Conspecific cues mediate habitat selection and reproductive performance in a haplodiploid spider mite.

Selection of a suitable habitat by animals before settlement is critical for their survival and reproduction. In silk-spinning arthropods like spider mites, denser webs offer protection from predation and serve as a dispersal mode. Settling in habitats with the presence of conspecifics and silk webs can benefit the habitat-searching females.

Sustainable management of potato tuber moth in storages using entomopathogenic fungi and an ectoparasitic mite.

Background: The potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella, is an economically important pest of potato crops worldwide. So far, the application of chemical pesticides is the major measure to manage PTM, but it induces serious deleterious impacts on the environment and human health. Here, we screened the entomopathogenic fungi that are lethal to PTM, and tested their sublethal impacts on PTM development, mortality, and reproduction as well as that of ectoparasitic mite Pyemotes zhonghuajia, a natural enemy of PTM.

Concurrent and legacy effects of sheep trampling on soil organic carbon stocks in a typical steppe, China.

Grazing plays a key role in ecosystem biogeochemistry, particularly soil carbon (C) pools. The non-trophic interactions between herbivores and soil processes through herbivore trampling have recently attracted extensive attention. However, their concurrent and legacy effects on the ecosystem properties and processes are still not clear, due to their effects being hard to separate via field experiments.

Grazing-driven shifts in soil bacterial community structure and function in a typical steppe are mediated by additional N inputs.

Herbivore grazing and nitrogen (N) fertilization affect soil microbial diversity and community composition both in direct and indirect pathways (e.g., via alterations in soil microenvironment and plant communities); however, their combination effects are still largely unexplored.

UAV Assisted Livestock Distribution Monitoring and Quantification: A Low-Cost and High-Precision Solution.

Grazing management is one of the most widely practiced land uses globally. Quantifying the spatiotemporal distribution of livestock is critical for effective management of livestock-grassland grazing ecosystem. However, to date, there are few convincing solutions for livestock dynamic monitor and key parameters quantification under actual grazing situations.

Reproductive plasticity in response to the changing cluster size during the breeding period: a case study in a spider mite.

Animals living in clusters should adjust their reproductive strategies to adapt to the social environment. Theories predict that the benefits of cluster living would outweigh the costs of competition. Yet, it is largely unknown how animals optimize their reproductive fitness in response to the changing social environment during their breeding period.

Male larval experience of cues from adult rivals alters lifetime sperm investment patterns in a sperm heteromorphic moth, Ephestia kuehniella.

Male animals may adjust their resource allocations for reproduction and other fitness functions in response to cues from rivals. For instance, adult males increase their investment in sperm for a higher paternity share when they perceive sperm competition risk in their surroundings. In nature, both juveniles and adults may coexist spatially and temporally.

Temperature-dependent development and reproduction of Tarsonemus confusus (Acari: Tarsonemidae): an important pest mite of horticulture.

The tarsonemid mite Tarsonemus confusus Ewing has become an economically important pest in orchards in China. This study investigated the temperature-dependent development and reproduction of T. confusus at 15, 20, 25, 30, 33 and 35 °C.

Pathogenicity of PfBb and Immune Responses of a Non-Target Host, (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Exploring the pathogenicity of a new fungus strain to non-target host pests can provide essential information on a large scale for potential application in pest control. In this study, we tested the pathogenicity of PfBb on the important agricultural pest (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) by determining the relative activities of protective enzymes and detoxifying enzymes in different larval instars. Our results show that the PfBb strain could infect all six larval instars of , and its virulence to larvae gradually increased with an increase in spore concentration.

A haplodiploid mite adjusts fecundity and sex ratio in response to density changes during the reproductive period.

Population density is one of the main socio-environmental factors that have critical impacts on reproduction of animals. Consequently, they need to adjust their reproductive strategies in response to changes of local population density. In this study we used a haplodiploid spider mite, Tetranychus ludeni Zacher (Acari: Tetranychidae), to test how population density dynamics during the reproductive period altered female reproductive performance.

