Management to control the spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), would ideally achieve managers' goals while limiting impacts on nontarget organisms. In a large-scale field study with 45 plots at least 711 m2, we tested foliar applications of dinotefuran and 2 formulations of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin, each applied from the ground and separately by helicopter. Applications targeted early instar nymphs. For both application methods, a single treatment with dinotefuran significantly reduced L. delicatula numbers, as measured by catch on sticky bands (91% reduction by air and 84% reduction by ground 19 days after application) and by timed counts (89% reduction by air and 72% reduction by ground 17 days after application). None of the B. bassiana treatments significantly reduced L. delicatula numbers, even after 3 applications. Beauveria bassiana infection in field-collected nymphs ranged from 0.4% to 39.7%, with higher mortality and infection among nymphs collected from ground application plots. Beauveria bassiana conidia did not persist for long on foliage which probably contributed to low population reduction. Nontarget effects were not observed among arthropods captured in blue vane flight intercept traps, San Jose Scale pheromone sticky traps or pitfall traps, but power analysis revealed that small reductions of less than 40% may not be detected despite extensive sampling of 48,804 specimens. These results demonstrate that dinotefuran can markedly reduce local abundance of L. delicatula with little apparent effect on nontarget insects when applied shortly after hatch, and that aerial applications can match or exceed the effectiveness of applications from the ground.

Abstract The spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) (White, 1845), is an invasive pest in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Understanding this pest's dispersion patterns is fundamental for development of management and surveillance programs.To address this knowledge gap, we quantified spotted lanternfly nymph dispersion patterns by instar for rural and urban/suburban habitats, and we compared the number of sample units required for sticky traps and in situ visual counts to estimate population densities at several precisions. In addition, we assessed the ability of two experimental designs (completely random and randomized complete block) to detect management practices' impacts in the field. All instars typically followed an aggregated dispersion pattern. Sample size and time requirements for checking and replacing sticky traps and for conducting in situ counts were similar, but in situ counts do not require purchasing traps, installation time, or delays before treatment, and do not remove insects. Although the cost for using in situ counts is likely less than for sticky traps, early instar spotted lanternfly nymph populations are harder to visually detect than later instars because of their small size, which may negate any cost advantage when treatments are applied early. In general, using a randomized complete block design resulted in higher statistical power than a completely random design, allowing detection of proportional population reductions of 10–20% less with equal replication. Studies aiming to evaluate treatments that reduce spotted lanternfly numbers by less than 60% will require researchers to evaluate the feasibility of using the required large sample sizes.

Spotted lanternfly, Lycorma delicatula (White), is an invasive Asian insect that was initially found in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 2014. As of early 2020, this pest had been found in five more eastern states and it is expected to continue to expand its geographical range. Lycorma delicatula is highly polyphagous but seems to prefer tree-ofheaven, Ailanthus altissima. However, grape growers in Pennsylvania have reported significant damage and loss of vines caused by L. delicatula adults. In fall 2018, two fungal entomopathogens (Beauveria bassiana and Batkoa major) drove localized collapses in L. delicatula populations in Berks County, Pennsylvania. In 2019, we tested applications of a commercialized mycoinsecticide based on B. bassiana strain GHA on L. delicatula populations in a public park in southeastern Pennsylvania. A single application of B. bassiana reduced fourth instar nymphs by 48% after 14 d. Applications of B. bassiana to L. delicatula adults in the same park resulted in 43% mortality after 14 d. Beauveria bassiana spores remained viable on foliage for 5-7 d after spraying. We also conducted semi-field bioassays with B. bassiana GHA (formulated as BoteGHA and Aprehend) and another mycoinsecticide containing Isaria fumosorosea Apopka Strain 97 against L. delicatula adults feeding on potted grapes. All the mycoinsecticides killed AO% of adults after 9 d using direct applications. Aprehend killed 99% of adults after 9 d with exposure to residues on sprayed grapes. These data show that fungal entomopathogens can help to suppress populations of L. delicatula in agroecosystems and natural areas.

