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Naturally occurring insect viruses can modify the behaviour of infected insects and thereby modulate virus transmission. Modifications of the virus genome could alter these behavioural effects. We studied the distance moved and the position of virus-killed cadavers of fourth instars of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) infected with a wild-type genotype of H. armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HaSNPV) or with one of two recombinant genotypes of this virus on cotton plants. The behavioural effects of virus infection were examined both in larvae infected with a single virus genotype, and in larvae challenged with mixtures of the wild-type and one of the recombinant viruses. An egt-negative virus variant caused more rapid death and lower virus yield in fourth instars, but egt-deletion did not produce consistent behavioural effects over three experiments, two under controlled glasshouse conditions and one in field cages. A recombinant virus containing the AaIT-(Androctonus australis Hector) insect-selective toxin gene, which expresses a neurotoxin derived from a scorpion, caused faster death and cadavers were found lower down the plant than insects infected with unmodified virus. Larvae that died from mixed infections of the AaIT-expressing recombinant and the wild-type virus died at positions significantly lower, compared to infection with the pure wild-type viral strain. The results indicate that transmission of egt-negative variants of HaSNPV are likely to be affected by lower virus yield, but not by behavioural effects of egt gene deletion. By contrast, the AaIT recombinant will produce lower virus yields as well as modified behaviour, which together can contribute to reduced virus transmission under field conditions. In addition, larvae infected with both the wild-type virus and the toxin recombinant behaved as larvae infected with the toxin recombinant only, which might be a positive factor for the risk assessment of such toxin recombinants in the environment.

Recent advances in the understanding of plant signaling pathways have opened the way for using elicitor-induced plant resistance as a tactic for protecting plants against arthropod pests. Four common elicitors of induced responses in tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. (Solanaceae), were evaluated with regard to phytotoxicity, induction of plant defensive proteins, and effects on population growth and fecundity of a common pest, the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Homoptera: Aphididae). Ethephon and methyl jasmonate (MJ) treatments caused varying degrees of phytotoxicity. Ethephon caused pronounced changes in plant growth form and severe, dose-dependent negative impacts on plant growth and flowering. Effects with MJ were milder, but still caused temporary inhibition of development, leading to smaller plants and delayed flowering. The commercial elicitors benzothiadiazole (BTH) and harpin did not cause detectable phytotoxicity. The highest doses of ethephon and MJ significantly increased leaf peroxidase (POD) levels but only MJ treatments significantly increased polyphenol oxidase (PPO) levels. BTH and harpin had no detectable effects on POD and PPO. Populations of green peach aphids grew significantly more slowly on plants treated with BTH or MJ than on control plants or plants treated with harpin or ethephon. Slowed aphid population growth on BTH-treated plants was due to significant reductions in aphid fecundity, although this was independent of changes in time to onset of reproduction or time to death. Aphid fecundity was also reduced on MJ-treated plants relative to controls, but this difference was not statistically significant, suggesting that other mechanisms are involved in slowing aphid population growth on MJ-treated plants. Growth of aphid populations on plants treated with a MJ-BTH mixture was reduced almost as much as with treatments of MJ alone, suggesting that antagonism between JA-dependant and SA-dependent plant signaling pathways is only mild with regard to induced defenses against aphids.

Anoplophora gbbriperznis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiini) is an invasive woodboring beetle with an unusually broad host range and a proven ability to increase its host range as it colonizes new areas and encounters new tree species. The beetle is native to eastern Asia and has become an invasive pest in North America and Europe, stimulating interest in delineating host and non-host tree species more clearly. When offered a choice among four species of living trees in a greenhouse, adult A. glabripennis fed more on golden-rain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata Laxmann) and river birch (Betub nigra L.) than on London planetree (Platanus x acerifolia (Aiton) Willdenow) or callery pear (Pyrus calleryana Decaisne). Oviposition rate was highest in golden-rain tree, but larval mortality was also high and larval growth was slowest in this tree species. Oviposition rate was lowest in callery pear, and larvae failed to survive in this tree species, whether they eclosed from eggs laid in the treg or were manually inserted into the trees. Adult beetles feeding on c&ery pear had a reduced longevity and females feeding only on callery pear failed to develop any eggs. The resistance of golden-rain tree against the larvae appears to operate primarily through the physical mechanism of abundant sap flow. The resistance of callery pear against both larvae and adults appears to operate through the chemical composition of the tree, which may include compounds that are toxic or which otherwise interfere with normal growth and development of the beetle. Unlike river birch or London planetree, both golden-rain tree and callery pear are present in the native range of A. glabripennis and may therefore have developed resistance to the beetle by virtue of exposure to attack during their evolutionary history.