The parasitism and host feeding behavior of Tamarixia triozae (Burks) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) females on Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc) (Hemiptera: Triozidae) fourth instars that have infested tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Miller) leaflets are described and quantified. Females took approximately 31.14±4.39 min to search for their first suitable host. The recognition and handling times for oviposition were 2.66±0.18 and 4.26±0.39 min, respectively. T. triozae parasitized 4.66±0.61 nymphs in a period of 6 h. The parasitoid explored and probed its host by walking along the margins of its body while antennating and repeatedly introducing the ovipositor beneath the nymph. The handling times before and during host feeding were 8.42±0.67 and 8.29±0.60 min, respectively. T. triozae females consumed 1.00±0.00 B. cockerelli nymph after parasitizing 3.3±0.48 nymphs. EPA—a refined soybean oil—imidacloprid, and abamectin caused between ∼70 and 100% T. triozae adult mortality after a 48-h contact treatment with fresh pesticide residue and a 47–91% decrease (abamectin > imidacloprid > EPA) in adult emergence when parasitized B. cockerelli fourth instars were directly sprayed. These data suggest that the use of these insecticides in combination with T. triozae in integrated pest management programs should be carefully evaluated.

Relationships between the omnivorous predator Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) and the egg parasitoid Trichogramma achaeae Nagaraja and Nagarkatti were studied in the laboratory (no-choice and choice assays, and functional responses) and in a greenhouse experiment. Both natural enemies are utilized in the biological control of tomato pinworm on greenhouse-grown tomato crops. Three different food items were offered to the predator: nonparasitized prey, prey parasitized for less than 4 d by T. achaeae, and prey parasitized for more than 4 d by the parasitoid. There were significant differences in consumption of food types, with highest consumption for nonparasitized prey, followed by parasitized (<4 d) and then parasitized (>4 d), both in no-choice and choice trials. At the same time, the predator causes a significant mortality in the prey (over 80%) regardless of previous parasitism, resulting in a very coincidental intraguild predation detrimental to the parasitoid. It has also been observed that there was a change in the functional response by the predator from Type II in presence of nonparasitized prey to Type I when there was a combination of parasitized and nonparasitized prey. This represents an increase of instantaneous search rate (a') and a decrease of handling time (T_h), which indicates a change in feeding behavior on the two prey types. Under greenhouse conditions, the intraguild predation reduced the percentage of parasitism by T. achaeae in just over 20%. However, when both natural enemies were present, a better control of pest Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) was achieved than in the case of application of any of them alone.

The larch casebearer [Coleophora laricella (Hubner)], a non-native insect, continues to impact western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) through defoliation events in the Pacific Northwest. Biological control programs starting in the 1960s released seven species of parasitoid wasps to control C. laricella outbreaks. However, information about current population dynamics of C. laricella and associated parasitoids remains lacking. Therefore, the goal of this study was to document the presence, current distributions, densities, and parasitism rates of introduced and native parasitoid wasps occurring on C. laricella throughout the Northwestern U.S. range of L. occidentalis. We sampled L. occidentalis trees at multiple sites in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. C. laricella was present at all sites with average state densities ranging from 6.2 to 13.1 moths/100 buds. We recovered two introduced hymenopteran biological control agents; Agathis pumila (Ratzeburg: Braconidae) at 79% of the sites, and Chrysocharis laricinellae (Ratzeburg: Eulophidae) at 63% of the sites. Fourteen species of native parasitic wasps were also recovered. The most common species were: Bracon sp., Spilochalcis albifrons, and Mesopolobus sp. The average native species parasitism rate across the four states was 9.0%, which was higher than the introduced species Ch. laricinellae (2.9%), but not as high as A. pumila (19.3%). While survey results suggest that native species may be more important for the control of C. laricella than previously thought, A. pumila remains the major source of regional control. However, further research is needed to better understand how introduced and native parasitoids interact to control invasive pest populations.

