David W. Boyd

• Bob Jones University

Gynaikothrips uzeli (Zimmermann) (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) adults induce permanent leaf folds on Ficus benjamina L. (Moraceae), inside which they feed and reproduce. Range expansion of G. uzeli in North America was accompanied by Thripastichus gentilei (del Guercio) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). The objectives of this study were to determine the...

Leaf galls on Ficus benjamina containing immature and adult Gynaikothrips uzeli were collected from containerized plants in the landscape and at retail outlets in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama. This thrips, first reported in 2003 on weeping figs in south Florida, and certain associated natural enemies appear to be spreading across...

Androthrips ramachandrai es un trips exótico, que parece ser un depredador, y esta asociado con trips que producen agallas. El trips fue informado por primera vez en los Estados Unidos en el estado de la Florida, e interceptado en California en el 2002 de Tailandia. Nosotros muestreamos las plantas de Ficus spp. con agallas inducidas por Gynaikothr...

Predaceous hemipteran feeding on different trophic levels have raised questions about their ecology and role in biological control. Therefore, specific adaptations allowing them to simultaneously use plants and animals as sources for their nutritional requirements are important. Enzymatic variability in predatory hemipterans has been suggested as t...

Flea beetles in the genus Altica are herbivorous, urban agricultural pests that are morphologically difficult to distinguish. Host plant associations, therefore, have been used as an important species character in field studies. Indigenous weeds in the Onagraceae, genus Oenothera, are known to serve as developmental hosts for the flea beetle Altica...

Mixed-feeding habits, such as zoophytophagy, make the ecological roles of many species of insects, especially hemipterans, difficult to assess. To understand the feeding adaptations of the predacious plant bug Deraeocoris nebulosus (Uhler), the digestive enzymes from the salivary glands and anterior midgut were analyzed, and the mouthpart stylets w...

Juvenile Anyphaena sp. were collected from overwintering traps placed on the lowest limbs of white oak, Quercus alba, in South Carolina. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine that the number of juvenile Anyphaena sp. found can be predicted by the circumference of the limb, the distance from the trunk and the distance from the ground. T...

Azalea lace bug (ALB), Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott), is an important economic pest of azaleas in the southeastern United States. In this study, 33 commercially available cultivars of evergreen azalea, Rhododendron spp., were evaluated for S. pyrioides feeding preference in both choice and no-choice feeding bioassays. Mean stomatal length and area,...

Gynaikothrips uzeli Zimmerman was first detected in North America from galls on weeping fig (Ficus benjamina L.) in 2003. It has been reported from ten states in the continental United States, Hawaii, Trinidad and Costa Rica. Adult thrips induce leaves to fold permanently along the midvein, making it a significant pest of weeping fig. Studies were...

Azalea lace bugs, Stephanitis pyrioides (Scott) (Hemiptera: Tingidae), are the most common pest of azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) in nursery production and the landscape. Although pesticides are commonly used to control lace bugs, natural enemies can be a significant source of lace bug mortality. Lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) are natural enemies...

Androthrips ramachandrai Karny is an exotic thrips, assumed to be predacious, and is associated with gall-inducing thrips. It was first reported in the U.S. from FL, and intercepted in CA from Thailand in 2002. We surveyed Ficus spp. with Gynaikothrips-induced galls in AL, CA, FL, HI, LA, MS, and TX, and document that A. ramachandrai is now establi...

The twobanded Japanese weevil, Pseudocneorhinus bifasciatus Roelofs, first found in North America near Philadelphia, PA, in 1914, is better known in the northeastern United States than in the Southeast. Based on examination of specimens in 11 museums, fieldwork, and review of the literature, we document the presence of this pest of ornamental plant...

Field and laboratory studies were conducted to identify potential resistance among crape myrtles, Lagerstroemia spp., to Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman and to flea beetles, Altica spp. Damage ratings revealed variation among cultivars in susceptibility to beetle feeding. Cultivars with Lagerstroemia fauriei Koehne in their parentage exhi...

The development of Deraeocoris nebulosus (Uhler) was studied in relation to temperature and to water sources additional to food. Development time for D. nebulosus was linear between 20° and 30°C, allowing the use of a linear equation to calculate degree days. The eggs of D. nebulosus required 111.1 degree days over a threshold of 13.9°C to complete...

Deraeocoris nigritulus (Uhler) is often collected from the cones of Virginia pine, Pinus virginiana. Most species of Deraeocoris are predacious, but whether this plant bug is phytophagous or predacious is not known. To better understand the feeding adaptations of this mirid, the digestive enzymes from the salivary glands and anterior midgut were an...

Juvenile Anyphaena sp. were collected from overwintering traps placed on the lowest limbs of white oak, Quercus alba, in South Carolina. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine that the number of juvenile Anyphaena sp. found can be predicted by the circumference of the limb, the distance from the trunk and the distance from the ground. T...