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Recent studies demonstrated pyrethroid resistance associated with voltage-gated sodium channel mutations in populations of the epibenthic amphipod, Hyalella azteca. Resistant populations were able to tolerate and bioconcentrate pyrethroids at concentrations significantly higher than toxic levels for non-resistant populations. In conjunction with elevated bioconcentration potential, environmental alteration particularly as a result of global climate change is anticipated to significantly alter abiotic parameters including temperature and salinity. These changes are expected to influence uptake and biotransformation of contaminants. Thus, the aims of the current study were a) to examine the bioconcentration potential of permethrin in two pyrethroid-resistant clades of H. azteca and b) assess the influence of temperature and salinity changes on toxicokinetic parameters. Two pyrethroid-resistant clades of H. azteca were exposed to 14 C-permethrin at three salinities (0.2, 1.0 and 6.0 practical salinity units (PSU)) and temperatures (18, 23 and 28 °C). Tests were conducted for up to 36 h and uptake, elimination and biotransformation rates were calculated. Both populations demonstrated bioconcentration factors (BCFs) between five and seven times greater than published data for non-resistant H. azteca, with significant differences between clades. Calculated BCF values were comparable to field populations of resistant H. azteca, emphasizing the potential for elevated pyrethroid bioconcentration in the natural environment and increased exposure for predators consuming pyrethroid-resistant aquatic invertebrates. Alterations to temperature and salinity had no statistically significant effect on uptake or parent compound half-life in either population, though biotransformation was elevated at higher temperatures in both populations. Salinity had a variable effect between the two populations, with lower BCF values at 1.0 PSU in clade D H. azteca and greater BCFs at 6.0 PSU in clade C H. azteca. This is the first study to demonstrate the potential for future climate scenarios to influence toxicokinetics in pyrethroid-resistant aquatic organisms., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fluvalinate has been extensively used in the United States to combat honey bee colony loss due to Varroa destructor mites. Our objectives were to investigate the extent of fluvalinate contamination in commercially available wax and to define exposure pathways to larval and adult honey bees. All the commercial wax tested contained elevated fluvalinate concentrations, indicating a need for regulation of the sources of wax being rendered for resale. Based on the negative logarithm of the partition coefficient between wax and pollen (-0.54), it is evident that fluvalinate has the potential to actively transfer from the contaminated wax into hive matrices. This was confirmed by adding fluvalinate-dosed wax, fluvalinate-impregnated strips, or a combination of the 2 to hives. Larvae and adult bees were checked for fluvalinate exposure using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Larvae had detectable concentrations of fluvalinate in all treatments. Bioaccumulation in adult bees was significantly affected by the interaction between treatment type and application time. In other words, residues from hives that only had fluvalinate-dosed wax were comparable to residues in hives that were actively being treated, suggesting that transfer of fluvalinate from wax into adult bees was an important exposure route. In conclusion, exposure of fluvalinate from contaminated wax and treatment strips to honey bees needs to be considered when the risk for colony loss in hives is being evaluated. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1356-1363. © 2019 SETAC., (© 2019 SETAC.)