Sex pheromone-mediated mating disruption using pheromone puffer dispensers was evaluated to control Coleophora deauratella (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae) at three red clover seed production fields in Alberta, Canada. The objectives of the study were to determine aspects of the biology of C. deauratella which may affect successful mating disruption, evaluate the ability of aerosol-emitting pheromone puffers to reduce male moth catch in small-plot trials, and evaluate the ability of puffers to reduce male capture in traps, larval numbers and damage in large-plot trials. The median longevity of male and female C. deauratella was 6 d in the laboratory where males emerged in larger numbers earlier than females (protandry). Male response to pheromone peaked at sunrise; thus, puffers were programmed to dispense pheromone throughout this time period. Small-plot (0.25 ha) mating disruption trials indicated that pheromone released from puffers could reduce male C. deauratella orientation to traps by 60.7±18.6% compared with that in untreated control plots. Reduction of male orientation to traps in large-plot (5 ha) trials over the course of the season was also successful (93.7±1.6%). However, there was no corresponding decrease in larval numbers or increase in seed yield in pheromone-treated plots. Challenges of mating disruption of C. deauratella appear to be immigration of mated females combined with high population densities.

It is frequently assumed that an invasive species that is ecologically or economically damaging in one region, will typically be so in other environments. The Argentine ant Linepithema humile (Mayr) is listed among the world's worst invaders. It commonly displaces resident ant species where it occurs at high population densities, and may also reduce densities of other ground-dwelling arthropods. We investigated the effect of varying Argentine ant abundance on resident ant and nonant arthropod species richness and abundance in seven cities across its range in New Zealand. Pitfall traps were used to compare an invaded and uninvaded site in each city. Invaded sites were selected based on natural varying abundance of Argentine ant populations. Argentine ant density had a significant negative effect on epigaeic ant abundance and species richness, but hypogaeic ant abundance and species richness was unaffected. We observed a significant decrease in Diplopoda abundance with increasing Argentine ant abundance, while Coleoptera abundance increased. The effect on Amphipoda and Isopoda depended strongly on climate. The severity of the impact on negatively affected taxa was reduced in areas where Argentine ant densities were low. Surprisingly, Argentine ants had no effect on the abundance of the other arthropod taxa examined. Morphospecies richness for all nonant arthropod taxa was unaffected by Argentine ant abundance. Species that are established as invasive in one location therefore cannot be assumed to be invasive in other locations based on presence alone. Appropriate management decisions should reflect this knowledge.

Spiders are abundant in tropical ecosystems and exert predatory pressure on a wide variety of invertebrate populations and also serve as prey for many others organisms, being part of complex interrelationships influenced directly and indirectly by a myriad of factors. We examined the influence of biotic (i.e., prey availability) and abiotic (i.e., temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, real evapotranspiration) factors on species richness and abundance during a two-year period in the semiarid Caatinga vegetation in northeastern Brazil. Data were analyzed through partial autocorrelation functions, cross correlations, and a path analysis. A total of 2522 spiders were collected with beating tray, pitfall traps, and malaise traps, comprising 91 species and 34 families. Spider abundance peaked in the rainy season. Our results suggest that total invertebrate abundance has a direct influence on spider richness and abundance, whereas the effects of precipitation were mainly indirectly related to most spider assemblage parameters. The increase in vegetation cover with the rainy season in the Caatinga provides more breeding and foraging sites for spiders and stimulates their activities. Additionally, rainfall in arid and semiarid ecosystems stimulated the activity and reproduction of many herbivore and detritivore invertebrates dependent on plant biomass and necromass consumption, leading to an increase in spider prey availability.

The decline of Coccinella novemnotata Herbst, the ninespotted lady beetle, across North America has been attributed to the introduction of Coccinella septempunctata L. It has been suggested that C. septempunctata negatively impacted C. novemnotata through a combination of mechanisms. We investigated the effects of scramble competition and intraguild predation between groups of C. septempunctata and C. novemnotata. A novel aspect of these experiments for this species combination was that we provided beetles the option to cannibalize conspecifics or predate on heterospecifics (i.e. intraguild predation); thus, we were able to compare interspecific versus intraspecific competition. Increasing prey density resulted in significantly lower rates of intraguild predation on C. novemnotata by C. septempunctata. Percentage survival of C. novemnotata grouped with C. septempunctata at low and high aphid densities was 6 and 61%, respectively. For our second study, we increased the spatial complexity and volume of the assay system, and provided prey ad libitum. C. novemnotata survival from first-instar to adult was significantly lower than C. septempunctata survival when grouped heterospecifically (43 vs 61% survival, respectively). Finally, we conducted a study to determine if hungry larvae discriminate conspecific versus heterospecific larvae by testing whether they predated selectively on the basis of species, which they did not appear to do. We conclude that C. novemnotata larvae suffer greater rates of intraguild predation from C. septempunctata compared with cannibalism, that this difference appears to be due to size asymmetry between the two species, and that local conditions impact the severity of intraguild predation by C. septempunctata.

