Itai Opatovsky

Migal - Galilee Technology Center | MIGAL

Metabolic interactions between symbiotic fungi and insects, as well as between entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) and insects, are significant biological events. Numerous studies have focused on the ecological, molecular, and metabolic effects of EPF highlighting their potential in insect pest management. However, limited research has been conducted on t...

Enhancement of black soldier fly (BSF) larval body weight with nutraceutical metabolites is a crucial step in utilising BSF larvae as food and feed. As BSF larvae are found in natural habitats comprising decaying organic matter and thriving with yeast species, we hypothesis that metabolic interactions between BSF larvae and the yeast present in the...

In the present study, we examined the metabolic composition of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae from natural populations (Ruhama: R and She'ar Yashuv: S) and from a laboratory-reared colony (C) using untargeted metabolomics analysis. The results revealed significant over-accumulation of metabolites from phenylalanine and purine metabolism and biosynt...

Detritivorous insects that flourish in decaying environments encounter microorganisms throughout their life cycle. However, it is not clear whether the microbial composition of the decaying environment affects the microbial composition of the insect gut, or whether the opposite is true, with the microorganisms that are adapted to the insect’s diges...

Fatty acids are important compounds for insects, but the requirements for essential fatty acids may differ between insect species. Most of the fatty acids are acquired through the insect’s diet; therefore, supplementing the diet with baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae Meyen ex E.C. Hansen), which produces unsaturated fatty acids, was predicted...

The two-spotted spider mite (TSSM; Tetranychus urticae ) is a ubiquitous polyphagous arthropod pest that has a major economic impact on the tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) industry. Tomato plants have evolved broad defense mechanisms regulated by the expression of defense genes, phytohormones, and secondary metabolites present constitutively and/or...

Significance Decades of research have fostered the now-prevalent assumption that noncrop habitat facilitates better pest suppression by providing shelter and food resources to the predators and parasitoids of crop pests. Based on our analysis of the largest pest-control database of its kind, noncrop habitat surrounding farm fields does affect multi...

The idea that noncrop habitat enhances pest control and represents a win–win opportunity to conserve biodiversity and bolster yields has emerged as an agroecological paradigm. However, while noncrop habitat in landscapes surrounding farms sometimes benefits pest predators, natural enemy responses remain heterogeneous across studies and effects on p...

Background: Individual organisms are linked to their communities and ecosystems via metabolic activities. Metabolic exchanges and co-dependencies have long been suggested to have a pivotal role in determining community structure. In phloem-feeding insects such metabolic interactions with bacteria enable complementation of their deprived nutrition....

The red spider mite (Tetranychus) is an important polyphagous pest in greenhouses, fields and orchard crops worldwide. In Europe and Israel, spider mites infest hundreds of plant species and often remain unnoticed until their presence is revealed by plant damage. In response to spider mite attack, tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum), produce a ble...

Annual crop fields are short-lived and disturbed environments. Therefore, sustainable populations of natural enemies in these fields must be maintained by repeated colonization each season from habitats outside the crop fields. In desert agroecosystems, unmanaged habitats differ greatly in abiotic and biotic conditions from croplands, creating pote...

Individual organisms are linked to their communities and ecosystems via metabolic activities. Metabolic exchanges and co-dependencies have long been suggested to have a pivotal role in determining community structure. Metabolic interactions with bacteria have been key drivers in the evolution of sap-feeding insects, enabling complementation of thei...

Competition for resources is a major organizing principle in communities of organisms that share similar ecological niches. Niche separation by means of exploitation or interference competition was investigated in two taxa of crop-inhabiting spiders that overlap in microhabitat use and have similar web design. Competition for prey and web sites was...

Fusarium wilt caused by the soil borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum is one of the major diseases of lettuce, with highest incidence during summer when high soil temperatures prevail. Disease symptoms include chlorosis and wilt, brown discoloration of the vascular bundles, root rot and eventually plant death. The common practice in lettuce cultivation...

Plantation forests are being planted at an increasing rate and account for 7% of the global forested area. The majority of planted forests are composed of exotic tree species, and Eucalyptus trees have become the most widely planted hardwood species in the world. While Eucalyptus plantations have economic importance, their role in native biodiversi...

Highlights ► Spider densities were assessed before and after harvest. ► The abundance of most spider families declined in wheat fields after the harvest. ► Linyphiids declined in the field and increased in the ecotone after harvest. ► Philodromids spilled-over from the fields into natural habitats after harvest.

Spiders (Araneae) are an important group of generalist predators in arable land. In temperate climates, spiders recolonise cropland annually from the surrounding landscape. In arid climates however, irrigated crops and the surrounding landscape matrix offer sharply different habitat conditions and this might negatively affect spider migration into...

The spread of arable land in semi-desert regions may change biodiversity in nearby uncultivated natural areas by increasing habitat loss and fragmentation and negatively affecting habitat specialists. Crop fields can harbor large populations of agrobionts, which may spill over into nearby semi-desert. We tested the influence of percentage area of a...

Intensively cultivated arable land and semi-desert are two dominant habitat types in the arid agroecosystem in the northwest Negev Desert (Israel). The present study compares activity-densitites and species richness of spiders in these distinctive habitat types. Sixteen wheat fields and twelve locations in the semi-desert were sampled during the wi...

Intensively cultivated arable land and semi-desert are two dominant habitat types in the arid agroecosystem in the northwest Negev Desert (Israel). The present study compares activity-densities and species richness of spiders in these distinctive habitat types. Sixteen wheat fields and twelve locations in the semi-desert were sampled during the win...