Cyclodiene resistance represents 60% of the reported cases of insecticide resistance and is also present in vertebrates. Resistance is due to insensitivity of the cyclodiene/picrotoxinin binding site on the y-aminobutyric acid subtype A (GABAA) receptor-chloride ionophore complex. Following isolation of cyclodiene-resistant Drosophila mutants, we report the cloning of the locus conferring resistance via a "chromosomal walk" and rescue of the susceptible phenotype by P-element-mediated germ-line transformation. Amino acid sequence analysis of a cDNA from the locus reveals homology with vertebrate GABAA subunits. To our knowledge, this represents the first cloning of an invertebrate GABA receptor and also allows us to manipulate the resistance status of an insect via germ-line transformation. This gene may be useful as a selectable marker in other insect systems. Cyclodiene resistance accounts for >60%6 of the reported cases of insecticide resistance (1) and is also present in vertebrates (2, 3). Cyclodiene insecticides, such as dieldrin, inhibit chloride ion transport regulated by the y-aminobutyric acid subtype A (GABAA) receptor (4) and thus block functional insect neuronal GABA receptors (5, 6). GABA receptors form important targets for drugs and toxicants in both vertebrates and invertebrates (7). However, the insect GABA receptor shows critical differences in pharmacology with the vertebrate receptor (8-10), which could allow for the development of insect-specific insecticides. Cyclodienes are thought to act at the picrotoxinin (PTX) receptor within the GABAA receptor-chloride ionophore complex (11). Cyclodiene-resistant insects also show resistance to PTX (12). Ligand binding studies in strains of the German cockroach Blatella germanica (L.) have shown that PTX binding sites on the GABAA receptor of resistant strains possess only 1/10th of the affinity for PTX of those in susceptible strains and that resistant strains may also show a reduction in the number of receptors (13). Resistance is thus thought to be due to insensitivity of the cyclodiene/ picrotoxinin binding site on the GABAA receptor-chloride ionophore complex. Vertebrate GABA receptors, as determined from a number of cloned cDNAs (14), are composed of several different classes of membrane-spanning subunits that assemble to form the chloride ionophore. The composition ofthe different subunits forming the ionophore has been shown to affect the pharmacology of GABA receptors following functional expression (15-23). The insect GABAA receptor remained uncloned, however, due to the difficulty of obtaining suitable ligands for invertebrate GABA receptor purification. We adopted an alternative approach to cloning this gene by isolating field-collected strains of Drosophila melanogaster with high levels of resistance to cyclodienes and PTX (24, 25) and nervous system insensitivity to dieldrin (a cyclodiene) and PTX (26) as putative insecticide-insensitive GABAA receptor mutants. The dual objectives of the project were thus to clone the insect GABAA receptor¶ and to use D. melanogaster as a model (27, 28) for elucidating the molecular basis of cyclodiene resistance. The single locus (Rd!) conferring high levels of resistance to dieldrin and other cyclodienes was mapped to the left arm of chromosome 3 (24). This resistance gene is similar to that found in other Diptera, such as the Australian sheep blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) and the house fly (Musca domestica), as indicated by its position on homologous chromosomes and patterns ofcross-resistance to cyclodienes, lindane, and PTX (25). Due to the semidominant nature of the cyclodieneresistance phenotype in dose-response tests with both insects (25) and vertebrates (2), doses that discriminate between either Rdls/Rdls and RdlR/Rdls, where resistance (R) is effectively dominant, or RdlR/Rdls and RdlRIRdIR, where susceptibility (S) is effectively dominant, can be chosen. We routinely use the latter dose in screening for resistance as there is no overlap of the dose-response curves (24). Preliminary localization of the gene was performed by deficiency mapping. This revealed that Rdl was uncovered by the chromosomal deficiency Dfft3L)29A6 but not by the overlapping Dft3L)ACI (29), thus localizing the gene to the cytological region unique to Dft3L)29A6, subregion 66F on the polytene chromosome map (25). In this report we describe the cloning ofthe cyclodiene-resistance locus via a "chromosomal walk" of -200 kilobase pairs (kb) of DNA through the 66F subregion. The locus was identified within the walk by a cluster of rearrangement breakpoints, generated by y-irradiation, which uncovered the resistant phenotype. The susceptible phenotype of the locus was rescued following germ-line transformation of a cosmid (40 kb) corresponding to the position of these breakpoints. Translation of nucleotide sequence of a cDNA isolated from the locus shows high amino acid similarity to vertebrate GABAA subunits (15). This therefore represents, to our knowledge, the first cloning of an invertebrate GABA receptor and a chance to study the genomic orgar ization, in vivo function, regulation, and mutant phenotype of these important receptors. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Generation and Characterization ofRearrangements Uncovering Resistance. To localize the gene within 66F, we induced additional chromosomal rearrangements by using y-irradiaAbbreviations: GABA, -aminobutyric acid; PTX, picrotoxinin. tTo whom reprint requests should be addressed. 1The sequence reported in this paper has been deposited in the GenBank data base (accession no. M69057). 7209 The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact. 7210 Genetics: ffrench-Constant et al.