The Asiatic rice borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker), is an important insect pest of rice in China. The genetic variation of a set of laboratory colonies of C. suppressalis was compared with their source populations in the wild (laboratory colonies BJCK, BJ1AB, and BJ1AC versus wild population BJW; laboratory colonies FZCK and FZ1CA versus wild population FZW) and was analyzed using eight microsatellite markers and two partial mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) regions (COI and COII). Results from both analyses revealed similar patterns. Microsatellite DNA analysis showed that the two wild populations (BJW and FZW) harbored more private alleles and had higher levels of gene diversity, and observed and expected heterozygosity, compared with the laboratory colonies. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that the two wild populations (BJW and FZW) had higher numbers of haplotypes compared with the five laboratory colonies. The three Beijing laboratory-reared colonies (BJ1CK, BJ1AB, and BJ1AC) had one fixed haplotype (H04). Most of the pairwise F_ST values based on mtDNA were high and all pairwise F_ST comparisons based on microsatellite DNA were significant, which indicated that the significant differences between these colonies and populations. Genetic drift caused by several factors, such as founder effect, small effective population size, rearing protocols, and inbreeding, can contribute to the rapid loss of genetic variation and affect the distribution of alleles and haplotypes. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the sample size of source populations to prevent the loss of genetic variation and genetic differentiation between different colonies.

Development time and prey consumption of Scymnus (Neopullus) camptodromus Yu and Liu (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) larvae by instar, strain, and temperature were evaluated. S. camptodromus, a specialist predator of hemlock woolly adelgid Adelges tsugae (Annand) (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), was brought to the United States from China as a potential biological control agent for A. tsugae. This beetle has been approved for removal from quarantine but has not yet been field released. We observed that temperature had significant effects on the predator's life history. The larvae tended to develop faster and consume more eggs of A. tsugae per day as rearing temperature increased. Mean egg consumption per day of A. tsugae was less at 15°C than at 20°C. However, as larvae took longer to develop at the lower temperature, the total number of eggs consumed per instar during larval development did not differ significantly between the two temperatures. The lower temperature threshold for predator larval development was estimated to be 5°C, which closely matches the developmental threshold of A. tsugae progrediens. Accumulated degree-days for 50% of the predator neonates to reach adulthood was estimated to be 424. Although temperature had a significant effect on larval development and predation, it did not impact survival, size, or sex ratio of the predator at 15 and 20°C. Furthermore, no remarkable distinctions were observed among different geographical populations of the predator.

The effects of host density, temperature, and burial depths on the functional response of the synovigenic parasitoid Spalangia cameroni (Perkins) attacking pupae of the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) were examined. Five temperatures (15, 20, 25, 30, and 35°C), six host densities (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 pupae per 19.64 cm²), and three burial depths in whole wheat grains (0, 8, and 16 cm) were used. It was demonstrated that temperature had a profound effect on the functional response, whereas burial depths of the pupae played a minor role. For all temperatures, the functional response was of type 2 with an upper asymptote that depends on the temperature. Data were fitted by a functional response model where only the maximum attack rate is temperature dependent. The model shows that the optimal temperature for S. cameroni for attacking S. calcitrans pupae is 28.6°C, where the maximum attack rate is 20.2 pupae day^-1. The lower and upper temperature thresholds for attacks were found as 8.1 and 36.6°C, respectively. The temperature range for attacks that resulted in successful parasitism was narrower, namely, 15.0 and 35.5°C. Maximum rate of successful parasitism was estimated to be 18.2 progeny day^-1 occurring at 27.9°C. The proportion of attacks resulting in successful parasitism increased steeply with temperatures >15°C and declined steeply at temperatures >30°C.

The plant growth regulator gibberellic acid (GA₃) is known to negatively impact growth and development of insects. In this study, larvae of Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) were fed a diet with varying dosages of GA₃ to investigate how antioxidant enzymes are influenced. Activity levels in last instars reared in laboratory at 25±2°C, 60±5% relative humidity, and a photoperiod of 12:12 (L:D) h were measured for superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and catalase (CAT). Treatment with GA₃ in diet resulted in a remarkable increase in the activities of both SOD and GST at lower GA₃ doses (50–1,000 ppm) with respect to control and higher doses. The activity of CAT in the hemolymph of last instars significantly increased at all doses when compared with that in the hemolymph of untreated larvae. This trend in the increase of CAT was not dose-wise, except for the significant increases at 2,000 and 5,000 ppm when compared with that of untreated and all treated groups. Consequently, our results showed that GA₃ is effective at activating the antioxidant defense system of insects as a source of free radical and can be toxic for larvae in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, we suggest that the increase in the activity of GST, SOD, and CAT in larvae may indicate a physiological adaptability to compensate for GA₃-induced stress.

