Reproductive Biology and Rearing Improvements of , Potential Biocontrol Agent of the Argentine Cactus Moth, .

The cactus moth, (Berg) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is native to South America and has been used as a biocontrol agent of (Cactaceae) in Australia and South Africa. Its invasion in North America has raised concerns for the native in the USA and Mexico. We investigated the reproductive biology and rearing procedures of a host-specific potential biocontrol agent, Martínez and Berta (Hymenoptera: Braconidae).

Sting nematodes modify metabolomic profiles of host plants.

Plant-parasitic nematodes are devastating pathogens of many important agricultural crops. They have been successful in large part due to their ability to modify host plant metabolomes to their benefit. Both root-knot and cyst nematodes are endoparasites that have co-evolved to modify host plants to create sophisticated feeding cells and suppress plant defenses.

Mi-1-Mediated Nematode Resistance in Tomatoes is Broken by Short-Term Heat Stress but Recovers Over Time.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is among the most valuable agricultural products, but Meloidogyne spp. (root-knot nematode) infestations result in serious crop losses.

Field distribution of Dasineura oxycoccana (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) adults, larvae, pupae, and parasitoids and evaluation of monitoring trap designs in Florida.

Blueberry gall midge, Dasineura oxycoccana (Johnson), is a pest of cultivated blueberries throughout the world. Larvae feed and develop in developing leaf buds, and also in flower buds of rabbiteye blueberries, which causes buds to fall off the plant. These injuries can cause up to 80% yield loss in heavy infestations.

Field observations of oviposition by a specialist herbivore on plant parts and plant species unsuitable as larval food.

Where a female places her eggs can have a major impact on the fitness of her offspring, especially for insects in which the winged adults are far more mobile than the neonates. Larvae of Heliothis subflexa (Guenee) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a specialist moth phylogenetically nested within a generalist clade, feed only on fruit of some Physalis species. Field observations of the oviposition behavior of H.

Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence for volatile sex pheromones in Parcoblatta wood cockroaches.

Species within the cockroach genus Parcoblatta are sexually dimorphic for wing length; females have reduced wings and are flightless, while males have long wings that are used in flight. We predicted that Parcoblatta females would release a volatile sex pheromone to attract the more mobile males. Nymphs of the broad wood cockroach, P.