Journal of Economic Entomology最新文献

We investigated insecticide resistance profiles of field populations of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.), collected from central regions of Thailand. Seven strains (PW, RB, MTH, MTS, TL, AY, and SP) were evaluated with diagnostic doses (DD; 3 × LD95 generated from a susceptible strain) of deltamethrin, fipronil, and imidacloprid using topical assays and compared with a susceptible strain (DMSC). Results showed fipronil (2-27% mortality), deltamethrin (16-58% mortality), and imidacloprid (15-75% mortality) resistance in the field strains. Synergism studies with piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate (DEF) in combination with the DD of insecticides significantly increased (P < 0.05) mortality of the test insects of the field strains suggesting the involvement of P450 monooxygenase and esterase pathways of detoxification. Gel bait evaluations demonstrated that all field-collected strains were resistant to Maxforce Forte (0.05% fipronil), Maxforce Fusion (2.15% imidacloprid), and Advion Cockroach Gel Bait (0.6% indoxacarb) with mean survival times ranging from 1.87-8.27, 1.77-11.72, and 1.19-3.56 days, respectively. Molecular detection revealed that the Rdl mutation was completely homozygous in all field-collected strains except in the PW strain. Field-collected strains were screened for 3 voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC) mutations associated with pyrethroid resistance. The L993F mutation was present in 5 strains, but no C764R and E434K mutations were detected.

Corn wireworm, Melanotus communis Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Elateridae), is an economically important larval pest of root and tuber crops in the United States. Previous work to estimate field-level abundance of M. communis has focused on grain-based larval baits placed in soil. However, this sampling method is labor intensive and may not estimate population size accurately. Recent discovery of the M. communis sex pheromone, 13-tetradecenyl acetate, provides a new method to monitor this pest during the adult stage. Early studies with this pheromone showed that different trapping methods might enhance catch and improve trap servicing. We hypothesized that placing lures on elevated traps would increase M. communis capture relative to the in-ground pitfall trapping that is currently used. We had 2 objectives for this study: (a) to compare pheromone captures among in-ground pitfall traps, on-ground pitfalls, elevated pitfalls (1 m), or elevated sticky cards (1 m) and (b) test lure longevity by aging the lures outdoors at 8-, 6-, 4-, 2-, and 0-wk intervals prior to trap deployment in the field. Experiments were conducted in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida during the 2021 and 2022 field seasons. Results highlight large variation in M. communis abundance across the 4 states. We showed that 1 m elevated pheromone traps caught the most beetles. The age of the lure prior to deployment had a significant effect on trap catch. The lures that were aged for fewer weeks attracted significantly more beetles, with 0- and 2-wk-old lures capturing the greatest numbers.

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is an invasive woodboring pest of ash trees (Fraxinus sp.) in North America. Among the Asiatic parasitoids being released for the management of EAB in North America, Oobius agrili Zhang and Huang (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is the only EAB egg parasitoid. To date, more than 2.5 million O. agrili have been released in North America; however, few studies have examined its success as a biological control agent of EAB. We conducted studies to assess O. agrili establishment, persistence, spread, and EAB egg parasitism rates in Michigan at the earliest release sites (2007-2010), as well as at more recent release sites (2015-2016) in 3 Northeastern United States (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York). In both regions, we documented successful O. agrili establishment at all but one release site. In Michigan, O. agrili has persisted at release sites for over a decade and spread to all control sites located 0.6-3.8 km from release sites. Overall, EAB egg parasitism ranged from 1.5% to 51.2% (mean of 21.4%) during 2016-2020 in Michigan and from 2.6% to 29.2% (mean of 16.1%) during 2018-2020 in the Northeastern states. Future research efforts should focus on factors affecting the spatiotemporal variation in EAB egg parasitism rates by O. agrili, as well as its potential range in North America.

Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV) and prune dwarf virus (PDV) are pollen-borne viruses of important stone fruit crops, including peaches, which can cause substantial yield loss. Although both horizontal and vertical (i.e., seed) transmission of both viruses occurs through pollen, the role of flower-visiting insects in their transmission is not well understood. Bees and thrips reportedly spread PNRSV and PDV in orchards and greenhouse studies; however, the field spread of PNRSV and PDV in peach orchards in the southeastern United States is not explored. We hypothesized that bees and thrips may facilitate virus spread by carrying virus-positive pollen. Our 2-yr survey results show that 75% of captured bees are carrying virus-positive pollen and moving across the orchard while a subsample of thrips were also found virus positive. Based on morphology, Bombus, Apis, Andrena, Eucera, and Habropoda are the predominant bee genera that were captured in peach orchards. Understanding the role of bees and thrips in the spread of PNRSV and PDV will enhance our understanding of pollen-borne virus ecology.

Silkworms (Bombyx mori) reared on artificial diets during all instars have the advantages of simplicity and efficiency, year-round production, and reduced risk of poisoning. However, low silk yield remains a challenge, limiting its industrial application. To address this issue, the spinning behavior, nutrient absorption, and transcriptomics of silkworms were investigated. Compared with silkworms reared on mulberry leaves during all instars, those fed with artificial diets showed significantly lower cocoon weight, cocoon shell weight, cocoon shell rate, and silk gland tissue somatic index at the end of the fifth instar (P < 0.01). The spinning duration and crawling distance of silkworms reared on artificial diets were also significantly lower than those reared on mulberry leaves (P < 0.01). Regarding nutrient absorption, the dietary efficiency indexes of silkworms fed with artificial diets were significantly lower than those fed with mulberry leaves, except for the efficiency conversion of digesta to cocoon (P < 0.01). Further RNA-Seq analysis revealed 386 differentially transcribed genes between the 2 groups, with 242 upregulated and 144 downregulated genes. GO enrichment analysis showed that differential transcriptional genes were mainly enriched in organic acid metabolism, oxidation-reduction, and drug catabolism. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that differential transcriptional genes were mainly enriched in genetic information processing and metabolism pathways. Our findings provide new insights into the silk secretion and can serve as a reference for future research and application of silkworms fed with artificial diets.

Background: This article reports the Polish adaptation of the Questionnaire to Assess Affective and Cognitive Empathy (QAACE) by Zoll and Enz - a multidimensional self-report questionnaire used to measure empathy in children aged 8-14. The QAACE is based on a two-factor cognitive-emotional model of empathy. It has a number of international adaptations and offers a convenient Polish-language tool for use with young children and adolescents.

Participants and procedure: The sample consisted of 677 children aged 8-13. The survey was conducted on school premises, during classes, by an appropriately prepared researcher.

Results: Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fitting measurement model representing the original underlying factor structure of the QAACE among Polish children. The reliability of the questionnaire as measured by Cronbach's α and McDonald's ω was good. The reliability of the scale as assessed by the test-retest method (after four weeks) was .80. We assessed the validity of the tool by analyzing the correlation of empathy with love and sadism. General empathy, as well as cognitive and affective empathy, is positively related to love. The hypothesis that sadism is significantly related to empathy was also partially confirmed. General empathy and affective empathy are negatively correlated with sadism, while there was no relationship between sadism and cognitive empathy.

Conclusions: The questionnaire is the first widely available tool of this type to examine empathy and its components appropriate for children and adolescents in Poland. The questionnaire can be a useful screening test for detecting children's level of empathy.