Large-scale honey bee colony loss threatens pollination services throughout the United States. An increase in anthropogenic pressure may influence the exposure of hives to household and agricultural pesticides. The objective of this survey was to provide an assessment of the risk of exposure to commonly used pesticides to honey bee colonies in Virginia in relation to land use. Adult honey bee, pollen, and wax samples from colonies throughout Virginia were evaluated for pyrethroid, organophosphate, organochlorine, and triazine pesticides using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Of the 11 pesticides analyzed, nine were detected in one or more hive matrices. The probability of detecting a pesticide in pollen was less in forests than in pasture, agriculture, or urban landscapes. Coumaphos and fluvalinate were significantly more likely to be detected across all matrices with concentrations in wax as high as 15500 and 6970 ng/g (dry weight), respectively, indicating the need for further research on the potential effects of miticide accumulation in wax to larval and adult bees., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Spatial synchrony and cycles are common features of forest insect pests, but are often studied as separate phenomenon. Using time series of timber damage caused by Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) (southern pine beetle) in 10 states within the southern United States, this study examines synchrony in D. frontalis abundance, the synchronizing effects of temperature extremes, and the evidence for shared cycles among state populations. Cross-correlation and cluster analyses are used to quantify synchrony across a range of geographic distances and to identify groups of states with synchronous dynamics. Similar techniques are used to quantify spatial synchrony in temperature extremes and to examine their relationship to D. frontalis fluctuations. Cross-wavelet analysis is then used to examine pairs of time series for shared cycles. These analyses suggest there is substantial synchrony among states in D. frontalis fluctuations, and there are regional groups of states with similar dynamics. Synchrony in D. frontalis fluctuations also appears related to spatial synchrony in summer and winter temperature extremes. The cross-wavelet results suggest that D. frontalis dynamics may differ among regions and are not stationary. Significant oscillations were present in some states over certain time intervals, suggesting an endogenous feedback mechanism. Management of D. frontalis outbreaks could potentially benefit from a multistate regional approach because populations are synchronous on this level. Extreme summer temperatures are likely to become the most important synchronizing agent due to climate change., (© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Although theoretical models have demonstrated that predator-prey population dynamics can depend critically on age (stage) structure and the duration and variability in development times of different life stages, experimental support for this theory is non-existent. We conducted an experiment with a host-parasitoid system to test the prediction that increased variability in the development time of the vulnerable host stage can promote interaction stability. Host-parasitoid microcosms were subjected to two treatments: Normal and High variance in the duration of the vulnerable host stage. In control and Normal-variance microcosms, hosts and parasitoids exhibited distinct population cycles. In contrast, insect abundances were 18-24% less variable in High- than Normal-variance microcosms. More significantly, periodicity in host-parasitoid population dynamics disappeared in the High-variance microcosms. Simulation models confirmed that stability in High-variance microcosms was sufficient to prevent extinction. We conclude that developmental variability is critical to predator-prey population dynamics and could be exploited in pest-management programs., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.)

Conversion to agriculture, habitat fragmentation, and the loss of native grazers have made tallgrass prairie one of the most endangered ecosystems. One management option for the remaining prairie parcels, patch-burn grazing (PBG), applies a controlled burn to a portion of the prairie to attract cattle, creating a mosaic of more- and less-grazed patches. Although beneficial to cattle and grassland birds, the potential impacts of PBG on streams have not been studied, and a holistic approach is needed to ensure against adverse effects. We used a Before-After-Control-Impact design to assess potential impacts of PBG with and without riparian protection on tallgrass prairie headwater streams. We sampled stream macroinvertebrates and benthic organic matter 2 yr before and 2 yr during PBG treatments on two grazed watersheds with riparian fencing (fenced), two unfenced grazed watersheds (unfenced), and two ungrazed (control) watersheds. Very fine benthic organic matter increased significantly (51%) in unfenced streams compared with controls ( < 0.007), and fine particulate organic matter (<1 mm and >250 µm) increased 3-fold in the unfenced streams compared with controls ( = 0.008). The contribution of fine inorganic sediments to total substrata increased 28% in unfenced streams during PBG, which was significantly different from controls ( = 0.03). Additionally, the abundance of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa decreased from 7635 to 687 individuals m in unfenced streams, which was significantly lower than in control streams ( = 0.008). Our results indicate that PBG adversely influences prairie streams through sediment inputs and reductions in sensitive invertebrate taxa, but riparian fencing can alleviate these impacts., (Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.)

One of the fundamental goals of ecology is to examine how dispersal affects the distribution and dynamics of insects across natural landscapes. These landscapes are frequently divided into patches of habitat embedded in a matrix of several non-habitat regions, and dispersal behavior could vary within each landscape element as well as the edges between elements. Reaction-diffusion models are a common way of modeling dispersal and species interactions in such landscapes, but to apply these models we also need methods of estimating the diffusion rate and any edge behavior parameters. In this paper, we present a method of estimating the diffusion rate using the mean occupancy time for a circular region. We also use mean occupancy time to estimate a parameter (the crossing probability) that governs one type of edge behavior often used in these models, a biased random walk. These new methods have some advantages over other methods of estimating these parameters, including reduced computational cost and ease of use in the field. They also provide a method of estimating the diffusion rate for a particular location in space, compared to existing methods that represent averages over large areas. We further examine the statistical properties of the new method through simulation, and discuss how mean occupancy time could be estimated in field experiments.

