729 Results Found

Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest of maize and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa. One century after its first description by Fuller in 1901, inaccurate information based on earlier reports are still propagated on its distributi...

Plants are constantly interacting with the diverse microbial community as well as insect pests throughout their life cycle. Due to their sessile nature, plants rely solely on the intracellular signaling and reprogramming of cellular events to resist...

Insect attachment devices enhance adhesion to complex-geometry substrates by increasing the real contact area. In nature, insects mainly interact with plant surfaces that are often covered by 3D wax structures. Here, we describe, discuss, and give a...

Insects have developed sophisticated detoxification systems to protect them from plant secondary metabolites while feeding on plants to obtain necessary nutrients. As an important enzyme in the system, glycosyltransferase 1 (GT1) conjugates toxic com...

The Asian rice gall midge (Orseolia oryzae) is a major pest responsible for immense loss in rice productivity. Currently, very little knowledge exists with regard to this insect at the molecular level. The present study was initiated with the aim of...

Members of the family Bignoniaceae are mostly found in tropical and neo-tropical regions in America, Asia and Africa, although some of them are cultivated in other regions as ornamentals. Species belonging to this family have been extensively studied...

Acquisition and transmission by an insect vector is central to the infection cycle of the majority of plant pathogenic viruses. Plant viruses can interact with their insect host in a variety of ways including both non-persistent and circulative trans...

The interactions of plants with environment and insects are bi-directional and dynamic. Consequently, a myriad of mechanisms has evolved to engage organisms in different types of interactions. These interactions can be mediated by allelochemicals kno...

Plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) influence soil fertility, plant growth, tolerance to abiotic stress, resistance to herbivorous insects, and plant interactions with other organisms. While the effects of PGPR on plant growth, fruit yield, a...

Galling arthropods represent one of the most specialized herbivore groups. On an evolutionary scale, different taxa of insects and mites have convergently adapted to a galling lifestyle. In this study, we have used a multi-taxonomic approach to analy...

Proteins are crucial players of biological interactions within and between the organisms and thus it is important to understand the role of proteins in successful partnerships, such as insect vectors and their plant viruses. Proteomic approaches have...

Advances in early insect detection have been reported using digital technologies through camera systems, sensor networks, and remote sensing coupled with machine learning (ML) modeling. However, up to date, there is no cost-effective system to monito...

As with many other trophic interactions, the interchange of microorganisms between plants and their herbivorous insects is unavoidable. To test the hypothesis that the composition and diversity of the insect bacteriome are driven by the bacteriome of...

The growth of plants and insects occurs only above a minimum temperature threshold. In insects, the growth rate depends on the temperature above the threshold up to a maximum. In plants the growth rate above the threshold generally depends on the ava...

Plants have evolved sophisticated communication and defense systems with which they interact with insects. Jasmonates are synthesized from the oxylipin pathway and act as pivotal cellular orchestrators of many of the metabolic and physiological proce...

Fossils of plant–insect interactions are direct evidence of paleoecological relationships between these two dominant groups in terrestrial ecosystems. We present a variety of plant–insect interactions from the late Early Cretaceous (lates...

Domestication significantly altered the phenotypic and chemical traits of murtilla, notably reducing the emission of volatile compounds essential for plant–insect interactions. This reduction may affect the plant’s natural defense mechani...

Quercetin is one of the most abundant flavonoids in terrestrial plants and pollen. In living plants, quercetin can function as a secondary metabolite to discourage insect herbivory. Literature on insect-quercetin interactions was searched and data sy...

Environmental factors controlling silicon (Si) accumulation in terrestrial plant are key drivers to alleviate plant biotic stresses, including insect herbivory. While there is a general agreement on the ability of Si-enriched plant to better resist i...

Our understanding of herbivorous insect’s host selection is often based on observed associations with host plants, which can be biased by relative plant abundance, leading to inaccurate assumptions of preference. These biases may be particularly pron...

In the complex dynamics of plant–insect interactions, the specialized galling of reproductive structures presents unique evolutionary adaptations. This study investigates the parasitic relationship between Arastichus gallicola (Hymenoptera, Eul...

Chemosensory perception in insects involves a broad set of chemosensory proteins (CSPs) that identify the bouquet of chemical compounds present in the external environment and regulate specific behaviors. The current study is focused on the Spodopter...

The challenge of maintaining sufficient food, feed, fiber, and forests, for a projected end of century population of between 9–10 billion in the context of a climate averaging 2–4 °C warmer, is a global imperative. However, climate ch...

Evolutionary and ecological forces are important factors that shape gut microbial profiles in hosts, which can help insects adapt to different environments through modulating their metabolites. However, little is known about how gut microbes and meta...

Glycoside hydrolase family 1 (GH1) enzymes are essential for plant cell wall digestion and the detoxification of plant metabolites in insects, yet their evolutionary history in Lepidoptera remains unresolved. This study systematically identified GH1...

