Cerambycid Communities and Their Associated Hymenopteran Parasitoids From Major Hardwood Trees in Delaware: Implications for Biocontrol of Invasive Longhorned Beetles.

Cerambycidae provide important ecological services in forests yet cause economic damage when they infest living trees. Parasitoids can regulate woodborer populations, providing considerable control of pest cerambycids. Identifying parasitoids of native cerambycids may be useful in managing cerambycid outbreaks and aid in new-association biocontrol of exotic invasive cerambycids.

Deletion of v-chiA from a baculovirus reduces horizontal transmission in the field.

Nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs) can initiate devastating disease outbreaks in populations of defoliating Lepidoptera, a fact that has been exploited for the purposes of biological control of some pest insects. A key part of the horizontal transmission process of NPVs is the degradation of the larval integument by virus-coded proteins called chitinases, such as V-CHIA produced by the v-chiA genes. We used recombinant and naturally occurring strains of the Lymantria dispar NPV (LdMNPV) to test horizontal transmission in the field, release of virus from dead larvae under laboratory conditions, and cell lysis and virus release in cell culture.

Occurrence of emerald ash borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) and biotic factors affecting its immature stages in the Russian Far East.

Field surveys were conducted from 2008 to 2011 in the Khabarovsk and Vladivostok regions of Russia to investigate the occurrence of emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, and mortality factors affecting its immature stages. We found emerald ash borer infesting both introduced North American green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall) and native oriental ashes (F. mandshurica Rupr.

Biology and life history of Balcha indica, an ectoparasitoid attacking the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, in North America.

Balcha indica Mani and Kaul (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) is a solitary ectoparasitoid attacking larvae, prepupae, and pupae of the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae). Its fecundity, oviposition rate, longevity, and development time were determined in the laboratory under standard rearing conditions (25 ± 2° C, 65 ± 10% relative humidity, and 14:10 L:D). Adults lived a mean of 59 days with a maximum of 117 days.

Comparative genomics of mutualistic viruses of Glyptapanteles parasitic wasps.

Background: Polydnaviruses, double-stranded DNA viruses with segmented genomes, have evolved as obligate endosymbionts of parasitoid wasps. Virus particles are replication deficient and produced by female wasps from proviral sequences integrated into the wasp genome. These particles are co-injected with eggs into caterpillar hosts, where viral gene expression facilitates parasitoid survival and, thereby, survival of proviral DNA.

Structure and evolution of a proviral locus of Glyptapanteles indiensis bracovirus.

Background: Bracoviruses (BVs), a group of double-stranded DNA viruses with segmented genomes, are mutualistic endosymbionts of parasitoid wasps. Virus particles are replication deficient and are produced only by female wasps from proviral sequences integrated into the wasp genome. Virus particles are injected along with eggs into caterpillar hosts, where viral gene expression facilitates parasitoid survival and therefore perpetuation of proviral DNA.

A novel nonchemical method for quarantine treatment of fruits: California red scale on citrus.

A process for removing or killing California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell), from citrus fruit as a postharvest treatment was evaluated. The process subjects the fruit to vacuum, steam, and vacuum that physically removes red scale from the fruit and kills those scales that are not removed from the fruit. Different numbers of cycles and steam temperatures were compared for efficacy in removing scale from lemons or killing those that remained.