The cocoa pod borer, Conopomorpha cramerella (Snellen) (Gracillariidae: Gracillariinae), is an important pest of cocoa in Southeast Asia and Oceania, with devastating effects on yields. Using data on cocoa pod borer (CPB) infestation and cocoa yield from mixed-variety plantations in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, we developed models for estimating yield and yield loss under CPB attack. For six yield variables, two types of models were constructed: non-linear regressions based upon the presence or absence of infestation of pods (PI model), and multiple linear regressions for a four-point graded system of infestation severity (IS model). The IS models performed markedly better than PI models, in terms of percentage of variance explained, for all variables, also supported by Corrected Akaike Information Criterion values. But the explanatory power of the best-fit models was still poor for some variables. The fits were strongest for arguably the two most important variables in the industry, dry weight/pod and pod value (the number of pods required to achieve 1 kg of dry cocoa), with 62% and 69% of the variance accounted for, respectively. Validation of the dry weight/pod and pod value models against an independent dataset from South Sulawesi indicated that the models slightly under-estimated both yield indicators that increase concomitantly with the degree of yield loss. We propose the IS models, particularly that for pod value, as useful tools for industry, and argue that they will have broad utility given that they are based on mixed-cultivar plantations. Not only are these the first CPB yield-loss models to be based on commercial mixed plantings, they also represent the first attempt to employ a gradation of infestation severity based on simple visual assessment, which proved to be an important advance. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We investigated whether development of resistance to a Bt crop in the presence of a natural enemy would be slower than without the natural enemy and whether biological control, in conjunction with a Bt crop, could effectively suppress the pest population. Additionally, we investigated whether insecticide-sprayed refuges of non-Bt crops would delay or accelerate resistance to the Bt crop. We used a system of Bt broccoli expressing Cry1Ac, a population of the pest Plutella xylostella with a low frequency of individuals resistant to Cry1Ac and the insecticide spinosad, and a natural enemy, Coleomegilla maculata, to conduct experiments over multiple generations. The results demonstrated that after 6 generations P. xylostella populations were very low in the treatment containing C. maculata and unsprayed non-Bt refuge plants. Furthermore, resistance to Bt plants evolved significantly slower in this treatment. In contrast, Bt plants with no refuge were completely defoliated in treatments without C. maculata after 4-5 generations. In the treatment containing sprayed non-Bt refuge plants and C. maculata, the P. xylostella population was low, although the speed of resistance selection to Cry1Ac was significantly increased. These data demonstrate that natural enemies can delay resistance to Bt plants and have significant implications for integrated pest management (IPM) with Bt crops.

Concerns about increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), have raised worldwide interest in the potential of agricultural soils to be carbon (C) sinks. In Australia, studies that have quantified the effects of improved management practices in croplands on soil C have generally been inconclusive and contradictory for different soil depths and durations of the management changes. We therefore quantitatively synthesised the results of Australian studies using meta-analytic techniques to assess the technical and economic feasibility of increasing the soil C stock by improved management practices. Our results indicate that the potential of these improved practices to store C is limited to the surface 0–10 cm of soil and diminishes with time. None of these widely adopted practices is currently financially attractive under Australia's new legislation known as the Carbon Farming Initiative.