Insect behaviors, such as flying, oviposition, parasitism, mating/calling, response to semiochemicals, and others, might be influenced by barometric pressure fluctuations. Abiotic factors controlled in the laboratory facilitate the observation of par...

The molecular mechanisms of plant responses to phytophagous insect eggs are poorly understood, despite their importance in insect–plant interactions. This study investigates the plant defense mechanisms triggered by the eggs of whitefly Bemisia...

Recent advances in microbiome studies have deepened our understanding of endosymbionts and gut-associated microbiota in host biology. Of those, lepidopteran systems in particular harbor a complex and diverse microbiome with various microbial taxa tha...

Plant-insect mutualisms often drive the evolution of adaptive morphological and physiological traits, enabling ecological specialization and diversification. Fig trees (Ficus spp., Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Agaonidae) are engaged in a br...

The chemical ecology of plant-insect interactions has been driving our understanding of ecosystem evolution into a more comprehensive context. Chlosyne lacinia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) is an olygophagous insect herbivore, which mainly uses host pla...

The interaction between plants and phytophagous insects is one of the most complex relationships in ecosystems. By acting as direct third-party participants, gut symbionts redefine this binary antagonistic relationship. This article reviews the roles...

Nitrogen (N) deposition is expected to influence forests. The effects of large-scale N fertilization on canopy layer insect–plant interactions in stands of tall, atmospheric nitrogen (N2)-fixing tree species have never been assessed. We conducted a l...

Host plants may harbor a variable number of galling insect species, with some species being able to harbor a high diversity of these insects, being therefore called superhost plants. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that the occurrence...

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) serve as powerful defense mechanisms that help plants mitigate pest-induced stress. Geraniol is a HIPV released by tea leaves in response to damage inflicted by tea green leafhoppers. In order to investigate...

The Asian rice gall midge, Orseolia oryzae (Wood-Mason), is a serious pest of rice. Investigations into the gall midge-rice interaction will unveil the underlying molecular mechanisms which, in turn, can be used as a tool to assist in developing suit...

Knowledge of the influence of evolutionary factors that promote either the differentiation or cohesion of pest insect populations is critical for the improvement of control strategies. Here, we explore the extent to which genetic differentiation occu...

Studies on the management of the invasive Melanaphis sorghi are essential to refining integrated pest management strategies against M. sorghi in forage sorghum in the USA. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of planting date (earl...

Plants have been interacting with insects for several hundred million years, leading to complex defense approaches against various insect feeding strategies. Some defenses are constitutive while others are induced, although the insecticidal defense c...

Differences in the semi-natural vegetation of field margins will affect the biological control services derived from the presence of these semi-natural habitats adjacent to fields. Of the plant functional traits that are most relevant for insects, pl...

Butterfly–host plant relationships can inform our understanding of ecological and trophic interactions that contribute to ecosystem function, resiliency, and services. The ecology of danaid–milkweed (Apocynaceae) host plant interactions has been stud...

Plants have evolved highly intriguing ways of defending themselves against insect attacks, including through emission of defense volatiles. These volatiles serve the plant’s defense by directly repelling phytophagous insects and/or indirectly through...

Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a polyphagous pest species capable of feeding on almost all forage and grain crops, although the food quality for the larvae likely varies among plant species and cultivars. The cultivati...

Leaf insects (Phasmatodea: Phylliidae) exhibit perfect crypsis imitating leaves. Although the special appearance of the eggs of the species Phyllium philippinicum, which imitate plant seeds, has received attention in different taxonomic studies, the...

The genetic resources of cereal crops in terms of resistance to aphids are reviewed. Phytosanitary destabilization led to a significant increase in the harmfulness of this group of insects. The breeding of resistant plant genotypes is a radical, the...

Two major ecological factors determine the fitness of an insect herbivore: the ability to overcome plant resistance strategies (bottom-up effects) and the ability to avoid or resist attack by natural enemies such as predators and parasitoids (top-dow...

Seed predation is an antagonistic interaction that negatively affects the performance of individual plants and can limit plant population dynamics. In animal-dispersed plants, crop size is an important determinant of plant reproductive success throug...

Novel, non-coevolved associations between introduced plants and native insect herbivores may lead to changes in trophic interactions in native communities, as well as to substantial economic problems. Although some studies in invasion ecology demonst...

Host range confirmation of invasive hemipterans relies on the evaluation of plant susceptibility though greenhouse or field trials, which are inefficient and time-consuming. When the green industry faces the fast-spreading threat of invasive pests su...

The cultivation of citrus in the Mediterranean region is of considerable economic importance. The viability of this industry is contingent upon a number of factors, with adequate phytosanitary management being of particular significance. During the l...

Two of the main causes of losses in tomato production are the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), and drought, which is becoming a central problem in agriculture due to global climate change. The separate effects...