Females of the potato aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae exhibit typical calling behavior, with virgin female oviparae raising their back legs off the substrate to release sex pheromone from glands on the tibia. Airborne collections from calling oviparae were analyzed by GC and GC-MS to determine if, like the majority of aphids examined to date, they produced (1R,4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactol (1) and (4aS,7S,7aR)-nepetalactone (2). Both components were present and produced in ratios that varied with age from 4:1 to 2:1. The relative stereochemical configurations of these components were determined by GC-coinjection of the aphid-derived sample with synthetic standards on both HP-1 and DB-Wax GC columns. The absolute stereochemical configuration of the nepetalactol (determined from approximately 15 microg of material in an air entrainment sample) was determined as (1R,4aS,7S,7aR)-1 by derivatization of the aphid sample with (S)-(+)-alpha-methoxy-alpha-(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetyl chloride (Mosher's acid chloride) to generate a diastereoisomer that was compared to synthetic samples by NMR spectroscopy and GC. In bioassays in the wind tunnel, M. euphorbiae males responded to potato plants with oviparae but not to unattacked plants or those infested with parthenogenetically reproducing apterae. In no-choice laboratory bioassays, the same level of male response was observed to virgins and to the 3:1-5:1 synthetic blends of nepetalactol (1):nepetalactone (2). However, the time taken to reach the source was significantly less to virgin females than to the synthetic pheromone blends. In all cases, males walked rather than flew to the source. Males showed lower responses to a 1:1 synthetic mixture and did not respond to either of the components when presented alone. Under field conditions, few M. euphorbiae males were captured in traps baited with different ratios of the synthetic pheromone. Possible reasons for the different responses under laboratory and field conditions are discussed.

Egg parasitoids of the genus (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) are important natural enemies of many lepidopterous pests in agricultural and forest areas. Because the use of indigenous populations/species can significantly increase the biological control efficiency, the characterization of endemic populations and precise species identification is important. In this study, wasps were collected from parasitized eggs of several lepidopteran pests in Northern and Central Iran. Seven species were identified based on the morphology and the nucleotide sequence, size and restriction profile (PCR-RFLP) of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region of the rDNA of . Bezdenko, Marchal, Hartig, Westwood, Girault, Voegel, and Sorokina. This is the first report of in Iran. Additionally, natural populations were surveyed for the prevalence of . Two populations of were found to be infected by a single strain which was identified by using a multi-locus sequencing approach

No abstract

Various physiological effects of Wolbachia infection have been reported in invertebrates, but the impact of this infection on behavior and the consequences of these behavioral modifications on fitness have rarely been studied. Here, we investigate the effect of Wolbachia infection on the estimation of host nutritive resource quality in a parasitoid wasp. We compare decision-making in uninfected and Wolbachia-infected strains of Trichogramma brassicae Bezdenko (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) on patches containing either fresh or old host eggs. For both strains, fresh eggs were better hosts than older eggs, but the difference was smaller for the infected strain than for the uninfected strain. Oviposition behavior of uninfected wasps followed the predictions of optimal foraging theory. They behaved differently toward high-vs. low-quality hosts, with more hosts visited and more ovipositions, fewer high-quality hosts used for feeding or superparasitism, and a sex ratio that was more biased toward females in patches containing high-quality hosts than in patches containing low-quality ones. Uninfected wasps also displayed shorter acceptance and rejection times in high-quality hosts than in hosts of lower quality. In contrast, infected wasps were less efficient in evaluating the nutritive quality of the host (fresh vs. old eggs) and had a reduced ability to discriminate between unparasitized and parasitized hosts. Furthermore, they needed more energy and therefore engaged in host feeding more often. This study highlights possible decision-making manipulation by Wolbachia, and we discuss its consequences for Wolbachia fitness.

