Journal of Economic Entomology

For non-native insects that are economically damaging, understanding the drivers of range expansions and contractions is important for forecasting pest pressure. The invasion of the redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), reached Louisiana, United States, in 2000, after which the northern range limits of this species have fluctuated annually. Low winter temperatures have been implicated as a major driver of this pattern, but the importance of cold temperatures-or other abiotic factors-for the persistence of this pest over large geographic scales are incompletely understood...

Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; Hübner) is the major insect pest of pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan; Fabales: Fabaceae; (L.) Millspaugh] worldwide. Research to develop pest management strategies for H. armigera in pigeon pea has focused heavily on developing less susceptible cultivars, with limited practical success. We examined how pigeon pea crop stage influences plant susceptibility to H. armigera using a combination of glasshouse and laboratory experiments. Plant phenology significantly affected oviposition with moths laying more eggs on flowering and podding plants but only a few on vegetative plants...

Male cerambycid beetles of the large subfamilies Cerambycinae and Lamiinae produce aggregation-sex pheromones that attract both sexes. The pheromones of many species are conserved among both closely related species (e.g., congeners) and more distantly related species (e.g., different subfamilies), including those endemic to different continents. This parsimony in pheromone structures suggests that multiple species may be attracted to traps baited with blends of pheromones, and such blends are finding use in delineating geographic ranges of native species and in surveillance programs for incursions of exotic species...

The Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a very common stored-product pest. The mature larvae wander around searching for suitable places to pupate, offering an opportunity to control this pest. We evaluated the efficacy of 5 insecticide dusts: Alpine (0.25% dinotefuran, 95% diatomaceous earth [DE]), CimeXa (92.1% amorphous silica gel), DX13 (100% DE), Tempo (1% cyfluthrin), and Tri-Die (1% pyrethrin, 10% piperonyl butoxide, 40% amorphous silica) against P. interpunctella wandering larvae by allowing larvae to pass 1-inch treated band, expose to treated vinyl tiles for 5 min, and expose to treated harborage (with or without the presence of an untreated harborage)...

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann is an important mortality agent of Pinus in the eastern United States of America where it commonly shares hosts with the black turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus terebrans (Olivier), which infrequently kills trees. Unlike D. frontalis, which must kill its hosts to become established in the bark and reproduce, D. terebrans can occupy living hosts as a parasite. Olfactory mechanisms whereby D. frontalis initially locates hosts have not been demonstrated, whereas D...

Increasing efficiency of data gathering at the landscape scale on the growing number of pests and pathogens threatening forests worldwide has potential to improve management outcomes. Citizen science is expanding, with growing support and utility in environmental and conservation fields. We present a case study showing how citizen science observations can be used to inform research and management of a devastating forest pest. Hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), was introduced to eastern North America, leading to decline and mortality of eastern [Tsuga canadensis (L...

The Douglas-fir twig weevil (Cylindrocopturus furnissi Buchanan) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has recently emerged as a significant pest of Christmas trees grown in the Pacific Northwest United States. The larvae girdle and disfigure twigs, which adversely affects tree marketability. Trees produced for export are also routinely destroyed for phytosanitary reasons when C. furnissi is discovered at border crossings. Due to historically being a sporadic and benign pest on planted and natural Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii), there is a lack of chemical management options...

We investigated the expression of 4 cytochrome P450 genes (CYP4G19, CYP6J1, CYP6K1, and CYP4C21) in 4 field-collected strains (WM, RG386, CDR, and Ryan) of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.), collected from California. The UCR susceptible strain was used as a comparison. Topical assays using a diagnostic dose (3× LD95) of deltamethrin revealed decreased sensitivity in all field-collected strains with mortality ranging from 0% to 58%, and the addition of PBO before deltamethrin treatment increased mortality to 52...

Polarized growth plays a key role in all domains of their biology, including morphogenesis and pathogenicity of filamentous fungi. However, little information is available about the determinants of polarized growth. The fungal Mep2, Pes1, and Cph1 proteins were identified to be involved in the dimorphic transition between yeast and hyphal forms in Candida albicans. In this study, evidence that the dimorphic fungal entomopathogen Ophiocordyceps sinensis Mep2, Pes1, and Cph1 proteins are involved in polarized growth is presented...

The wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), is a major pest of wheat (Triticum aestivum L., Poales: Poaceae) across the northern Great Plains of North America. Cephus cinctus has a wide host range, attacking numerous wild grasses and cultivated cereals in crop and grassland habitats, where it is, in turn, attacked by 2 native braconid parasitoids. Quantitative assessments of C. cinctus infestation and parasitism levels in different grass species across the full spectrum of available hosts are important in assessing the extent to which grasslands, or specific constituent grass species, may be reservoirs of pests or parasitoids moving into wheat...