Effects of coprophagous insects on greenhouse gas emissions from cattle dung pats were investigated during the initial stage in the decomposition of dung, with accompanying changes in nitrogen, carbon, and energy content. We set up three treatments with adults of Caccobius jessoensis Harold (dung beetle) and larvae of the fly Neomyia cornicina (F.): 1) dung with dung beetles; 2) dung with fly larvae; and 3) dung without insects. In these treatments, the gas flux was measured from air flow exiting the glass containers connected with an in vitro continuous gas analysis system. Total gas fluxes from dung pats with fly larvae were lowest in carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). The presence of dung beetles significantly increased CO₂ flux from dung, but reduced CH₄ flux compared with dung without insects. Fluxes of N₂O from dung pats with dung beetles and without insects had distinct peaks at different times after the start of the experiment, while N₂O from dung with fly larvae was emitted in extremely low levels throughout the experiment. Carbon (C) content in dung with beetles was significantly lower than that of untreated dung pats designated as fresh dung, whereas that of dung with fly larvae was higher than dung with beetles and without insects. Nitrogen (N) content was significantly lower in dung with fly larvae than the other treatments. Contents of C and N in fly pupae were 35.87 and 8.05%, respectively. During the larval growth of the fly, energy accumulated in the fly body was 2,830 J/g.

Habitat manipulations, intentional provisioning of natural vegetation along crop edges, have been shown to enhance beneficial epigaeic invertebrate activity in many agricultural settings, but little research has been conducted on this practice in the southeast United States. We conducted a field-scale study to determine if habitat manipulations along the field edges of an organic crop rotation increase the activity—density of beneficial ground-dwelling invertebrates. Pitfall traps were used to collect micro and macro ground-dwelling organisms in nine organic crop fields (three each of maize, soybeans, and hay; 2.5–4.0 ha each) surrounded by four experimental habitat manipulations (planted native grass and prairie flowers, planted prairie flowers only, fallow vegetation, or mowed vegetation) during 2009 and 2010 in eastern North Carolina. Beneficial macro and micro invertebrates collected in these pitfall traps consisted primarily of Carabidae, Araneae, Collembola, and mite species. Results show that habitat manipulations had little effect on the activity—density of the dominant epigaeic invertebrates in our study system. Our results suggest that the activity—density of these organisms were instead determined by a combination of in-field characteristics, such as crop type, weed management practices, and within-field resources, along with the diversity of crop type in neighboring fields and the availability of other resources in the area.

Nysius natalensis Evans (Hemiptera: Orsillidae) is a pest of sunflower in South Africa. Adults invade sunflower fields from their weedy hosts. The host plant suitability for development and survival and the effect of between-generation host switching were studied on different wild host plants and sunflower. Parameters used to assess host plant suitability were nymphal development, head widths, mean mass, and survival. Nymphs and adults were provided with crushed seed of five host plants, as well as a combination of seeds of the five species. Duration of the nymphal stage, development and mortality, and mean development time to adult were recorded. Between-generation host switching was studied by providing first-instar nymphs (F₂) with seed of either the same plant species or transferred to different ones. Mean mass and mean head widths of adults (F₂) were determined. The food source during the first and second generation, as well as the interaction thereof, has a significant effect on head widths of resultant males and females, as well as on female mass, but first-generation food did not have a significant effect on male mass. Feeding the F₂ on sunflower proved to be beneficial to the false chinch bug, as it provided the heaviest males and females as well as females with the biggest head widths. Lack of constant availability of moisture had a detrimental effect on longevity. Host plant switching to sunflower likely happens as a result of senescence of wild host plants prior to winter.

