Priming is an induced defence mechanism in which plants that have been exposed to elicitors, such as herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs), go into an alert state with faster and stronger responses against a future biotic challenge. This study evaluated whether HIPVs emitted by maize genotypes after herbivory by fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) larvae could prime neighbouring maize plants

During mustard aphid attack, a huge number of defence proteins’ expression was observed in Indian mustard cultivars cv. Ashirwad and cv. Pusa Mahak. The expression level of those proteins directly correlated with the aphid tolerance level of mustard cultivars. The similar expression of defence proteins was observed in a well-known aphid tolerant wild crucifer Rorippa indica, where a much higher protein

The enhancement of plant resistance to pest infestation, improving plant growth parameters and productivity is in sustainable agriculture programs. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is among the most effective compounds acts as a messenger molecule involved in acclimatory signaling and triggering tolerance against various biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, three cultivars of common bean (Phaseolus

Herbivore identity and intensity are important in mediating plant defense responses, but the effects of their interaction on the plant metabolome have not yet been fully explored. Here, gas chromatography mass spectrometry was utilized to detect the metabolic changes in leaves, stems and roots of the common reed Phragmites australis infested with different intensity combinations of leaf-chewing Laelia

In Ant-gardens, ants build nests with organic materials and take specific seeds of some species of epiphytes which germinate. In this mutualistic interaction, a variety of other epiphytes could colonize the nests and develop, but it doesn't happen. We assume that there is chemical allelopathy with epiphytes inhibiting the germination and growth of other species of epiphytes, and with ants cutting off

Latex is an endogenous fluid exuded by some plants after injury. It is rich in different molecules and has shown many biological activities against different fungi and insects. This work aimed to isolate a peptide fraction from Calotropis procera (PepCp) latex and to evaluate its activity against two fungi and an insect. The chromatographic profile showed that PepCp is constituted mainly by 7 kDa peptides

Silicon (Si) is agronomically beneficial due to positive effects it provides to plant development, including the increased defensive response capacity against attack of herbivorous insects. This study evaluated the effects of applications of Si sources via soil and foliar sprays on yellow passion fruit biochemistry and Si-induced resistance to feeding preference and development of the major passion

Several secondary metabolites are associated with plant resistance against herbivores. Cassava genotypes present a wide variety of metabolites with insecticidal potential, but little is known about the identity of these compounds. The present work was conducted for the identification of insecticidal molecules present in cassava genotypes. To this purpose, we firstly evaluated the development of the

Aphids are considered one of the most damaging pests in agriculture. Plants respond to aphid attack with the production of toxic, repellent and/or antinutritive metabolites, including phenolic compounds. In this study, we examined the free phenolic acid composition of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) leaves in response to green peach aphid (Myzus persicae Sulzer) feeding in different time course experiments

Due to its ancient origin in the Permian and the high proportion of beetle-pollinated taxa within ancestral magnoliid lineages, it has been hypothesized that beetles were among the first floral visitors of the proto-angiosperms on Earth. Thus, beetle-pollinated flowers have become important model systems essential for the study of the origin and evolution of angiosperms. Under an evolutionary perspective

The phytohormone production hypothesis suggests that organisms, including insects, induce galls by producing and secreting plant growth hormones. Auxins and cytokinins are classes of phytohormones that induce cell growth and cell division, which could contribute to the plant tissue proliferation which constitutes the covering gall. Bacteria, symbiotic with insects, may also play a part in gall induction

Plants can retain either physiologically active green leaves or inactive brown leaves over winter. Research has suggested that leaf retention incurs a cost due to higher herbivore load in the following year; however, no distinction has, thus, far been made between retention of green and brown leaves. We surveyed the over-winter retention of physiologically active green and inactive brown leaves of

Maize (Zea mays subsp. mays), an important cereal crop worldwide, was domesticated directly from the annual teosinte (Zea mays subsp. parviglumis), and teosintes originated from gamagrass (Tripsacum) plants. Some herbivorous insects of maize began their association on Tripsacum; however, little is known about the interaction between these herbivores and their parasitoids in this ancestral Tripsacum

Despite potential negative interactions between biological control agents, the release of multiple agents against invasive alien weeds is often justified. The leaf-feeding beetle Mada polluta Mulsant (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), released against Tecoma stans (L.) Juss ex Kunth var. stans in South Africa, has so far been unable to contain the weed. Consequently, the root-feeding flea beetle Heikertingerella

Experimental studies of the use of visual and olfactory cues by flower-visiting animals can shed light on the evolution of floral signalling traits. We examined the functional significance of floral traits in Clivia miniata (Amaryllidaceae). This forest lily with large orange trumpet-shaped flowers is pollinated mainly by swallowtail butterflies and belongs to a lineage with ancestral bird pollination

