Maurilio Lopez-Ortega

University of Veracruz | UV · Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA)

Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the diversity and abundance of bark beetles and ambrosial beetles and their relationship with temperature and relative humidity. Design/methodology/approach: The study was carried out in a pine-oak forest of the northeastern Sierra of the state of Puebla, where a monitoring system was established usin...

Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the diversity and abundance of bark beetles and ambrosial beetles and their relationship with temperature and relative humidity. Design/methodology/approach: The study was carried out in a pine-oak forest of the northeastern Sierra of the state of Puebla, where a monitoring system was established usin...

Copulation and/or ejaculate components can alter female physiological state and female post-mating behavior. The objective of the present study was to determine if copulation and male reproductive accessory gland products (MAGs) modify the behavior of female Anastrepha ludens (Loew) and Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart; Diptera: Tephritidae) in respons...

A new species, Ischnus coxalis sp. nov., is described from Mexico and compared with the closely related I. laevifrons Townes, 1962. Sexual dimorphism of the new species is discussed.

Over a two–year period, we surveyed natural areas of the Mayan rainforest in Quintana Roo, Mexico. We found 11 species of Anastrepha Schiner (Diptera: Tephritidae) infesting 25 species of fruits belonging to ten plant families. We report the first records of 10 host plant species of the genus Anastrepha, which include the first report of a plant fa...

The presence of earthworm species in crop fields is as old as agriculture itself. The earthworms Pontoscolex corethrurus (invasive) and Balanteodrilus pearsei (native) are associated with the emergence of agriculture and sedentism in the region Amazon and Maya, respectively. Both species have shifted their preference from their natural habitat to t...

Monophagous insects that use discrete resources for oviposition and feeding are especially sensitive to variations in host quality and availability because their opportunities to find these resources are scarce. The monophagous tephritid fly Anastrepha spatulata Stone is a tephritid fly that uses as hosts the fruits of the non-economically importan...

The presence of earthworm species in crop fields is as old as agriculture itself. The earthworms Pontoscolex corethrurus (invasive) and Balanteodrilus pearsei (native) are associated with the emergence of agriculture and sedentism in the region Amazon and Maya, respectively. Both species have shifted their preference from their natural habitat to t...

Based on a large quantity ichneumonid material collected mainly from the Mexican states of Veracruz and Quintana Roo, faunistic records of 79 species belonging to subfamilies Acaenitinae, Banchinae, Cryptinae, Cylloceriinae, Labeninae, Lycorininae, Microleptinae, Pimplinae, Tersilochinae, and Tryphoninae are provided. Three species are described as...

This article describes and illustrates the new species Eugenia coetzalensis, considered as endemic to central Veracruz and northern Oaxaca. E. coetzalensis is part of the tree stratum of the subdeciduous tropical forest, growing on Ortic Luvisol with Lithosol soils, at altitudes ranging from 282 to 507 m elev. This taxon shows similarities with Eug...

The influence of maternal defense against natural enemies, maternal provisioning and oviposition site selection on offspring survival before and after hatching were examined in a semelparous pentatomid bug, Ramosiana insignis. Oviposition occurs on leaves of Schoepfia schreberi, or surrounding vegetation from which nymphs migrate to feed exclusivel...

Original data from all studies. (XLSX)

A new species of the tribe Hemigasterini, Platymystax xalapa sp. nov., is described from the Mexican State of Veracruz. It is the first species of the genus described from the New World. A preliminary identification key to all known seven species of Platymystax of the world fauna is provided.

Dynamic interactions by fruit/seed-infesting insects on Schoepfia schreberi (Olacaceae) Maurilio López-Ortega1, Francisco Díaz-Fleischer1, Paulino Prez-Rodríguez2 & Julio C. Rojas3 ABSTRACT Temporal and spatial patterns of fruit infestation and fruit predation of Schoepfia schreberi J.F. Gmel (Santalales: Olacaceae) by a phytophagous insect guil...

Here we describe the immature stages and seed-carrying and feeding behaviors of Melanaethus crenatus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae: Cydninae: Geotomini), based on 4 sampling dates from 2009 through 2011. Adult females of this species move seeds of its host plant, Richardia scabra L. (Rubiales: Rubiaceae), to small cavities under smal...