While most bark beetles attack only dead or weakened trees, many species in the genus Dendroctonus have the ability to kill healthy conifers through mass attack of the host tree, and can exhibit devastating outbreaks. Other species in this group are able to successfully colonize trees in small numbers without killing the host. We reconstruct the evolution of these ecological and life history traits, first classifying the extant Dendroctonus species by attack type (mass or few), outbreaks (yes or no), host genus (Pinus and others), location of attacks on the tree (bole, base, etc.), whether the host is killed (yes or no), and if the larvae are gregarious or have individual galleries (yes or no). We then estimated a molecular phylogeny for a data set of cytochrome oxidase I sequences sampled from nearly all Dendroctonus species, and used this phylogeny to reconstruct the ancestral state at various nodes on the tree, employing maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods. Our reconstructions suggest that extant Dendroctonus species likely evolved from an ancestor that killed host pines through mass attack of the bole, had individual larvae, and exhibited outbreaks. The ability to colonize a host tree in small numbers (as well as gregarious larvae and attacks at the tree base) apparently evolved later, possibly as two separate events in different clades. It is likely that tree mortality and outbreaks have been continuing features of the interaction between conifers and Dendroctonus bark beetles.

A typical feature of forest insect pests is their tendency to undergo large fluctuations in abundance, which can jeopardize the persistence of their predaceous natural enemies. One strategy that these predators may adopt to cope with these fluctuations would be to respond to sensory cues for multiple prey species. Another possible adaptation to temporal variation in the prey community could involve the learning of prey cues and switching behavior. We conducted three experiments to investigate the ability of the generalist bark beetle predator Thanasimus dubius (F.) (Coleoptera: Cleridae) to respond to different prey signals and to investigate the effect of olfactory experience. We first conducted a field choice test and a wind tunnel experiment to examine the kairomonal response of individual predators toward prey pheromone components (frontalin, ipsenol, ipsdienol, sulcatol) along with the pine monoterpene α-pinene, which is a volatile compound from the host of the prey. We also presented semiochemically naive predators with two prey pheromone components, frontalin and ipsenol, alone or associated with a reward. Our results showed that T. dubius populations are composed of generalists that can respond to a broad range of kairomonal signals. Naive T. dubius also were more attracted to ipsenol following its association with a reward. This work constitutes the first evidence that the behavior of a predatory insect involved in bark beetle population dynamics is influenced by previous olfactory experience, and provides a potential explanation for the pattern of prey switching observed in field studies.

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an economically important pest species throughout the southeastern United States, Arizona, Mexico, and Central America. Previous research identified population structure among widely distant locations, yet failed to detect population structure among national forests in the state of Mississippi. This study uses microsatellite variation throughout the southeastern United States to compare the southern pine beetle's pattern of population structure to phylogeographic patterns in the region, and to provide information about dispersal. Bayesian clustering identified east and west genetic groups spanning multiple states. The east group had lower heterozygosity, possibly indicating greater habitat fragmentation or a more recent colonization. Significant genetic differentiation (θ(ST) = 0.01, p < 0.0001) followed an isolation-by-distance pattern (r = 0.39, p < 0.001) among samples, and a hierarchical AMOVA indicated slightly more differentiation occurred between multi-state groups. The observed population structure matches a previously identified phylogeographic pattern, division of groups along the Appalachian Mountain/Apalachicola River axis. Our results indicate that the species likely occurs as a large, stable metapopulation with considerable gene flow among subpopulations. Also, the relatively low magnitude of genetic differentiation among samples suggests that southern pine beetles may respond similarly to management across their range.

Insect host-parasitoid systems are often modeled using delay-differential equations, with a fixed development time for the juvenile host and parasitoid stages. We explore here the effects of distributed development on the stability of these systems, for a random parasitism model incorporating an invulnerable host stage, and a negative binomial model that displays generation cycles. A shifted gamma distribution was used to model the distribution of development time for both host and parasitoid stages, using the range of parameter values suggested by a literature survey. For the random parasitism model, the addition of biologically plausible levels of developmental variability could potentially double the area of stable parameter space beyond that generated by the invulnerable host stage. Only variability in host development time was stabilizing in this model. For the negative binomial model, development variability reduced the likelihood of generation cycles, and variability in host and parasitoid was equally stabilizing. One source of stability in these models may be aggregation of risk, because hosts with varying development times have different vulnerabilities. High levels of variability in development time occur in many insects and so could be a common source of stability in host-parasitoid systems., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