An Improved Method for Monitoring Multiscale Plant Species Diversity of Alpine Grassland Using UAV: A Case Study in the Source Region of the Yellow River, China.

Plant species diversity (PSD) is essential in evaluating the function and developing the management and conservation strategies of grassland. However, over a large region, an efficient and high precision method to monitor multiscale PSD (α-, β-, and γ-diversity) is lacking. In this study, we proposed and improved an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based PSD monitoring method (UAV) and tested the feasibility, and meanwhile, explored the potential relationship between multiscale PSD and precipitation on the alpine grassland of the source region of the Yellow River (SRYR), China.

Seasonal Variation in Soil and Herbage CO Efflux for a Sheep-Grazed Alpine Meadow on the North-East Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and Estimated Net Annual CO Exchange.

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is a vast geographic area currently subject to climate warming. Improved knowledge of the CO respiration dynamics of the Plateau alpine meadows and of the impact of grazing on CO fluxes is highly desirable. Such information will assist land use planning.

Reproductive Strategies That May Facilitate Invasion Success: Evidence From a Spider Mite.

With significant surge of international trade in recent decades, increasingly more arthropod species have become established outside their natural range of distribution, causing enormous damage in their novel habitats. However, whether a species can colonize its new environment depends on its ability to overcome various barriers which may result in establishment failure, such as inbreeding depression and difficulty to find mates. Here, we used a haplodiploid pest, Tetranychus ludeni Zacher (Acari: Tetranychidae), which is native to Europe but now cosmopolitan, to investigate whether its reproductive strategies have facilitated its invasion success, providing knowledge to develop programs for prediction and management of biological invasions.

Mating Delay Reduces Reproductive Performance but not Longevity in a Monandrous Moth.

Age at mating is one of the most important factors that affect mating success and reproductive fitness in insects. The present study investigated how the age of the two sexes at mating determined mating success, reproductive fitness and longevity in Phauda flammans (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Phaudidae), a serious pest of Ficus spp. trees in South and Southeast Asia.

Sex-Specific Allometry of Morphometric and Reproductive Traits in Oriental Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae).

The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a highly invasive and polyphagous pest of many horticultural crops in the world, and is currently present in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. To provide essential knowledge for quality control in mass-rearing programs for sterile insect technique against the pest, we investigated how adult body weight and hind-tibial length were correlated in each sex and how body size of each sex affected lifetime reproductive fitness . We show that body weight and hind-tibial length were significantly positively correlated in both sexes, indicating that either trait can be used as an index of body size.

Flirtation reduces males' fecundity but not longevity.

Theory predicts that due to limited resources males should strategically adjust their investment in reproduction and survival. Based on different conceptual framework, experimental designs, and study species, many studies support while others contradict this general prediction. Using a moth Ephestia kuehniella whose adults do not feed and thus have fixed resources for their lifetime fitness, we investigated whether males adjusted their investment in various life activities under dynamic socio-sexual environment.

Phenological dynamics of Dasineura mali (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) and its parasitoid Platygaster demades (Hymenoptera: Platygasteridae) in apple orchards.

The midge Dasineura mali Kieffer (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is an important pest of apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) and a potential fresh fruit contaminant, causing quarantine concerns. The phenological dynamics of D.

Biased sex ratio and low population density increase male mating success in the bug Nysius huttoni (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae).

Demographic factors such as operational sex ratio (OSR) and local population density (LPD) are temporally and spatially dynamic in the natural environment but the influence of these variables on male mating success and the mechanisms behind it are still poorly understood and highly controversial. Here, we manipulated the OSR and LPD of a seed bug, Nysius huttoni, and carried out a series of mating trials to test how these variables affected male mating success. The two demographic factors had no significant interactions, suggesting that they affect male mating success independently in N.

Mate location and recognition in Glenea cantor (Fabr.) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae): roles of host plant health, female sex pheromone, and vision.

Glenea cantor (Fabricius) is an important pest of kapok trees [Bombax ceiba L.=Gossampinus malabaricus (DC.) Merr.