Host-searching ability and fecundity of the tephritid fruit fly parasitoid Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) were evaluated, after exposure to pre-release packing and chilling. In an olfactometer, chilled female parasitoids showed a longer response time to infested fruit. After a 24–48 h period, chilled females gradually began to respond in a similar way as control females. We conclude that pre-release chilling reduces female searching ability only for the first 1–2 days after chilling. Chilled females had no reduction in fecundity.

To avoid intra- and interspecific competition, Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) may change oviposition preference when competitor flies are present, but the effect of odor cues associated with competitors on the oviposition preference of D. suzukii was unknown. The current study demonstrated that chemical cues associated with the presence of competitors could influence D. suzukii’s oviposition preference for the yeast-supplemented substrates for the first time.

In this study, the host quality for cabbage stem flea beetle, Psylliodes chrysocephala (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), in four oilseed rape (Brassica napus) cultivars and seven other brassicaceous species with different glucosinolate profiles was assessed under controlled conditions. White mustard, which provides inferior host quality for larval development, has the potential to introduce insect resistance into high-yielding oilseed rape cultivars in breeding programmes.

Phytophagy is a key element of mosquito ecology, and understanding it is critical to combat mosquito-borne diseases. Populations of even highly synanthropic mosquitoes may not be able to persist without phytophagy, even when vertebrate blood is readily available. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about mosquito phytophagy and outline future research needs.

The parasitoid wasp Fopius caudatus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and its fruit fly host Ceratitis cosyra (Diptera: Tephritidae) were present on the shrub Sarcocephalus latifolius (Rubiaceae) in the entire study area, yet their abundance could vary within small scale. We demonstrated that habitat factors such as cultivation level, tree, shrub, and herb coverage, and specific plant species affected the parasitoid’s parasitism. The results suggest that habitat factors might be manipulated to enhance parasitism in a conservation biological control approach.

The parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) exhibits sexual and asexual strains in Japan. A statistical parsimony network of mitochondrial COI haplotypes shows two main haplotype groups – one is virtually sexual, another contains most of asexual strains. An asexual strain recently established in New Zealand has the identical haplotype to a strain in Japan and was proven to have originated from East Asia. Three hypotheses on the evolution of asexuality are discussed for this parasitoid wasp: recessive gene, hybridization, and cytoplasmic element.

The male-produced aggregation-sex pheromone of the cerambycid beetle Psapharochrus maculatissimus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Lamiinae) is composed of (S)-fuscumol acetate. The sympatric species Eupromerella plaumanni and Hylettus seniculus were specifically attracted to racemic and (R)-fuscumol acetate, respectively. Species in the cerambycid subfamily Lamiinae appear to manipulate the ratios of fuscumol acetate enantiomers to form species-specific signals.

The insect resistance management (i.e., high-dose/refuge strategy) deployed to delay resistance evolution is grounded on assumptions about the biology and ecology of a pest species, for example, the interaction between the insect pest and crop plants. Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) moths of a resistant and susceptible population do not show differential oviposition preference for Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or non-Bt maize, but neonate larvae are able to detect Bt toxins and display feeding avoidance behaviour on Bt maize leaf samples.

Whereas adults of the lacewing Ceraeochrysa cubana (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) feed on plant-provided food and honeydew, larvae are voracious polyphagous predators of several insect pests, and therefore important for biological control. We show that the immatures can learn the association between a volatile cue (methyl salicylate) and the presence or absence of food and that they use this learned association when searching for new patches with prey.

We manipulated the insect colonization of carrion in order to shift the initial colonization patterns of early-successional competitively dominant burying beetles (Nicrophorus sp.; Coleoptera: Silphidae) and blowfly larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae) to investigate their effect on late-successional, competitively inferior insects. We found blowfly larvae to be the dominant insect group on carrion, with a mostly negative effect on other insect groups, including the presumed dominant burying beetles.

We review studies that used experimental evolution and/or artificial selection to improve native biocontrol agents and evaluated their success. Most studies focused on improving the performance of natural enemies in ecologically relevant environments, such as in the presence of pesticides or at different temperatures. Although most studies were poorly replicated, the selected trait generally improved following the selection process.

A tritrophic assay revealed a great dilution of Cry1Ab through the food chain of Bt maize leaves, the aphid Rhopalosiphum maidis (Hemiptera: Aphididae), and the ladybeetle Propylea japonica (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). In a long-term assay (three generations), Bt maize expressing Cry1Ab had no negative effects on biological parameters of R. maidis. No unexpected prey-mediated acute lethal or sublethal effects of Cry1Ab maize were found on the predator P. japonica.

In the butterfly Ypthima multistriata (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), there are univoltine and bivoltine populations although they inhabit similar climate zones. We demonstrated that the photosensitive stage for direct development is earlier in bivoltine populations than in univoltine populations, which causes variation in voltinism. In addition, larvae of one univoltine population diapaused even under constant long-day condition.

Pieris macdunnoughii (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) butterflies readily lay eggs on the invasive mustard Thlaspi arvense (Brassicaceae), which is lethal to their offspring. We show that larvae delay feeding, and once begun, feed more slowly on the invasive plant, but it is the delayed onset of feeding that causes neonate mortality. Sinigrin, the dominant glucosinolate produced by T. arvense, contributes to this deterrent effect and increases mortality when added to leaves of this butterfly's native host plants.

Heritable bacterial endosymbionts are common in aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Their spread and persistence in host populations will depend on the net effect of costs and benefits they confer. Here we show that the strong protection against parasitoids provided by an unusual strain of the facultative symbiont Regiella insecticola comes at limited costs to the host, suggesting that this strain has a high potential for spreading in aphid populations.

We examined female fecundity and larval development on various diets in Necrophila (Eusilpha) japonica (Coleoptera: Silphidae, Silphinae) with laboratory rearing experiments. Female fecundity was highest on the minced beef diet, simulating a vertebrate carcass, whereas larvae performed best on the earthworm diet, a model for predatory feeding on invertebrates. The results were compared to those of previous studies of this beetle species and discussed from methodological, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives.

How the insect microbiome interactions are changed in response to the diversity of the food-web in which they are embedded is an emerging topic offering exciting research opportunities and potential application in sustainable agriculture. Although aphid symbionts have the potential to reduce biological control effectiveness through conferring protection for the host insect, increasing plant and natural enemy biodiversity can mitigate these effects.

This research examined the quarantine host range of Gadirtha fusca (Lepidoptera: Nolidae), a potential biological control agent of Chinese tallowtree (Euphorbiaceae). Results indicate that this species has narrow specificity and will be a safe control agent of this invasive weed.

Boring depths differed significantly between Arhopalus ferus and Prionoplus reticularis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and their rates of boring (penetration) into the sapwood were temperature dependent. Maximum larval boring depths of A. ferus and P. reticularis after 5 months occurred at 21/12 °C (day/night) and were 53.7 and 21.8 mm, respectively. Knowledge of the location of potential pest species permits the development of efficient alternative phytosanitary treatment schedules that target infested portions of export logs.

We investigated the effects of dietary nutrient concentration, larval rearing density, and their possible interaction on survival, development, growth, and nutritional composition of black soldier fly larvae (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). Main outcomes of our work are the interaction between larval density and dietary quality and the regulation of larval protein content within narrow limits.