The interactions between the fruit fly Anastrepha spatulata Stone (Diptera: Tephritidae) and two species of moths, the gelechiid Coleotechnites sp. and an unidentified tortricid species, were examined on their effects on seed production in terms of their exploitation within fruits of Schoepfia schreberi J.F. Gmel (Santalales: Olacaceae). The study...

This paper reports for the first time an ichneumonid parasitoid Calliephialtes sittenfeldae Gauld Ugalde-Gómez et Hanson (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) associated with a dipteran host Anastrepha spatulata Stone (Diptera: Tephritidae), recovered from fruit of Schoepfia schreberi (Santalales: Olacaceae) in central Veracruz, Mexico. Large numbers of thi...

The life cycles of two pentatomid species, Ramosiana insignis and Vulsirea violacea, are reported for first time. We include descriptions and illustrations of all instars, as well as the host plant and behavior. Females of these two species care for their eggs and first-instar nymphs, and both species have the same host, Schoepfia schreberi, althou...

The acorns of oaks (Quercus spp.) are attacked in the pre-dispersal stage by various insect species. Despite the importance of the oaks in reforestation programs, the impact of the attack of these seed predation insects on the germination of the acorns is not well known, is very variable and depends on the oak species. In this study, the infestatio...

The acorns of oaks (Quercus spp.) are attacked in the pre–dispersal stage by various insect species. Despite the importance of the oaks in reforestation programs, the impact of the attack of these seed predation insects on the germination of the acorns is not well known, is very variable and depends on the oak species. In this study, the infestatio...

We describe the techniques used to colonize and domesticate seven native New World species of hymenopterous parasitoids that attack flies within the genus Anastrepha (Diptera: Tephritidae). All parasitoid species successfully developed on artificially reared Mexican fruit fly, Anastrepha ludens (Loew) larvae or pupae. The parasitoid species coloniz...

We report the results of a 2-yr survey that determined some of the host plant and parasitoid associations of Anastrepha fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the "Montes Azules" tropical rainforest biosphere reserve (State of Chiapas, Mexico). We collected a total of 57.38 kg of fruit representing 47 native species from 23 plant families. Of these,...

We examined the interaction between an invertebrate iridescent virus (IIV) isolated from Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) and the solitary ichneumonid endoparasitoid Eiphosoma vitticolle Cresson. In choice tests, parasitoids examined and stung significantly more virus infected than healthy larvae, apparently due to a lack of defense reaction in v...

We report the results of a nine-year study (1990-1998), aimed at determining the distribution of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and identify their host plants in Veracruz, Mexico. Twenty Anastrepha species, Toxotrypana curvicauda and several unidentified Hexachaeta species were captured in McPhail traps. Among the 20 Anastrepha species, A. lima...

We report the results of a nine-year study (1990-1998), aimed at determining the distribution of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) and identify their host plants in Veracruz, Mexico. Twenty Anastrepha species, Toxotrypana curvicauda and several unidentified Hexachaeta species were captured in McPhail traps. Among the 20 Anastrepha species, A. lima...

We surveyed 15 wild and cultivated plant species in search of fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) parasitoids during 4 years (1993–1996) in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. The following species were infested by Anastrepha larvae: Spondias purpurea L., S. mombin L., Tapirira mexicana Marchand, Mangifera indica L. (all Anacardiaceae), Ximenia americana L...

We provide ecological evidence for the existence of diapause in 4 native and an exotic species of larval-pupal fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) parasitoids inhabiting tropical environments. We worked in central Veracruz, Mexico, in perturbed tropical deciduous and subdeciduous forests and in diversified agroecosystems during 4 yr (1993-1997). The n...

In Veracruz State, Mexico, the temporal and spatial distributions of 5 species of parasitic Hymenoptera attacking larvae of 5 Anastrepha species in 7 species of fruit tree canopies were examined. Parasitism by Doryctobracon areolatus (Szepligeti) (Braconidae), Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) (Braconidae), and Utetes anastrephae (Viereck) (Br...