Whether sugar mixed with insecticides enhances kill of western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), may depend on insecticide rate and food availability. Here, we tested the hypothesis that sucrose mixed with the insecticide spinosad (in the Entrust® SC formulation) enhances kill of adults and reduces oviposition when food is scarce. Three- to 5-d-old flies were exposed to a low or high rate of dried spinosad or spinosad mixed with sucrose in the presence of (a) supplemental food in the form of yeast extract sucrose (YE S) and sweet cherries (Prunus avium [L.] L.) or (b) only sweet cherries. Cherries were a food source and an oviposition substrate. At the low spinosad rate, sucrose enhanced fly kill over spinosad alone under both food conditions the first 4 d or during all 7 d of experiments. At the high spinosad rate, sucrose enhanced kill only when supplemental food was absent. Sucrose-enhanced spinosad did not reduce oviposition versus spinosad alone at either spinosad rate when supplemental food was present but it did at both spinosad rates when only cherries were present. Results suggest that sucrose mixed with the formulation of spinosad tested here in low-volume sprays could be useful for managing R. indifferens in low-food environments, but it offers no benefit in preventing oviposition when applied in food-rich environments.

Ectoparasites were collected from 232 freshly culled white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann), from October through January during 2000–2001, 2001–2002, and 2013–2014 in an 11-county region in southeastern Georgia, USA. Seven species of arthropods were collected: the ticks Amblyomma americanum (L.), Dermacentor albipictus (Packard), and Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae); the scab mite Psoroptes equi (Hering) (Acari: Psoroptidae); the chewing louse Tricholipeurus lipeuroides (Mégnin) (Phthiraptera: Trichodectidae); the sucking louse Solenopotes binipilosus (Fahrenholz) (Phthiraptera: Linognathidae); and the ked Lipoptena mazamae Rondani (Diptera: Hippoboscidae). Prevalence (percentage of deer infested) was significantly higher during the 2013–2014 season for D. albipictus, I. scapularis, and P. equi, and significantly higher during the 2000–2001 season for T. lipeuroides. Prevalence and mean intensity (mean per infested deer) for D. albipictus were both significantly higher on male versus female deer for each sampling period (hunting season) and for combined data (all seasons combined). Prevalence of I. scapularis was significantly higher on male deer during the 2013–2014 season and for combined data. Mean intensity of L. mazamae was significantly higher on male deer during the 2001–2002 and 2013–2014 seasons and for combined data.

Halyomorpha halys (Stål), commonly known as the brown marmorated stink bug, is an invasive and economically damaging insect pest in U.S. agriculture. To date, H. halys has been found in 42 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The stink bug feeds on more than 300 plant species, many of which are important agricultural crops including apples, peaches, persimmons, blackberries, sweet corn, field corn, and soybeans. As a species that has the potential to cause significant economic damage, having H. halys colonies maintained in a laboratory setting for research purposes is critical. While cannibalism occurs in both predatory and phytophagous insects, only two phytophagous pentatomids have been reported to be cannibalistic. After observing cannibalistic oophagy within our H. halys colony, we sought to identify the effects of this behavior on the hatch rate of eggs. Laboratory-reared H. halys egg masses were exposed to either second- or fourth-instar H. halys nymphs for varying lengths of time, after which the proportion of eggs hatched was determined. Both the number of days an egg mass was exposed to nymphs and the age of the nymphs affected egg mortality and hatch rate. This knowledge is useful to researchers attempting to maintain healthy, stable populations of H. halys in laboratory colonies and aids in developing a more successful rearing protocol. Those managing a H. halys colony should be aware that cannibalism may occur in H. halys and take appropriate measures to minimize the impact of this behavior.

Galleria mellonella L. larvae were reared on a standard diet amended with varying concentrations (0, 0.0015, 0.015, 0.15, and 1.5%) of the benzimidazole-derivative antihelmintic drug oxfendazole. Survivorship, developmental times, longevity, fecundity, and fertility were monitored over the treatments. Relative to the untreated control, exposure to diet containing 1.5% oxfendazole significantly decreased survivorship in larval, pupal, and adult stages, prolonged the time to reach the adult stage, and reduced adult longevity. Oxfendazole at all concentrations significantly lowered egg production per female and decreased egg hatch. These results demonstrate that this antihelmintic may be explored as a candidate for insect pest control.

In this study, we eliminated the microbiota of the gut of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) via starvation. We then compared the initial responses of the cellulase system and symbiotic reproduction in termites fed filter paper treated with either antimicrobials or distilled water. Three key findings were as follows: (a) an antibiotic mixture of ampicillin and kanamycin significantly depressed reproduction of Holomastigotoides mirabile Koidzumi and Spirotrichonympha leidyi Koidzumi but promoted reproduction of Pseudotrichonympha grassii Koidzumi during 12 to 48 h of feeding, (b) the enzyme activity levels of three cellulases did not correspond to the respective protozoan levels and did not vary directly with the numeric increase of protozoa in either treatment, and (c) in the antibiotics treatment, β-glucosidase (BG, 0–48 h) and cellobiohydrolase (CBH, 0–12 h) activity levels between endogenous (salivary gland/foregut and midgut) and exogenous (hindgut) origin were negatively correlated. Both the activity level (6–48 h) and expression amounts (6–12 h) of endogenous endo-β-1, 4-glucanase was significantly higher in antibiotics treatment. Before initiation of feeding (0 h), BG and CBH activities had relative maximum levels when the protozoa population was at its minimum. These findings suggest that C. formosanus possesses an endogenous compensation mechanism which functions when the symbiotic cellulolytic system is impaired.

Species that are involved in multitrophic interactions are affected by the trophic levels that are above and below them in both indirect and direct ways. In this experiment, interactions among ants (Formica montana Wheeler; Hymenoptera: Formicidae), aphids (Myzus persicae [Sulzer]; Hemiptera: Aphididae), lepidopteran eggs (Pieris rapae [L.]; Lepidoptera: Pieridae), and lady beetles (Coleomegilla maculata DeGeer; Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were examined on canola (Brassica napus L.; Brassicales: Brassicaceae) to determine whether aphids mediate interactions between ants and eggs and if aphid-tending ants will protect these species from predation by the lady beetles. The first trial examined how ant attendance affected aphid and egg survival over 72 h when these herbivores were present on their own or in combination. The second trial examined these same interactions when a lady beetle was included in the system. Ants consumed significantly more aphids when this prey was offered alone than when eggs were offered alongside. When lady beetles were present, ants did not consume aphids. Ants and lady beetles consumed nearly all of the eggs regardless of whether aphids were present or not. When a lady beetle was absent, ant attendance increased significantly, but only when eggs and aphids were present in the system together. Ants visited the aphids less frequently when a lady beetle was present in the system, possibly due to increased competition. This trend was consistent over time in all treatments. All of this suggests that ants can be an important source of pest management of other herbivores (and even of the aphids that they are attending) but that these interactions are mediated by whether an additional predator is present within the system.