The green-veined white is a butterfly of the family Pieridae.
Helicoverpa zea, commonly known as the corn earworm, is a species in the family Noctuidae. The larva of the moth Helicoverpa zea is a major agricultural pest. Since it is polyphagous during the larval stage, the species has been given many different common names, including the cotton bollworm and the tomato fruitworm. It also consumes a wide variety of other crops.
Scutelleridae is a family of true bugs. They are commonly known as jewel bugs or metallic shield bugs due to their often brilliant coloration. They are also known as shield-backed bugs due to the enlargement of the thoracic scutellum into a continuous shield over the abdomen and wings. This latter characteristic distinguishes them from most other families within Heteroptera, and may lead to misidentification as a beetle rather than a bug. These insects feed on plant juices from a variety of different species, including some commercial crops. Closely related to stink bugs, they may also produce an offensive odour when disturbed. There are around 450 species worldwide.
The Indianmeal moth, also spelled Indian meal moth and Indian-meal moth, is a pyraloid moth of the family Pyralidae. Alternative common names are weevil moth, pantry moth, flour moth or grain moth. The almond moth and the raisin moth are commonly confused with the Indian-meal moth due to similar food sources and appearance. The species was named for feeding on Indian meal or cornmeal, and does not occur natively in India. It is also not to be confused with the Mediterranean flour moth, another common pest of stored grains.
The cabbage looper is a medium-sized moth in the family Noctuidae, a family commonly referred to as owlet moths. Its common name comes from its preferred host plants and distinctive crawling behavior. Cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, bok choy, and broccoli, are its main host plant; hence, the reference to cabbage in its common name. The larva is called a looper because it arches its back into a loop when it crawls.
A semiochemical, from the Greek σημεῖον (semeion), meaning "signal", is a chemical substance or mixture released by an organism that affects the behaviors of other individuals. Semiochemical communication can be divided into two broad classes: communication between individuals of the same species (intraspecific) or communication between different species (interspecific).
The green stink bug or green soldier bug is a stink bug of the family Pentatomidae.
The diamondback moth, sometimes called the cabbage moth, is a moth species of the family Plutellidae and genus Plutella. The small, grayish-brown moth sometimes has a cream-colored band that forms a diamond along its back. The species may have originated in Europe, South Africa, or the Mediterranean region, but it has now spread worldwide.
The brown marmorated stink bug is an insect in the family Pentatomidae, native to China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian regions. In September 1998, it was collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where it is believed to have been accidentally introduced. The nymphs and adults of the brown marmorated stink bug feed on over 100 species of plants, including many agricultural crops, and by 2010–11 had become a season-long pest in orchards in the Eastern United States. In 2010, in the Mid-Atlantic United States, $37 million in apple crops were lost, and some stone fruit growers lost more than 90% of their crops. Since the 2010s, the bug has spread to the nation of Georgia and Turkey and caused extensive damage to hazelnut production. It is now established in many parts of North America, and has recently become established in Europe and South America.
Sex pheromones are pheromones released by an organism to attract an individual of the same species, encourage them to mate with them, or perform some other function closely related with sexual reproduction. Sex pheromones specifically focus on indicating females for breeding, attracting the opposite sex, and conveying information on species, age, sex and genotype. Non-volatile pheromones, or cuticular contact pheromones, are more closely related to social insects as they are usually detected by direct contact with chemoreceptors on the antennae or feet of insects.
Cimex is a genus of insects in the family Cimicidae. Cimex species are ectoparasites that typically feed on the blood of birds and mammals. Two species, Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus, are known as bed bugs and frequently feed on humans, although other species may parasitize humans opportunistically. Species that primarily parasitize bats are known as bat bugs.
Adelphocoris lineolatus, is commonly known as the Lucerne bug or the alfalfa plant bug, and belongs to the family Miridae. It is an agricultural pest causing vast amounts of damage to numerous crops, but primarily to alfalfa crops around the globe.