1. Changes in the density of an organism near a boundary elements (edge effects) are often thought to be generated by changes in movement behaviour, but in most cases the mechanism underlying these effects is unknown. 2. We quantified the movement behaviour of a minute parasitic wasp, Anagrus columbi, in relation to edges in its habitat. This wasp attacks eggs of the planthopper Prokelisia crocea, which inhabits a wet prairie ecosystem composed of patches of its host plant prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata) interspersed within a matrix of mudflat, smooth brome (Bromus inermis) and native grasses. Two edge types are common in this system, cordgrass-mudflat and cordgrass-brome. 3. We conducted mark-recapture experiments in which wasps were released at the cordgrass-matrix edge and 50 cm within cordgrass or matrix, for both edge types. The marked wasps were recaptured using a grid of sticky traps. We fitted an advection-diffusion model to these data, yielding estimates of the diffusion rate and advection coefficient for cordgrass and matrix, for each release position and edge type. 4. The spatial distribution of wasps was well-described by the advection-diffusion model. The pattern suggests that marked wasps strongly biased their movements towards the edge when released in matrix, and to a lesser extent when released in cordgrass, while edge releases showed little bias. The advection coefficients were similar for the two edge types, as were the diffusion rates for the three substrates (cordgrass, brome, mudflat). The diffusive and advective components of movement were of comparable magnitude for matrix and cordgrass releases, suggesting equal amounts of directed and random movement. 5. Our results suggest the wasps are attracted to cordgrass patches across short distances, and that bias in their movements may concentrate them at the patch edge. Their edge behaviour is qualitatively different from that of the host insect. 6. The methodology described here could be readily adapted to other systems, where direct observations of movement are difficult but mark-recapture studies are feasible.

1. Urban and rural populations of animals can differ in their behaviour, both in order to meet their ecological requirements and due to the constraints imposed by different environments. The study of urban populations can therefore offer useful insights into the behavioural flexibility of a species as a whole, as well as indicating how the species in question adapts to a specifically urban environment. 2. The genetic structure of a population can provide information about social structure and movement patterns that is difficult to obtain by other means. Using non-invasively collected hair samples, we estimated the population size of Eurasian badgers Meles meles in the city of Brighton, England, and calculated population-specific parameters of genetic variability and sex-specific rates of outbreeding and dispersal. 3. Population density was high in the context of badger densities reported throughout their range. This was due to a high density of social groups rather than large numbers of individuals per group. 4. The allelic richness of the population was low compared with other British populations. However, the rate of extra-group paternity and the relatively frequent (mainly temporary) intergroup movements suggest that, on a local scale, the population was outbred. Although members of both sexes visited other groups, there was a trend for more females to make intergroup movements. 5. The results reveal that urban badgers can achieve high densities and suggest that while some population parameters are similar between urban and rural populations, the frequency of intergroup movements is higher among urban badgers. In a wider context, these results demonstrate the ability of non-invasive genetic sampling to provide information about the population density, social structure and behaviour of urban wildlife.

1. Animals move commonly through a variety of landscape elements and edges in search of food, mates and other resources. We developed a diffusion model for the movement of an insect herbivore, the planthopper Prokelisia crocea, that inhabits a landscape composed of patches of its host plant, prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata, embedded in a matrix of mudflat or smooth brome Bromus inermis. 2. We used mark-release-resight experiments to quantify planthopper movements within cordgrass-brome and cordgrass-mudflat arenas. A diffusion model was then fitted that included varying diffusion rates for cordgrass and matrix, edge behaviour in the form of a biased random walk and heterogeneity among planthoppers (sessile vs. mobile). The model parameters were estimated by maximum likelihood using the numerical solution of the diffusion model as a probability density. Akaike's information criterion (AIC) values were used to compare models with different subsets of features. 3. There was clear support for models incorporating edge behaviour and both sessile and mobile insects. The most striking difference between the cordgrass-brome and cordgrass-mudflat experiments involved edge behaviour. Planthoppers crossed the cordgrass-brome edge readily in either direction, but traversed the cordgrass-mudflat edge primarily in one direction (mudflat to cordgrass). Diffusion rates were also significantly higher on mudflat than for cordgrass and brome. 4. The differences in behaviour for cordgrass-brome vs. cordgrass-mudflat edges have implications for the connectivity of cordgrass patches as well as their persistence. Higher dispersal rates are expected between cordgrass patches separated by brome relative to mudflat, but patches surrounded by mudflat appear more likely to persist through time. 5. The experimental design and diffusion models used here could potentially be extended to any organism where mass mark-recapture experiments are feasible, as well as complex natural landscapes.

