in non-commercial aphid species in natural populations have received less attention. We screened 437 aphid samples belonging to 106 aphid species for the eight most common facultative aphid endosymbionts. We found one or more facultative endosymbionts in 53% (56 of 106) of the species investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiological control (biocontrol) of crop pests is a sustainable alternative to the use of biodiversity and organismal health-harming chemical pesticides. Aphids can be biologically controlled with parasitoid wasps; however, variable results of parasitoid-based aphid biocontrol in greenhouses are reported. Aphids may display genetically encoded (endogenous) defences that increase aphid resistance against parasitoids as under high parasitoid pressure there will be selection for parasitoid-resistant aphids, potentially affecting the success of parasitoid-based aphid biocontrol in greenhouses.
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