Recent news reports claim one in ten Australians believe the world will end on 21 December 2012, based largely on internet gossip about the meaning of ancient stone carvings from the Mayans of Central America. Such is the disturbing power of frightening myths to influence human belief. No wonder modern apocalyptic mythology about agriculture, sinister stories about pesticides and assertions that genetic engineering of crops break a biological taboo find a very receptive audience, especially among those who don't ever go to a modern farm.

The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), a major pest of cruciferous crops throughout the world, has demonstrated an ability to develop resistance to many different classes of insecticides, including proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis that are expressed in plants (Bt plants). The ovipositional preferences and larval survival of strains (resistant strain, RR; heterozygous strain, RS; susceptible strain, SS) of P. xylostella to Cry1Ac-expressing broccoli or broccoli plants treated with lambda-cyhalothrin or spinosad were studied under greenhouse condition. Numbers of eggs per plant did not differ between Bt broccoli and non-Bt broccoli for Bt-RR, Bt-RS, and Bt-SS adults. Ovipositing adults (spinosad-RR, spinosad-RS, and spinosad-SS) also could not discriminate between spinosad-treated and untreated plants, and oviposition did not increase over the 13 d after spinosad treatment. For broccoli treated with lambda-cyhalothrin at the diagnostic dose of 20 ppm, all three insect strains (lc-RR, lc-RS, and lc-SS) had constant oviposition over time based on linear regressions. At the field dose of 80 ppm, the lc-RR strain had constant oviposition over time. The lc-SS susceptible strain had increasing oviposition over time, but the oviposition pattern on the nonsprayed broccoli also increased over time. Susceptible females layed fewer eggs on plants sprayed with lambda-cyhalothrin than on unsprayed plants. A residue-persistence test showed that spinosad and lambda-cyhalothrin could effectively control SS P. xylostella larvae for 7-9 d after application. These results are discussed in relation to their potential impact on insecticide resistance management strategies.

Field surveys of pest insect pest populations in agroecosystems reveal low but significant levels of tolerance to synthetic and biological pesticides but fail to uncover resistance alleles in test crosses. To study the potential of inducible mechanisms to generate tolerance to synthetic pesticides, we performed baseline susceptibility studies in field and laboratory populations of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), to commercial formulations of emamectin benzoate. Pesticide exposure in the field caused elevated levels of tolerance, which decreased in field-collected populations after maintaining insects with pesticide-free diet in the laboratory. Because no significant resistance alleles were identified in back-crossed individuals, the observed increase in tolerance was probably not based on preexisting recessive resistance mechanisms in the population. Instead, the genetic analysis after five and 12 generations is compatible with a transient up-regulation of an immune and metabolic status in tolerant insects that can be transmitted to offspring by a maternal effect. Although the epigenetic effects contributed to incremental increases in tolerance in the first five generations, other resistance mechanisms that are transmitted genetically predominate after 12 generations of increased exposure to the pesticide.

Phragmidium violaceum (Pv) isolate F15 was released for biological control of invasive European blackberry in Australia in 1991–1992. This study reports variation in the pathogenicity of isolate F15 and Pv isolates SA1, V1 and V2, collected in southeastern Australia in 1997 or 1998, on a broad sample of genetically variable European blackberry clones collected in 1996–2000. The use of whole shoots or detached leaflet discs led to the same conclusions about the relative susceptibility of a blackberry clone to a particular Pv isolate. Moderate to relatively high numbers of uredinia developed on all 25 blackberry clones inoculated with isolate V1, whereas no or few uredinia of isolates V2 and SA1 developed on Rubus erythrops clone EB20, three clones of Rubus leucostachys (EB9, EB19 and 960804) or Rubus sp. clone SR43. Pv isolate F15 differed from the three isolates collected in Australia in that no or few uredinia of F15 developed on Rubus polyanthemus clone 961107 or three clones of Rubus laciniatus (EB22, KE1, SR14). Isolate F15 also differed from isolates V1 and V2 for the density of uredinia as a function of leaf age in a clone of Rubus anglocandicans found widely in Australia. Isolates V1 and V2 ceased production of uredinia on leaves older than 16 days, whereas Pv isolate F15 continued production of uredinia beyond this leaf age. This study informed selection of additional Pv isolates from Europe for release in Australia in 2004.

