Plant morphological changes mediated by growth conditions are linked to changes in host preference of herbivores. Understanding how these morphological changes influence herbivore feeding is critical in the interpretation ...

Since the discovery of aster yellows phytoplasma on grapevine in South Africa in 2006, a concerted effort by various research groups to identify the vector(s) was co-ordinated by Winetech. This included qualitative and ...

BACKGROUND : The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is a devastating invasive pest and a threat to food security in Africa, with yield losses of 20–50%. Recent studies highlighted the importance of cereal crops ...

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a phytoplasma discovered in grapevine. The genome size is 600,116 nucleotides (nt), with 597 predicted open reading frames. It is most similar to a maize bushy stunt phytoplasma ...

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops require a high dosage of Bt toxin to delay development of insect resistance, in particular, when the refuge strategy is applied. This strategy is threatened by plant developmental and ...

In August 2010, Aphidius ervi Haliday (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) was reared from a sample of the potato aphid, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas), which was collected in the field on Malva parviflora L. (Malvaceae) ...

Host plant species can affect the behavior and attributes of parasitoids, such as host searching, oviposition, and offspring Þtness. In this study, parasitism, host feeding, and sex ratios of Diglyphus isaea (Walker) ...

The African citrus psyllid Trioza erytreae is one of the major threats to citrus industry as the vector of the incurable disease known as huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening. The psyllid invaded the northwest of the ...

The bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) transmits the nonpersistent Potato virus Y (PVY) to seed potatoes. Planting a nonvirus host plant around the main crop can reduce PVY incidence, because aphids tend to land ...

Understanding host plant volatile – aphid interactions can facilitate the selection of crop border plants as a strategy to reduce plant virus incidence in crops. Crop border plant species with attractive odours could be ...