The release rates of two Pacific Biocontrol codling moth, one AgriSense grape berry moth and two Pacific Biocontrol grape berry moth dispensers were studied using gravimetric measurements. It was found that the addition of titanium dioxide to the polyethylene mixture significantly reduced the release rate of the dispenser when compared with a transparent design. The AgriSense dispenser's release rate could not be determined gravimetrically, possibly due to water absorption. The Pacific Biocontrollong life grape berry moth dispenser was more effective than the normal type. The effect of other species' sex pheromone blends and generic blends upon the mating behavior of Platynota flavedana Clemens, Platynota idaeusalis (Walker), Argyrotaenia velutinana (Walker) and Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris) was studied using small plots. It was determined that the sex pheromone blend for P. flavedanamay control populations of P. idaeusalis and that the two generic blends developed may control P. flavedana, P. idaeusalis and A. velutinana. The impact of a low spray mating disruption program upon the ground dwelling arthropods was investigated. It was determined that a low spray mating disruption program may be more compatible with populations of natural enemies. More taxa, species and individuals were present because of the absence of damaging prays. Orchard management of ground cover also seemed to play an important role in determining taxa and species present in orchards. / Master of Science

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Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references. / Microfiche. / xiii, 114 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.SC.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-106). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 53 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-51).

Hakea sericea Schrader was introduced to South Africa from Australia and has become a major problem in nearly all the coastal mountain ranges of the Cape Province. The hakea seed-moth, Carposina autologa Meyrick was released in South Africa for the biological control of H. sericea. The impact of the moth on the canopy-stored seeds of H. sericea was evaluated at two study sites in the south-western Cape over three years. The moth has reduced the accumulated seeds at the two study sites by 59.4% and 42.6%, respectively. The moth has shown a surprising ability to disperse and establish new colonies at low population levels. Factors contributing to the slow colonization of C. autologa in South Africa was investigated. The moths appear to be unable to distinguish between healthy and previously attacked fruits; 42.5% of the eggs were laid on attacked fruits. Only 13.1% of the healthy fruits with eggs yielded mature larvae. The high pre-penetration mortality found in the present study is similar to that found in Australia. The effect of the indigenous fungus, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc., on both H. sericea and C. autologa was investigated. H. sericea trees and branches that die as a result of fungus cause the accumulated fruits on the affected trees or branches to dehisce. This seed loss occurs at a crucial stage during C. autologa larval development. Only 42.1% and 33.0% of the trees were found to be healthy at the two study sites, respectively. One seed crop will always be available for regeneration, since recruitment is linked to fires, and wild-fires occur at a stage when the latest seed crop has escaped attack by c. autologa. C. autologa was released at six sites in the south-western Cape by attaching egg-bearing follicles to healthy fruits in the field. Three release sites were evaluated the year following release to determine whether the moth established or not. The role of C. autologa in the H. sericea biological control programme is discussed. Although seed destruction by C. autologa is not severe, it is expected to contribute to the control of H. sericea.

A comprehensive review of whole mount staining revealed an enhanced staining method to improve visibility of morphological structures. Ultimately, five factors vital to stain quality were identified, with pH being a primary factor. Phylogenetic relationships of all 22 tribes of Tortricidae, representing 57 genera and 78 species (distributed in Neotropical, Nearctic, Palearctic, Oriental, and Australian regions), were investigated based on 52 morphological characters, including incorporation of 27 novel non-traditional characters of the endo- and exoskeleton. The phylogenetic analysis yielded five equally parsimonious trees (length 389 steps, CI=0.2571, RI=0.7051), a strict consensus (length 392 steps, CI=0.2551, RI= 0.7021) of which produced two trichotomies. These results reinforced those from previous molecular analyses (Fagua et al., 2016; Regier et al., 2016) with some disagreement, consistent with historical conclusions made based on morphology. Mapping character distribution onto a recent molecular based phylogeny (Regier et al., 2012) revealed promising characters for subfamily and tribal delimitation

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Some properties of esterases of the greater wax moth larvae, Galleria mellonela (L.), were examined and the enzymes partially purified. Several buffer systems were tried and it was found that tris buffer was most suitable. The tris buffer resulted in less hydrolysis of the acetylsalicylic acid. Esterase activity was determined with acetylsalicylic acid in tris buffer, pH = 7.85, 0.05 M. The enzymes were partially purified by combination of acetone powder preparations, ammonium sulfate precipitations and gel filtration. The ratio of esterase activity to protein content was increased 1.03 fold by acetone powder preparation and 1.5 fold by 70% ammonium sulfate precipitation. The ammonium sulfate precipitate in 60-70% was very reproducible. The enzyme showed the greatest instability after 70% ammonium sulfate precipitation; this made further purification difficult. The acetone powder solution was found to be stable at room temperature for about 2 hours. The pH optimum of esterases was found to be close to 8.0. The esterases were classified as ali-esterases and cholinesterases on the basis of inhibition and activation studies. The enzyme was completely inhibited by 0.05 M veratrine sulfate; 0.001 M mercuric chloride resulted in a 45% inhibition. EDTA increased the activity of the esterases 195% at 0.001 M. This may indicate that there are metal ions in the other tissues of the greater wax moth larvae that are causing inhibition of gut esterases; or, it may indicate that the other tissues contain esterase activity which is sensitive to the presence of metal ions.