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman, is the most destructive insect pest of pine forests in the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America. Southern pine beetle aggressively attacks pine trees, and when in epidemic stages, they are capable of killing even the most healthy pine trees in a short period of time. Despite the amount of destruction caused by the southern pine beetle and the amount of monetary loss faced by the timber industry and recreation, the population genetics of this species has been limited to comparisons among distant geographic locations. This study investigates the fine-scale genetic population structure of the southern pine beetle in Mississippi. Very little genetic differentiation was observed among samples. Bayesian assignment testing failed to detect multiple groups within all samples; estimates of genetic differentiation and genetic distance were very low in magnitude; and a Mantel test did not reveal a significant relationship between genetic distance and geographic distance. These results suggest that management of the southern pine beetle needs to consider the potential movements of individuals within and among national forests and should be focused on a large scale, at least as big as continuously forested areas and possibly even multiple forests. These results further suggest that removal of beetle-infested trees is important.

Pathogens rarely cause extinctions of host species, and there are few examples of a pathogen changing species richness and diversity of an ecological community by causing local extinctions across a wide range of species. We report the link between the rapid appearance of a pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in an amphibian community at El Copé, Panama, and subsequent mass mortality and loss of amphibian biodiversity across eight families of frogs and salamanders. We describe an outbreak of chytridiomycosis in Panama and argue that this infectious disease has played an important role in amphibian population declines. The high virulence and large number of potential hosts of this emerging infectious disease threaten global amphibian diversity.

A growing body of literature points to a large-scale research approach as essential for understanding population and community ecology. Many of our advances regarding the spatial ecology of predators and prey can be attributed to research with insect parasitoids and their hosts. In this review, we focus on the progress that has been made in the study of the movement and population dynamics of hosts and their parasitoids in heterogeneous landscapes, and how this research approach may be beneficial to pest management programs. To date, few studies have quantified prey and predator rates and ranges of dispersal and population dynamics at the patch level--the minimum of information needed to characterize population structure. From host-parasitoid studies with sufficient data, it is clear that the spatial scale of dispersal can differ significantly between a prey and its predators, local prey extinctions can be attributed to predators and predator extinction risk at the patch level often exceeds that of the prey. It is also evident that populations can be organized as a single, highly connected (patchy) population or as semi-independent extinction-prone local populations that collectively form a persistent metapopulation. A prey and its predators can also differ in population structure. At the landscape level, agricultural studies indicate that predator effects on its prey often spill over between the crop and surrounding area (matrix) and can depend strongly on landscape structure (e.g. the proportion of suitable habitat) at scales extending well beyond the crop margins. In light of existing empirical data, predator-prey models are typically spatially unrealistic, lacking important details on boundary responses and movement behaviour within and among patches. The tools exist for conducting empirical and theoretical research at the landscape level and we hope that this review calls attention to fertile areas for future exploration.

The checkered beetle, Thanasimus dubius F., is an important predator of scolytid bark beetles that attack conifers. Relatively few studies exist that have addressed the population genetics of predatory beetles, especially those with potential as biological control agents. This study was conducted to investigate the population genetics of T. dubius across a large part of its range in the eastern United States. A 464-base pair portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I was sequenced for 85 individuals resulting in 60 haplotypes. Analysis of molecular variance was conducted on the resulting haplotypes for all populations and as a hierarchical analysis between populations defined as broad-scale northern and southern groups. Results indicate a significant overall Phi ST = 0.220 (P < 0.001) for all populations with the hierarchical analysis revealing that this significant Phi ST is due to structuring of the populations between northern and southern regions (Phi CT = 0.388, P < 0.009). The observed genetic structure is possibly due to the discontinuous distribution of pine trees, which act as hosts for the prey of T. dubius, which has occurred historically in the central region of the United States that has been covered by prairie.