Due to declines in pollinator populations, many people are now interested in learning about which annual flowers they can plant in their garden to better support pollinators. However, reports of experimental evaluation of cultivars of annual flowers for attraction to pollinators are scarce. We sampled pollinators visiting six cultivars of marigold (Tagetes erecta and T. patula), ten cultivars of bidens (Bidens ferulifolia and B. aurea), and eight cultivars of portulaca (Portulaca oleracea and P. grandiflora) for two years to compare pollinator visitation rates among cultivars within each flower type. Pollinators collected on flowers in research plots were categorized into four groups, honey bees (Apis mellifera), common eastern bumble bees (Bombus impatiens), wild bees, and syrphids, to show the proportion of different pollinator visitors to each cultivar. Pollinator visitation rates varied significantly among cultivars of marigold, bidens, and portulaca, with some cultivars having as much as 10-fold the visitation rate of other cultivars of the same flower type. In the second year we also evaluated nectar production and nectar quality of the most and least visited cultivars of portulaca and bidens. Our results show that pollinators have a strong preference for cultivars that produce the most nectar or nectar with the highest sugar content. This research will better inform entomologists, growers, educators, and plant breeders, about which cultivars of marigold, portulaca, and bidens are visited the most by pollinators, and how to accurately determine this at the cultivar level.

Chemical pesticides, while playing an important role in the suppression of insect pests, should be used in a manner that minimizes negative effects on natural enemies. The parasitoid, Anagyrus vladimiri Triapitsyn (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), plays an important role in the management of mealybug pests of citrus groves in the Mediterranean region. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of commonly used acaricides (Spirodiclofen, Spirotetramat, Sulfur, Fenpyroximate, Abamectin) and mineral oils (Levanola, EOS, JMS, and Ultrapaz) on acute mortality of A. vladimiri. Toxicity was assessed in 4 cases: (i) direct spray application on adults, (ii) pesticide application on the mummified host, (iii) feeding with contaminated food, and (iv) contact with pesticide residue. The pesticide Abamectin, applied alone and with Levanola oil was highly toxic to adults in all bioassays, with the exception of direct spray application on the mummified host. Fenpyroximate was found to be highly toxic only when sprayed directly on adults, and sulfur was slightly harmful. Mineral oils were harmful when ingested with food; otherwise, they did not cause appreciable adult mortality. The findings of the present study suggest that all tested materials, with the exception of Abamectin and Fenpyroximate, are compatible with the survival of A. vladimiri. Direct ingestion of oils can, however, cause a degree of mortality. Given that indiscriminate use of these pesticides may affect the population ecology of A. vladimiri, they should be used with caution.

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire, is the most destructive invasive pest on ash (Fraxinus spp.) in the United States. We determined whether ash trees injected with emamectin benzoate (EB) could protect untreated neighboring ash trees. We also determined whether the selective treatment of ash trees with EB injections had adverse effects on the establishment of introduced larval parasitoids Tetrastichus planipennis Yang and Spathius galinae Belokobylskij & Strazenac. In experiment one, trees were treated with EB and then retreated 3 years later. Five years post initial treatment, we found that 90% of treated ash trees retained healthy crowns, significantly higher than those of untreated control ash trees (16%). For experiment two, trees only received one treatment of EB and after 2 years 100% of treated ash trees retained healthy crowns, significantly higher than those of untreated ash trees (50%). In both experiments, we found that distance from the central EB-treated tree was not a significant predictor for tree health or presence of EAB exit holes. Although distance from the EB-treated trees appeared to have a significant positive relationship with woodpecker feeding signs on neighboring trees, such relationships did not result in significant differences in the proportion of neighboring ash trees retaining healthy crowns between EB treatment and control plots. The introduced EAB parasitoids appeared to have established equally well between treatment and control plots. Findings are discussed in the context of integration of EB trunk injection with biological control for protection of North American ash against EAB.

The tomato pest Phthorimaea absoluta Meyrick is highly invasive but has not yet invaded North America. However, several morphologically similar species are already present, making detection of P. absoluta presence and invasion challenging. We designed a quantitative PCR molecular diagnostic to differentiate P. absoluta, P. operculella (Zeller), or Keiferia lycopersicella (Walsingham) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) DNA. Additionally, we developed an RPA-Cas12a molecular diagnostic that allows for the isothermal detection of P. absoluta DNA, eliminating the need for a thermocycler. The results of the RPA-Cas12a diagnostic can be visualized simply using a UV light source and cell phone camera. We expect these diagnostics to improve quarantine and prevention measures against this serious agricultural threat.