Insects face diverse biotic and abiotic stresses that can affect their survival. Many of these stressors impact cellular metabolism, often resulting in increased accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Consequently, insects will respond to these stressors by increasing antioxidant activity and increased production of heat shock proteins (HSPs). In this study, the effect of heat, cold, starvation, and parasitism by Habroacon hebetor wasps was examined in the carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae, to determine which responses were common to different stresses. For all stressors, malondialdehyde levels increased, indicative of oxidative stress in the insects. The activity of two antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), increased with each stress, suggesting that these enzymes were serving a protective role for the insects. Heat (46˚C for 100 min) and cold (-15˚C for 30 min) treatments caused significant mortalities to all developmental stages, but pretreatments of moderate heat (37˚C for 10 min) or cold (10˚C for 10 min) induced thermotolerance and reduced the mortality rates when insects were subsequently exposed to lethal temperatures. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed that heat and cold tolerance were associated with up-regulation of two HSPs, HSP70 and HSP90. Interestingly, HSP70 transcripts increased to a greater extent with cold treatment, while HSP90 transcripts increased more in response to high temperatures. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated knockdown of either HSP70 or HSP90 transcripts was achieved by injecting larvae with dsRNA targeting each gene's transcripts, and resulted in a loss of acquired thermotolerance in insects subjected to the heat or cold pretreatments. These observations provide convincing evidence that both HSP70 and HSP90 are important mediators of the acquired thermotolerance. Starvation and parasitism by wasps caused differential expression of the HSP genes. In response to starvation, HSP90 transcripts increased to a greater extent than HSP70, while in contrast, HSP70 transcripts increased to a greater extent than those of HSP90 during the first 48 h of wasp

The effect of wind on the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae, male responsiveness to the sex pheromone, and on the calling behavior of virgin oviparae, was studied under constant wind speeds in the laboratory and in the field. A significant proportion of females called at wind speeds up to 4 m/sec, whereas male flight behavior in clean air was inhibited at velocities > 2 m/sec. However, males continued to walk over the range of wind speeds at which females called. Under constant wind velocities in a wind tunnel, males downwind of calling females oriented on the upwind edge of the release stand, and fewer individuals took flight at low constant wind speeds than in a clean air plume. In all cases, whether calling females were present or not, the males that took flight moved downwind. However, when a bridge was available, a significant proportion of males walked upwind to the pheromone source. The same orientation and walking behaviors were observed when males were placed downwind of calling females under variable wind conditions in the field. However, contrary to the laboratory results, 30% of the males tested flew upwind and landed on the source. A more detailed examination found that males orienting toward a source would walk if wind speeds were high but initiated flight in an "upwind" direction if there was a lull in wind velocity. These findings suggest that for the potato aphid, and probably for many other insect species with weak flight capacity, walking behavior is a significant component of pheromone-mediated mate location. This would permit males to continue foraging for calling females in the vicinity when wind velocities inhibit flight.

In polyandrous species, males seek to maximize their reproductive output by monopolizing their mate. Often the male transfers substances to the female that suppress her sexual receptivity or antagonize the behavior of competing males; both are usually transferred in seminal fluids and represent forms of chemical mate guarding. In moths, more long-range female sex pheromones have been identified than in any other animal group, and males often display with close-range sex pheromones, yet odor-based post-copulatory mate guarding has not been described in moths so far. We tested the hypothesis that the male sex pheromone in the noctuid moth Heliothis virescens perfumes the female and functions as an anti-aphrodisiac. Indeed, virgin females perfumed with male pheromone extract, or with its main component, mated significantly less than control virgin females, and this effect persisted for two successive nights. This chemical mate guarding strategy was disadvantageous for H. virescens females, because the reproductive output of twice-mated females was significantly higher than that of once-mated females. Since the female and male sex pheromones are biosynthetically related in this and other moth species, chemical mate guarding may also impose selection pressure on the long-range female sex pheromone channel and consequently affect the evolution of sexual communication.

Performance and population growth rate of the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii Glover, and the yield losses inflicted by that pest, were studied in relation to varying nitrogen fertilization levels (90, 110, 150 and 190 ppm) on cucumber, Cucumis sativus L., under greenhouse conditions. The results showed that some plant variables, including leaf biomass, water and nitrogen content, increased at higher levels of nitrogen fertilization. Aphids developing on cucumber plants receiving the highest nitrogen fertilization had a significantly shorter development time and produced more offspring per capita than aphids subjected to the other regimes. However, no significant differences were observed in juvenile survivorship under different nitrogen treatments. Aphid adult body weight and mean relative growth rate (MRGR), as well as the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m ), were positively correlated with nitrogen fertilization levels in the treated plants. Additionally, aphid abundance and population growth rate (r) were significantly influenced by interaction between nitrogen fertilization level and sampling date. Plant yield was significantly affected by the interaction between nitrogen fertilization rate and aphid presence. In the absence of aphids, plant yield increased linearly with higher nitrogen fertilization; however, in the presence of aphids yield decreased linearly with nitrogen fertilization, the lowest yield being produced by plants fertilized with 190 ppm nitrogen. We discuss the results in relation to aphid population dynamics and management.