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carriere) is a dominant shade-tolerant tree in northeastern United States that has been declining since the arrival of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand). Determining where A. tsugae settles under different abiotic conditions is important in understanding the insect's expansion. Resource availability such as light and water can affect herbivore selectivity and damage. We examined how A. tsugae settlement and survival were affected by differences in light intensity and water availability, and how adelgid affected tree performance growing in these different abiotic treatments. In a greenhouse at the University of Rhode Island, we conducted an experiment in which the factors light (full-sun, shaded), water (water-stressed, watered), and adelgid (infested, insect-free) were fully crossed for a total of eight treatments (20 two-year-old hemlock saplings per treatment). We measured photosynthesis, transpiration, water potential, relative water content, adelgid density, and survival throughout the experiment. Adelgid settlement was higher on the old-growth foliage of shaded and water-stressed trees, but their survival was not altered by foliage age or either abiotic factor. The trees responded more to the light treatments than the water treatments. Light treatments caused a difference in relative water content, photosynthetic rate, transpiration, and water potential; however, water availability did not alter these variables. Adelgid did not enhance the impact of these abiotic treatments. Further studies are needed to get a better understanding of how these abiotic factors impact adelgid densities and tree health, and to determine why adelgid settlement was higher in the shaded treatments.

Spotted wilt caused by tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV; family Bunyaviridae; genus Tospovirus) is a serious disease of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in the southeastern United States. Peanut genotypes with field resistance to TSWV are effective in suppressing spotted wilt. All commercially available genotypes with field resistance to TSWV were developed through conventional breeding. As a part of the breeding process, peanut genotypes are regularly screened under field situations. Despite numerous advantages associated with field screening, it is often limited by inconsistent vector (thrips) and TSWV pressure. A greenhouse transmission protocol would aid in thorough screening of selected genotypes and conserve time. In this study, various parameters associated with TSWV transmission, including tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds) density, mode of inoculation, and plant age, were evaluated. Greater incidences of TSWV infection were obtained with thrips-mediated inoculation when compared with mechanical inoculation. TSWV inoculation with three, five, and 10 thrips resulted in greater incidences of TSWV infection in plants than inoculation with one thrips. However, incidences of TSWV infection did not vary between plants inoculated with three, five, and 10 viruliferous thrips. With both thrips-mediated and mechanical inoculation methods, incidences of TSWV infection in 1-wk-old plants were greater than in 4-wk-old plants. TSWV copy numbers, as determined by qPCR, also decreased with plant age. Results suggest that using at least three thrips per plant and 1- to 2-wk-old plants would maximize TSWV infection in inoculated plants.

Mounting scientific evidence indicates that pathogens can regulate insect populations. However, limited dispersal and sensitivity to abiotic conditions often restricts pathogen regulation of host populations. While it is well established that arthropod biological vectors increase pathogen incidence in host populations, few studies have examined whether arthropod mechanical vectors (an organism that transmits pathogens but is not essential to the life cycle of the pathogen) influence host—pathogen dynamics. The importance of mechanical dispersal by ant scavengers, Formica fusca (L.), in a grasshopper—fungal entomopathogen system was investigated. We examined the ability of ants to mechanically disperse and transmit the pathogen, Entomophaga grylli (Fresenius) pathotype 1, to its host, the pest grasshopper Camnula pellucida (Scudder), in a series of laboratory experiments. Fungal spores were dispersed either externally on the ant's body surface or internally through fecal deposition. In addition, a third of all grasshoppers housed with fungal-inoculated ants became infected, indicating that ants can act as mechanical vectors of E. grylli. The effect of ant mechanical vectors on E. grylli incidence was also examined in a field experiment. Ant access to pathogen-exposed experimental grasshopper populations was restricted using organic ant repellent, thereby allowing us to directly compare mechanical and natural transmission. Ants increased grasshopper pathogen mortality by 58%, which led to greater pathogen reductions of grasshopper survival than natural transmission. Taken together, our results indicate that ants enhance E. grylli reduction of grasshopper pest numbers. Therefore, mechanical transmission of pathogens may be an important overlooking component of this grasshopper—fungal pathogen system.

Varying densities of the spring generation of the hemlock woolly adelgid were manipulated on 16 previously uninfested eastern hemlocks in an open-field plantation in Massachusetts. In contrast to experimentally created hemlock woolly adelgid populations in a forest, as reported previously, there was no evidence of density-dependent survival on a tree-wide basis in the plantation in the spring (progrediens) generation. There was, however, comparable density-dependent survival of settled crawlers and sexupara production when samples of the population were examined from branches with high density. Plantation hemlocks had 9.3 times more foliage and 10 times lower adelgid densities per cm than the forest hemlocks. These results show that density-dependent processes in the progrediens generation may only be evident when hemlock woolly adelgid density reaches a critical threshold. In the sistens generation that begins in midsummer, we counted a mean of 126 settled crawlers on marked branch on all 16 trees, but none of these adelgids survived the mid-summer aestivation phase, perhaps due to higher temperatures that were recorded in the plantation compared with a nearby hemlock forest, where 16% of the adelgids survived the aestivation phase. Whole tree counts of overwintering adelgids revealed that the adelgid populations had gone extinct on 13 out of the 16 trees. Mortality in the midsummer aestivation phase often exceeds overwintering mortality that has been widely thought to be the main factor that limits adelgid population growth and spread, particularly in northern states.