Mythimna unipuncta, the true armyworm moth, white-speck moth, common armyworm, or rice armyworm, is a species of moth in the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. Mythimna unipuncta occurs in most of North America south of the Arctic, as well as parts of South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Although thought to be Neotropical in origin, it has been introduced elsewhere, and is often regarded as an agricultural pest. They are known as armyworms because the caterpillars move in lines as a massive group, like an army, from field to field, damaging crops.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloid sequestration by insects is a strategy to facilitate defense and mating. Various species of insects have been known to use molecular compounds from plants for their own defense and even as their pheromones or precursors to their pheromones. A few Lepidoptera have been found to sequester chemicals from plants which they retain throughout their life and some members of Erebidae are examples of this phenomenon. Starting in the mid-twentieth century researchers investigated various members of Arctiidae, and how these insects sequester pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) during their life stages, and use these chemicals as adults for pheromones or pheromone precursors. PAs are also used by members of the Arctiidae for defense against predators throughout the life of the insect.
Crocidolomia pavonana is a moth of the family Crambidae. Its caterpillar is a crop pest and is known as the croci or the cabbage cluster caterpillar. This moth is found in Africa and Asia, its range extending from South Africa through India to the Pacific Ocean, including Australia. The wingspan is about 25 mm (1 in). The larvae feed on Brassicaceae species and are considered an agricultural pest on cabbages. At first, they feed only on the undersides of the leaves. Later they feed on the rest of the leaves and the central shoot. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1794.
Female sperm storage is a biological process and often a type of sexual selection in which sperm cells transferred to a female during mating are temporarily retained within a specific part of the reproductive tract before the oocyte, or egg, is fertilized. This process takes place in some species of animals, but not in humans. The site of storage is variable among different animal taxa and ranges from structures that appear to function solely for sperm retention, such as insect spermatheca and bird sperm storage tubules, to more general regions of the reproductive tract enriched with receptors to which sperm associate before fertilization, such as the caudal portion of the cow oviduct containing sperm-associating annexins. Female sperm storage is an integral stage in the reproductive process for many animals with internal fertilization. It has several documented biological functions including:
Bagrada hilaris is a species of shield bug known by the common names bagrada bug and painted bug. It could be mistaken for or erroneously referred to as harlequin bug. It is native to southeastern Africa. It is known elsewhere as an introduced species, including California and Arizona, where it was first reported in 2008. It is a major pest insect of Brassica oleracea crops, and related crucifers such as turnips, rape, and mustard. The adult and nymph of the species suck sap from the leaves of the plants, causing wilting, yellowing, and stunting of growth. Besides crucifers, the bugs are known on papaya, sorghum, maize, potato, cotton, caper, pearl millet, and some legumes. Large numbers of the bug congregate on the plants and cause extensive damage.
Sexual antagonistic co-evolution is the relationship between males and females where sexual morphology changes over time to counteract the opposite's sex traits to achieve the maximum reproductive success. This has been compared to an arms race between sexes. In many cases, male mating behavior is detrimental to the female's fitness. For example, when insects reproduce by means of traumatic insemination, it is very disadvantageous to the female's health. During mating, males will try to inseminate as many females as possible, however, the more times a female's abdomen is punctured, the less likely she is to survive. Females that possess traits to avoid multiple matings will be more likely to survive, resulting in a change in morphology. In males, genitalia is relatively simple and more likely to vary among generations compared to female genitalia. This results in a new trait that females have to avoid in order to survive.
Planococcus citri, commonly known as the citrus mealybug, is a species of mealybugs native to Asia. It has been introduced to the rest of the world, including Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, as an agricultural pest. It is associated with citrus, but it attacks a wide range of crop plants, ornamental plants, and wild flora.
The red-sided garter snake is a subspecies of the common garter snake, in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. This slender subspecies of natricine snake is indigenous to North America and is one of the recognized subspecies of Thamnophis sirtalis. This subspecies is widely spread across northern United States and southern Canada.
