The Ecology of Agricultural Pests: Biochemical Approaches.

Abstract

Introduction. Biochemical systematics: principles and perspectives for pest management. Combined use of biochemical, immunological and molecular assays for infection, species identification and and resistance detection in field populations of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae). Studies of interactions between alfalfa weevil strains, Wolbachia endosymbionts and parasitoids. Biochemical approaches to the study of ecological genetics: the role of selection and gene flow in the evolution of insecticide resistance. A molecular and ecological investigation of the large arionid slugs of north west Europe: the potential for new pests. Systematics of brown planthopper and related species using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Application of novel molecular markers (DNA) in agricultural entomology. Location of resistance to Brevicoryne brassicae in wild brassica species. The use of DNA markers in population genetics and ecological studies of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera: Acrididae). The use of DNA analysis and the polymerase chain reaction in the study of introduced pests in New Zealand. Serological analysis of arthropod predation: past, present and future. Serological diagnosis of parasitism: a monoclonal antibody-based immunodot assay for Microplitis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Polyclonal, monoclonal and engineered antibodies to investigate the role of predation in slug population dynamics. The potential of combinatorial antibody libraries in pest/predator relationship studies. Serological analysis of predators of Helicoverpa armigera Hubner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) eggs if sorghum-pigeonpea intercropping at ICRISAT, India: a preliminary field study. Using gut content immunoassays to evaluate predaceous biological control agents: a case study. An environmental risk assessment for release of an exotic microsporidium for European corn borer control in North America. Progress in quantifying predation using antibody techniques. Electrophoretic approaches to predator-prey interactions. Genetics of esterases in laboratory and feral cotton boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis Bohemia. Practical applications for techniques to determine the nutritional state and age of field caught tsetse flies.