The success of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) in North America is hypothesized to be due to both the lack of significant natural enemies permitting easy establishment and a population of trees that lack the ability to defend themselves, which allows populations to grow unchecked. Since its discovery in 2002, a number of studies have examined mortality factors of the insect in forests, but none have examined the role of natural enemies and other mortality agents in the urban forest. This is significant because it is in the urban forest where the emerald ash borer has had the most significant economic impacts. We studied populations in urban forests in three municipalities in Ontario, Canada, between 2010 and 2012 using life tables and stage-specific survivorship to analyze data from a split-rearing manipulative experiment. We found that there was little overall mortality caused by natural enemies; most mortality we did observe was caused by disease. Stage-specific survivorship was lowest in small and large larvae, supporting previous observations of high mortality in these two stages. We also used our data to test the hypothesis that mortality and density in emerald ash borer are linked. Our results support the prediction of a negative relationship between mortality and density. However, the relationship varies between insects developing in the crown and those in the trunk of the tree. This relationship was significant because when incorporated with previous findings, it suggests a mechanism and hypothesis to explain the outbreak dynamics of the emerald ash borer.

Wolf spiders (Lycosidae) are the most abundant ground-hunting spiders in the Australian cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) agroecosystems. These spiders have potential in controlling pest bollworms, Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in minimum-tilled fields. A study was carried out during a wet growing season (2011–2012) in Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia, to determine how different crop rotations and tillage affect wolf spider assemblages in cotton fields. Spider abundance and species richness did not differ significantly between simple plots (no winter crop) and complex plots (cotton—wheat Triticum aestivum L.—vetch Vicia benghalensis L. rotation). However, the wolf spider biodiversity, as expressed by the Shannon—Weaver and Simpson's indices, was significantly higher in complex plots. Higher biodiversity reflected a more even distribution of the most dominant species (Venatrix konei Berland, Hogna crispipes Koch, and Tasmanicosa leuckartii Thorell) and the presence of more rare species in complex plots. T. leuckartii was more abundant in complex plots and appears to be sensitive to farming disturbances, whereas V. konei and H. crispipes were similarly abundant in the two plot types, suggesting higher resilience or recolonizing abilities. The demographic structure of these three species varied through the season, but not between plot types. Environmental variables had a significant effect on spider assemblage, but effects of environment and plot treatment were overshadowed by the seasonal progression of cotton stages. Maintaining a high density and even distribution of wolf spiders that prey on Helicoverpa spp. should be considered as a conservation biological control element when implementing agronomic and pest management strategies.

In Brazil, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) and Chrysodeixis includens (Walker) are important cotton pests and target of control of Bollgard II (Cry1Ac/Cry2Ab2) and WideStrike (Cry1Ac/Cry1F) cotton technologies. To subsidize an insect resistance management program, we conducted laboratory studies to evaluate the toxicity of these Bt cotton plants throughout larval development of S. frugiperda and C. includens. In bioassays with leaf disc, the efficacy of both Bt cotton plants against neonates was >80% for S. frugiperda and 100% for C. includens. However, S. frugiperda larvae that survived on Bt cotton had >76% of growth inhibition and stunting. In bioassays with S. frugiperda and C. includens larvae fed on non-Bt near-isoline during different time period (from 3 to 18 d) and then transferred to Bollgard II or WideStrike leaves showed that larval susceptibility decreased as larval age increased. For Bollgard II cotton, in all S. frugiperda instars, there were larvae that reached the pupal and adult stages. In contrast, on WideStrike cotton, a few larvae in fifth and sixth instar completed the biological cycle. For C. includens, some larvae in sixth instar originated adults in both Bt cotton plants. In conclusion, Bollgard II and WideStrike cotton technologies showed high efficacy against neonates of S. frugiperda and C. includens. However, the mortality of these species decreases as larval age increase, allowing insect survival in a possible seed mixture environment and favoring the resistance evolution.