A large-scale biological control program against saltcedars (Caryophyllales: Tamaricaceae) has been implemented in the western United States. Repeated releases of the biological control agent, Diorhabda elongata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), have resulted in delayed establishment success in northern California. Evidence that the target weed species at northern California release sites is a lower ranked host led us to test for shifts in host preference of D. elongata, by comparing the field-established population to its source laboratory colony. In greenhouse experiments, laboratory-colony D. elongata exhibited ovipositional preference for Tamarix ramosissima over Tamarix parviflora, whereas D. elongata reared from the field population had no significant preference between the two host plants. In an open-field host choice experiment conducted prior to widespread field-establishment (2006), higher oviposition and number of adult beetles over time was found in T. ramosissima treatments when compared to T. parviflora-only and mixed-host treatments. We repeated the open-field host choice experiment in 2008 for the laboratory colony and beetles reared from the field-established population. Field-established beetles remained longer than laboratory-colony beetles, irrespective of host. Significantly more laboratory-colony D. elongata remained on T. ramosissima treatments, but there was no treatment effect on field-established beetles. Our findings suggest the relaxation of a host acceptance threshold by field-established D. elongata, which may have improved performance on the target weed, T. parviflora. If such trait shifts are common, then strategies implementing repeated releases may not improve establishment, and studies comparing pre- and post-release realized host use by biological control agents may be useful to detect novel host use patterns.

Veterinary RecordVolume 164, Issue 4 p. 106-106 Surveillance Anthelmintic resistance in equids First published: 24 January 2009 https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.164.4.106Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume164, Issue4January 2009Pages 106-106 RelatedInformation

The diamondback moth has shown such a formidable capability to evolve resistance to insecticides that we must consider radically different approaches to management of both the pest and its resistance. These include: mandatory crucifer-free crop periods, area-wide insecticide rotation programs, avoidance of pesticide mixtures and Bt spray formulations containing multiple toxins, avoidance of persistent insecticide formulations, registration of insecticides that show low toxicity to natural enemies, development of novel control tactics such as pheromone disruption, and the use of transgenic plants with multiple toxins “pyramided” within the same variety. Although it is often assumed that resistance will develop quickly to transgenic plants, simulation models and experiments suggest that pyramided plants with effective toxin expression, if coupled with a small refuge of non-transgenic plants, could be the most effective resistance management tactic ever devised, and might control diamondback moth populations through the mid 21st century. Transgenic crops could also dramatically reduce worker and consumer exposure to pesticides. Given that both transgenic technology and 4-5 new insecticides are or could soon be available for the diamondback moth, it is both a critical and an ideal time for implementing resistance management: there is pesticide susceptibility to conserve!

As scientists involved in risk assessment of transgenic insecticidal plants, we are greatly concerned about the publication by Lo ¨vei

As we described in our rebuttal in Transgenic Research (Shelton et al. 2009), we think that the meta-analysis approach used by Lo¨ vei et al. (2009) suffers from important methodological limitations relative to risk assessment that led them to reach conclusions that are in consict with those of several recent comprehensive reviews and meta-analyses about the effects of Cry proteins on natural enemies. In particular, we believe that in their analyses they often attributed hazard to a protein rather than, more accurately, to poor prey or host quality. The rebuttal by Andow et al. (2009) does not correct this mistaken comparison or address our other major concerns. In this response to their letter we clarify misrepresentations of our original statements, refocus the discussion on methodology, and re-emphasize the additional main points of our initial rebuttal that Andow et al. (2009) did not address in their response.