The reproductive biology of the cassava genus (Manihot, Euphorbiaceae) remains unknown, despite its relevance to humanity. Here, we investigated the pollination system of two cassava wild relatives concerning the filtering of visitors in unisexual flowers, the specialization–generalization degree, and verified the dependency on pollinators for seed production. We studied two monoecious species M. violacea

Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae), the Asian chestnut gall wasp (ACGW), is an invasive pest that threatens native stands and orchards of European Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.). ACGW induces galls in stems, petioles, and midribs. These galls cause inhibition of tree growth and fruit production. An understanding of morphogenetic changes in host organs is important to evaluate how

Volatiles are of key importance for host-plant recognition in insects. In the pollination system of Lithophragma flowers and Greya moths, moths are highly specialized on Lithophragma, in which they oviposit and thereby pollinate the flowers. Floral volatiles in Lithophragma are highly variable between species and populations, and moths prefer to oviposit into Lithophragma flowers from populations of

Plants and herbivores have co-existed for millions of years, leading to complex relationships. Recent studies of plant–insect interactions have focused on important implications of plant defenses on insect immunity. Plants express defenses against herbivores through the production of toxic secondary chemicals, which may alter immune responses. The monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, has been shown

Colletes hederae, the ivy bee, (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) has undergone large range expansions in Europe in recent years, including colonising Britain in 2001 with its original distribution limited to Western mainland Europe and the Channel Islands. It is thought to specialise on Hedera helix L. (Apiales: Ariliaceae), common ivy. However, some research has questioned this dependence. This study quantifies

Plants are attacked by a variety of herbivores and respond with localized or systemic defenses. Plant defense against one feeding guild (e.g. chewing, piercing/sucking) may also affect alternate feeding guilds. To optimize host plant resistance, interactions between feeding guilds must be understood. Aphids are plant virus vectors whose vector efficiency can be altered by plant defenses. To determine

The twolined spittlebug, Prosapia bicincta (Say) (Hemiptera: Cercopidae), is an important insect pest of turfgrass in the eastern United States. Although twolined spittlebug infests most warm-season turfgrasses, the influence of low and high relative humidity (RH) on the expression of feeding damage in warm-season turfgrasses is not well understood. Experiments were conducted in which five warm-season

In North America, notodontid caterpillars feed predominantly on hardwood trees; some cause significant economic damage with periodic outbreaks. The late instars of several species cut girdles around the petiole, rachis, or stem before feeding on distal leaf blades. Little is known about the benefits or costs of girdling for caterpillars. In this paper, we analyzed the energetic cost of girdling by

Agronomic management decisions can alter plant foliar traits, especially nutritional quality, with potential to influence plant–herbivore interactions. Herbivores balance consumption of plant tissue for nutritional gains related to growth and development while contending with plant traits that may deter herbivory or are toxic. This study evaluates the influence of management decisions on the foliar

The tritrophic interactions among plant virus, host plants, and insect vectors directly influence the natural ecosystem, which, in turn, has tremendous practical implications in the sustainable pest control strategies. Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), transmitted by aphids in a non-persistent manner, causes severe damage in diverse crops worldwide. There is a wealth of information on the initial round

Plant chemistry plays an important role in mediating resistance against insect herbivores. Depending on insect species and feeding strategies, plant defenses can prevent insect attacks, impact digestive physiology and influence reproductive output. The Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) is an invasive, tree-killing insect that exploits multiple host plant species. Anoplophora glabripennis

The present study was conducted to determine the role of guava fruit volatiles in attraction, oviposition and associated fitness parameters of the peach fruit fly, Bactrocera zonata Saunders, which is a key pest of guava and many other fruits. B. zonata female flies’ attraction was observed in a Y-tube olfactometer using fruits of three locally grown guava varieties; Gola, Larkana Small Surahi (LSS)

Super-generalism is a pollinator trait where species obtain floral resources from a very wide range of plant species. Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that on islands with low pollinator diversity, such pollinators should evolve to exploit a very wide range of floral morphologies. Super-generalism has implications not only for securing pollination network stability, but also for the invasibility

Woolly apple aphid (WAA), Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann) (Hemiptera: Pemphigidae), is a worldwide quarantine pest of apples. Understanding the resistance mechanism of various cultivars to WAA is important for the selection for durable resistance. Few studies have examined the resistance of different apple cultivars to WAA in China; among common varieties produced in China, Red Fuji is highly sensitive

Insect folivores on plants protected by secretory canals commonly sever leaf veins or cut trenches before feeding beyond the cuts. Previous studies reported that vein cutting occurs when canals have an arborescent arrangement, whereas trenching is found when canals have a net-like arrangement. However, some danaine species, such as the monarch caterpillar, Danaus plexippus, show both behaviors on the