This study determined a cost-effective larval diet for rearing Calliphora dubia Macquart for use as a potential managed pollinator in Australia. This fly has potential as a pollination species to support honey bees (Apis mellifera). Larvae of C. dubia were reared mostly in meat meals with varying amounts of either whole egg powder, whole eggs (+ shell), bran flakes, skimmed milk powder, brewer's yeast, or poultry oil. This was done from an economic and production perspective to support commercial rearing. Several laboratory-based studies determined the growth and output from various ingredient combinations...

This study determined the seasonal population fluctuation of Myzus cerasi (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in cherry orchards and the effect of different temperatures on the life-history parameters of these aphids under laboratory conditions. Our field results showed that the population fluctuations and densities of M. cerasi on cherry trees were positively affected by the temperature increase between seasons. Also, our laboratory results showed that M. cerasi survived and reproduced at all temperatures tested under laboratory conditions...

Sex pheromone analogs have high structural similarity to sex pheromone components. They also play a role in studying many agricultural pests. In our study, (Z, Z, Z)-3,6,9-nonadecadiene (Z3Z6Z9-19:Hy) was successfully synthesized, which is an analogue to 1 of 2 sex pheromone components of Ectropis grisescens Warren (Z, Z, Z)-3,6,9-octadecatriene (Z3Z6Z9-18:Hy), and it showed potential inhibition in experiments. In the electroantennogram test, Z3Z6Z9-19:Hy showed a dose-dependent response, and only measured half the response of Z3Z9-6,7-epo-18:Hy...

Over the past 2 decades, the potential of insects as food and feed has been recognized globally. Insects as feed ingredients can improve sustainability because of their lower greenhouse gas emissions and their potential to transform organic wastes into high-quality feed rich in nutrients. However, currently, the practical use of insects as food or feed is limited by the high costs of insect production. A great deal of effort is required to improve the rearing technology necessary to establish the principles of insect farming...

Grasshoppers represent a significant biological challenge in Inner Mongolia's grasslands, severely affecting the region's animal husbandry. Thus, dynamic monitoring of grasshopper infestation risk is crucial for sustainable livestock farming. This study employed the Maxent model, along with remote sensing data, to forecast Oedaleus decorus asiaticus occurrence during the growing season, using grasshopper suitability habitats as a base. The Maxent model's predictive accuracy was high, with an AUC of 0.966...

Thrips are devastating pests for various crops, and they can rasp tender leaves, terminal buds, and flowers, which specifically causing huge economic losses to cotton production. However, there is very little knowledge about the species composition of thrips in mainland China, as well as the genetic structure of the thrips populations, particularly in the cotton-producing regions. In this study, thrips were collected from 40 geographical locations at 8 different provinces which representing majority cotton-producing belts in China, and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I sequence was used to identify species composition and evaluate the genetic diversity of collected thrips individuals...

The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, is a hidden pest that presents serious risk to grain quality during postharvest storage. Lipid-derived volatile detection is considered a key reference for early prediction of S. zeamais infestation. However, the exact compositions of fatty acids and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in S. zeamais-infested wheat are yet to be determined. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of S. zeamais infestation on lipid metabolism in wheat infested with S. zeamais eggs (4 days), larvae (20 days), pupae (35 days), and adults (45 days)...

Climate change involves changes in the pattern of temperature fluctuations and the frequency and magnitude of thermal extremes. It is essential to investigate how insects respond to increased temperature variations, especially for species that usually experience diel temperature variations extending to thermal performance limits. To explicitly elucidate the effects of sizes of amplitudes of temperature variations, we used daily alternating temperatures with an equivalent mean of 28 °C to investigate the impact of different fluctuation amplitudes (± 0 °C,  ± 2 °C,  ± 4 °C, and  ± 6 °C) across permissive temperature regimes on the performance of Spodoptera litura FabriciusFabricius, a highly destructive polyphagous pest of crops and vegetables in tropical and temperate climates...

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An in vivo trial was conducted to determine the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of insect meals for rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Rainbow trout (approximately 370 g ± 23 g, mean ± SD initial weight) were stocked 25 per tank into 400-liter tanks. Fish were fed a reference diet, or 1 of 5 test diets created by blending the reference diet in a 70:30 ratio (dry-weight basis) with menhaden fish meal (MFM), 2 house cricket (Acheta domesticus) meals (cricket A and cricket B), Galleria mellonella meal, and yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) meal...