0000000000338956
AUTHOR
Stefania Laudonia
Modeling Environmental Influences in the Psyllaephagus bliteus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)-Glycaspis brimblecombei (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) Parasitoid-Host System.
Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae) is an invasive psyllid introduced into the Mediterranean area, where it affects several species of Eucalyptus. Psyllaephagus bliteus Riek (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is a specialized parasitoid of this psyllid that was accidentally introduced into Italy in 2011. We developed a model of this host–parasitoid system that accounts for the influence of environmental conditions on the G. brimblecombei population dynamics and P. bliteus parasitism rates in the natural ecosystem. The Lotka–Volterra-based model predicts non-constant host growth and parasitoid mortality rates in association with variation in environmental conditions. The model was …
Wild olive seed weevil in South Africa, Anchonocranus oleae Marshall (Coleoptera Curculionidae), a rediscovery after a century
The wild olive seed weevil, Anchonocranus oleae Marshall, 1912 was not found after its description and the study of its biology by Silvestri in 1915. Recently, A. oleae larvae were found alive inside the kernels of wild olives (O. europaea subsp. cuspidata) collected from trees between 2009 and 2012 in the Western Cape, South Africa. No weevil larvae were found in cultivated olives collected during the same period. Only two adult weevils emerged from olives collected on the tree and on the ground. Over the sampling period 20 adults were collected directly on wild olive trees at different sites in the Western Cape and one in the Eastern Cape. All adults were shown to be conspecific with the …