Salinity is becoming a limiting factor for crop production, particularly in arid and semiarid areas all around the world. This phenomenon can adversely affect both plant integrity and herbivorous insects. Herein, we assessed the bottom-up effects of four salinity levels (3.1 [control], 6.0, 10 and 12.0 dS/m) on the life parameters of viruliferous bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.) and the

Parasitoids use herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV´s) to locate their hosts. However, little is known about variations in HIPV´s production in genetically modified maize plants that are herbicide tolerant (singular event), insect resistant (Bt plants, singular event), or both herbicide tolerant and insect resistant, like staked events. We investigated the olfactory responses of the egg parasitoid

A diverse array of organisms induce plants to form galls. This phenomenon is one of the most striking instances of convergent evolution, yet the underlying mechanism is only well understood in gall-inducing microbes. To determine if gall induction by insects is associated with bacterial symbiosis, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to examine the microbiome of a variety of gall-inducing and non-gall-inducing

Floral resources can be recognized by visitors through attractants that signal their presence. However, besides petals, it is still unclear how floral elements in heterantherous species are perceived by visiting bees. In this study, we aim to understand the role of stamens and petals of Pleroma granulosum and P. raddianum in attracting pollination bees, mainly by evaluating whether pollinator behaviour

Declining snow cover is reshaping ecological communities. Early loss of snow cover initiates changes in key interactions that mediate herbivore abundance, i.e., top-down and bottom-up effects. In this study, we used a field experiment to test the effects of host plant water stress and phenology on the multitrophic interactions that determine aphid abundance. The aphid, Aphis asclepiadis, in our study

Insect chemical ecology (ICE) evolved as a discipline concerned with plant–insect interactions, and also with a strong focus on intraspecific pheromone-mediated communication. Progress in this field has rendered a more complete picture of how insects exploit chemical information in their surroundings in order to survive and navigate their world successfully. Simultaneously, this progress has prompted

The tobacco Nicotiana rustica is widely used as a trap crop in the fields of Nicotiana tabacum in China, by attracting oviposition of Helicoverpa assulta females, thus preventing damage to N. tabacum. The mechanism underlying the differential oviposition rates of H. assulta across these two tobacco species, however, is largely unknown. We investigated the mechanism of host plant acceptance of H. assulta

Plant reproduction is influenced by abiotic resources and biotic mutualistic and antagonistic interactions, which in turn can be affected by anthropogenic disturbances such as increased fire frequency. Because frequent fires deplete soil fertility and thus decrease resource availability for plants, we hypothesize that increased fire frequency decreases specific leaf area (SLA) and reproductive success

Duponchelia fovealis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) was introduced in Brazil not long ago and causes severe yield losses to strawberry plantations. This situation demands the development of sustainable pest management strategies. Podisus nigrispinus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a Neotropical generalist predator that has potential to be used in biological control programs against D. fovealis. Herbivore-induced

Plant breeding has improved traits such as fruit flavor and yield but may have compromised direct and indirect defenses to herbivores compared to their wild ancestors. This has been termed the plant domestication-reduced defense hypothesis. We present evidence that domestication of Capsicum annuum (the chili pepper) from its wild progenitor, Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum, has not affected resistance

Non-parasitic bees differ in the degree of their taxonomic specialisation for pollen collection to feed their brood. Surveys of published data on pollen specialisation by bees of central Europe showed that about two-thirds of species are pollen generalists (polylectic) while the remainder only collect pollen of one family, genus or species (monolectic and oligolectic). Proportions of monolectic and

In response to the qualitative and quantitative changes in floral resources, bumble bees flexibly forage multiple plant species throughout the growing season. During the short summer in an alpine ecosystem, the activity of worker bees is maximized in the middle of the season, when the competition for floral resources may be intense. We predicted that the foraging patterns of bumble bees are affected

Many plant viruses are significant pathogens that are able to utilize arthropod vectors to infect a vast range of host plants, resulting in serious economic damage to world food crops. One such crop is Sorghum bicolor, grain sorghum, which is the fifth most important global cereal crop, it is grown for human consumption, animal feed, and biofuel. In this study, the Potyviruses Johnsongrass mosaic virus

The development of resistance in Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) against a number of conventional and new chemistry insecticides has encouraged researchers to exploit some eco-friendly integrated pest management approaches to keep the pest population below their threshold levels. In the current laboratory trials, a free choice cotton leaf-disc assay was conducted to check the effect

Some species of bees restrict foraging to the twilight period before sunrise or after sunset. Among the plants sought by these nocturnal bees are species described as chiropterophilous, such as Caryocar brasiliense. The flowers of this species open in the evening and provide resources until dawn. We determined the pattern of flower visitation by nocturnal bees and their role in pollination and fruit

