Pine weevils cause major damage to newly planted conifer seedlings in reforestation areas. However, recent findings indicate that small (“mini”) seedlings, planted at the age of 7-10 weeks, are gnawed less by pine weevils than the larger, conventionally planted seedlings. Thus, it has been proposed that planting young conifer seedlings in clear-cut areas may reduce the damage caused by pine weevils. In attempts to determine why mini seedlings appear to be less damaged by pine weevils than “conventional” seedlings, the volatiles released by Norway spruce and Scots pine mini seedlings were investigated, since such chemicals are of great importance in herbivore-plant communication, inter alia acting as repellents, attractants or antifeedants. Volatiles from the seedlings were collected, separated and identified by solid phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results show that there are high levels of chemodiversity among both spruce and pine seedlings. Between-tissue and age-related variations in their emissions were also found. Norway spruce clones infested by mites were also examined to assess genotype- and pest-specific stress reactions of Norway spruce. Finally, the effects of certain spruce defense compounds on the behavior of the large pine weevil Hylobius abietis were examined. / QC 20100818

Submitted by Mario BC (mario@bc.ufrpe.br) on 2016-08-30T12:44:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Nayara Cristina de Magalhaes Sousa.pdf: 439589 bytes, checksum: a4ec46c7aaf9d641d8236704ff4a86e1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-30T12:44:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nayara Cristina de Magalhaes Sousa.pdf: 439589 bytes, checksum: a4ec46c7aaf9d641d8236704ff4a86e1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / An increasing use of products that triggers herbivores insects resistance induction and plant pathogens or that promote the strengthening of the plants after the emergence of begomovirose. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the action of fertilizers and biofertilizers inducer acibenzolar - S - methyl (ASM) on mortality and B. tabaci adult behavior and its reflection in tomato disease. Nine products were tested as potential inducers of resistance, the standard insecticide thiamethoxam + lambda-cyhalothrin + 0.5% mineral oil, and the control which consisted only of water. To evaluate the insect mortality were used leaf discs of bean-to-pig. The citrus extract (Sumo K®) had action on insects from 24 hours and caused the highest cumulative mortality of adult whitefly (87.45%). In the interaction of cultivar with inductors on mortality of whitefly the citrus extract (Sumo K®) caused cumulative mortality exceeds 80% in 48 hours of exposure of insects, significantly different from the other products. In the evaluation of resistance induction treatments Sumo K® and Bion® promoted the reduction in the incidence and severity of begomovirose the plant, however, only the mixture insecticide presented desired results. Held adult preference test free choice. There was no significant difference between treatments, only plants sprayed with insecticides were less infested. Thus, we conclude that the use of Sumo-K and Bion in tomato options would be compatible with other control tactics aimed at management of whitefly and begomovírose. / É crescente o uso de produtos que desencadeiam a indução de resistência a insetos herbívoros e a fitopatógenos ou que propiciam o revigoramento das plantas após o surgimento da begomovirose. Com isso, o presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a ação de fertilizantes organominerais e do indutor acilbenzolar – S – metil (ASM) na mortalidade e no comportamento de adultos de B. tabaci e seu reflexo na doença em tomateiro. Foram testados nove produtos como possíveis indutores de resistência, o inseticida padrão tiametoxam+lambda-cialotrina+óleo mineral a 0,5%, além da testemunha que consistiu apenas de água. Para avaliação da mortalidade do inseto foram utilizados discos foliares de feijão-de-porco. O extrato cítrico (Sumo k®) apresentou ação sobre os insetos a partir de 24 horas e causou a maior mortalidade acumulada de adultos da mosca-branca (87,45%). Na interação da cultivar com os indutores sobre a mortalidade da mosca-branca o extrato cítrico (Sumo K®) ocasionou mortalidade acumulada superior a 80% em 48h de exposição dos insetos, diferindo significativamente dos demais produtos. Na avaliação da indução de resistência os tratamentos Sumo K e Bion promoveram a redução na incidência e severidade da begomovirose na planta, porém, somente a mistura inseticida apresentou resultados desejados. Realizou-se teste de preferência de adultos com chance de escolha. Não houve diferença significativa entre os tratamentos, somente plantas pulverizadas com o inseticida foram menos infestadas. Desta forma, é possível concluir que o emprego de Sumo-K e Bion na cultura do tomateiro seriam opções compatíveis com outras táticas de controle visando o manejo da mosca-branca e da begomovírose.

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Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to express different phenotypes depending on the biotic or abiotic environment. In many cases, the response to the environment is beneficial to the individual and can therefore represent adaptive phenotypic plasticity. An example includes morphological and life-historical response to predators. Because there has been a weak interest in the effect of these morphological changes, and it often assumes, but rarely shown, that predator-induced changes are adaptive. I tested how different variables, such as maximum acceleration and velocity, were related to each other in different Gosner stages. Eggs and tadpoles of the species Rana temporaria were exposed to various predator enclosures, a control, a stalking predator (European Perch, Perca fluviatilis), and an ambush predator (dragonfly larvae). The tadpoles mean weight, maximum acceleration and velocity, mobility, boldness, and morphological changes in various Gosner stages were analyzed. My tests showed a significant difference in tadpole weight and their morphology, however, there were no differences in speed, acceleration, boldness or mobility. The morphometric analysis of the tadpoles showed a significant change of tadpoles in the perch treatment compared to the tadpoles in the control. The tadpoles in the perch treatment showed a higher TH/TL (tail height/tail length) ratio, and were overall heavier, than the tadpoles in the control, but no significant change compared to the tadpoles in the dragonfly treatment. This shows that the kairomones and alarm cues triggered a large morphological change, but the effect of the change requires more research.