Obstacles in different tissue layers of leaves can influence aphid feeding behavior and host preference. In this study, we examined the feeding behaviors of cabbage aphids Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on the five oilseed rape cultivars with varied levels of aphid susceptibility using the electropenetrography (EPG) technique. The leaf anatomical structures of the five oilseed

Ground-nesting ant species are known to promote plant growth by soil nutrient enhancement. Camponotus compressus ants regularly visit the extrafloral nectary-bearing, lycaenid-infested cowpea, Vigna unguiculata plants and construct a shelter for the lycaenid caterpillars at the plant base. The present study shows that ants may influence the overall fitness of the infested cowpea plants by providing

Giant and Canadian goldenrods (Solidago gigantea and S. canadensis, respectively) are two closely related insect-pollinated plants of the family Asteraceae, native to North America and invasive in the Palearctic region. Here we study the structure of the flower-visitor community associated with these species in seven sites from three geographic locations in Central Russia throughout two flowering seasons

Plants require mechanisms of defense to limit the amount of damage by herbivores. Calcium oxalate crystals (COC) in the leaves can serve as inducible defenses against chewing insects, such as Caliroa cerasi larvae. We studied the relationship between leaf COC from Prunus avium and herbivory by C. cerasi larvae, to assess the defensive role of inducible responses. We examined from cafeteria choice experiments

Aphids (Hemiptera, Aphididae) feed on the phloem and some of them induce the formation of conspicuous galls on their primary hosts. Histological studies were proposed to elucidate the evolutionary history of galling habit in Pemphigini tribe, assessing if gall complexity indicates the phylogenetic relations among gall inducers. Nine Eriosomatinae galls induced on Populus nigra from the Iberian Peninsula

Pathogens which need a vector for their transmission can alter the vectors’ behaviour to favour their spread. We used the electrical penetration graph technique to investigate this hypothesis by using the tomato potato psyllid Bactericera cockerelli infected or not with the plant pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum (CLso) on African boxthorn and tomato. Probing was not affected by the host

The bean weevil Acanthoscelides obtectus is one of the major storage pests of dry bean. Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) is a great source of resistance against A. obtectus to improve dry bean production. We developed two F2 populations of Phaseolus spp. by crossing bean genotypes resistant to A. obtectus × susceptible, to (1) search for metabolites related to bean weevil resistance using an untargeted

Plant–soil feedbacks of plants that are exposed to herbivory have been shown to differ from those of plants that are not exposed to herbivores. Likely, this process is mediated by jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) defense pathways, which are induced by aboveground herbivory. Furthermore, exogenous application of these phytohormones to plants alters belowground communities, but whether this

Biological communities are subject to spatiotemporal variations in community structure, i.e., species composition, richness, and abundance. Plant–pollinator interactions are affected by species composition and abundance, so that rapid changes in plant community structure can lead to critical impacts on plant–pollinator interactions at the community level. The extent of these impacts depends on how

In novel plant–insect relationships, oviposition preference and nymphal performance determine host range evolution. Corythucha marmorata, native to North America and specialist on asteraceous plants, has been reported to exploit sweet potato (Convolvulaceae) in Japan. Here we examined the capability of females to oviposit and of nymphs to grow on both a conventional host (goldenrod, Solidago altissima)

Plants bearing extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) serve diverse ecological functions by providing nectar to a broad spectrum of arthropods (e.g., ants, parasitoids). This study examined the extent to which plant architecture of American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis L.; Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis [L.] Bolli), resulting from two pruning methods that produced herbaceous (base-pruning) and woody (high-pruning)

The growth of herbivorous insects is influenced by their host plants, which is underpinned by genetic regulations. We studied the growth performance of the grasshopper Calliptamus abbreviatus Ikonn when it fed on a suitable host plant, Artemisia frigida (Asteraceae) and unsuitable host plant, Stipa krylovii (Poaceae) in a two-year feeding trial. Additionally, the underlying transcriptomic response

In plant–pollination interactions, the antagonists collect the same set of resources offered to legitimate visitors, but their morphologies and behavioural approaches possibly make their effect on plant fitness negative rather than positive. Depending on the morphology of Malpighiaceae flowers, these small-bodied bees can adopt an upside-down position, biting and damaging the floral pedicel. Therefore

The successful colonization of an aphid requires intimate/compatible association which is achieved in the susceptible host plant. During development of intimate association with the susceptible host plant, aphid explores ‘effector’ molecules enriched in saliva that translocate into the host cell to modulate host cell’s function (physiology) as well as structure for assuring the nutrient availability

Efforts are being made to develop chickpea varieties with resistance to the pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera for reducing pesticide use and minimizing the extent of losses due to this pest. However, only low to moderate levels of resistance have been observed in the cultivated chickpea to this polyphagous pest. Hence, it is important to explore wild relatives as resistance sources to develop insect-resistant