Relationships between riparian land cover, in-stream habitat, water chemistry, and macroinvertebrates were examined in headwater streams draining an agricultural region of Illinois. Macroinvertebrates and organic matter were collected monthly for one year from three intensively monitored streams with a gradient of riparian forest cover (6, 22, and 31% of riparian area). Bioassessments and physical habitat analyses were also performed in these three streams and 12 other nearby headwater streams. The intensively monitored site with the least riparian forest cover had significantly greater percent silt substrates than the sites with medium and high forest cover, and significantly higher very fine organics in substrates than the medium and high forested sites. Macroinvertebrates were abundant in all streams, but communities reflected degraded conditions; noninsect groups, mostly oligochaetes and copepods, dominated density and oligochaetes and mollusks, mostly Sphaerium and Physella, dominated biomass. Of insects, dipterans, mostly Chironomidae, dominated density and dipterans and coleopterans were important contributors to biomass. Collector-gatherers dominated functional structure in all three intensively monitored sites, indicating that functional structure metrics may not be appropriate for assessing these systems. The intensively monitored site with lowest riparian forest cover had significantly greater macroinvertebrate density and biomass, but lowest insect density and biomass. Density and biomass of active collector-filterers (mostly Sphaerium) decreased with increasing riparian forest. Hilsenhoff scores from all 15 sites were significantly correlated with in-stream habitat scores, percent riparian forest, and orthophosphate concentrations, and multiple regression indicated that in-stream habitat was the primary factor influencing biotic integrity. Our results show that these "drainage ditches" harbor abundant macroinvertebrates that are typical of degraded conditions, but that they can reflect gradients of conditions in and around these streams.

Traps baited with semiochemicals are often used to investigate the chemical ecology of scolytids and associated insects. One statistical problem frequently encountered in these studies are treatments that catch no insects and, thus, have zero mean and variance, such as blank or control traps. A second problem is the use of multiple comparison procedures that do not control the experimentwise error rate. We conducted a literature survey to determine the frequency of these two statistical problems in Journal of Chemical Ecology for 1990-2002. Simulations were then used to examine the effects of these problems on the validity of multiple comparison procedures. Our results indicate that both statistical problems are common in the literature, and when combined can significantly inflate both the experimentwise and per comparison error rate for multiple comparison procedures. A possible solution to this problem is presented that involves confidence intervals for the treatment means. Options to increase the statistical power of trapping studies are also discussed.

Bark beetle populations may undergo dramatic fluctuations and are often important pests in coniferous forests. Their dynamics are thought to be primarily driven by factors affecting the resistance of the host tree to attack, i.e., bottom-up forces, while natural enemies are usually assigned a minor role in these systems. I present behavioral experiments that suggest that the clerid beetle Thanasimus dubius may be an important source of mortality for the bark beetle Dendroctonus frontalis during attack of the host tree, and determine the nature of the functional response of T. dubius under conditions close to natural. I also examine the numerical response of T. dubius to large-scale fluctuations in D. frontalis density, and the relationship between bark beetle population trends and predator density, and find that beetle populations tend to decline when predator densities are high. Combined with the effects of clerid larvae on bark beetle broods, these results suggest that top-down forces generated by natural enemies could also be an important component of bark beetle dynamics. The implications of these results for bark beetle dynamics are discussed in relation to the prolonged life-cycle of clerid beetles.

Plant-mediated egg mortality varied greatly for the oligophagous leafhopper, Carneocephala floridana, a common inhabitant of the salt marshes along Florida's Gulf coast. In the laboratory, survivorship from egg to first instar was generally greater on two herbaceous plants. Borrichia frutescens and Salicornia virginica (80 and 81% respectively) than it was on two grasses, Distichlis spicata and Spartina alterniflora (41 and 77% respectively). Although C. floridana laid significantly more eggs per clutch on Sp. alterniflora than on the two herbaceous species, this increase in egg number was offset by the higher mortality of eggs laid on this species. The greatest source of identifiable plant-mediated egg mortality was death due to desiccation of the leaf tissue surrounding the egg clutch. In addition, field experiments in which the four host species were infested with eggs of C. floridana at natural densities consistently yielded higher parasitism rates by two mymarid wasps on the grasses, regardless of the background plants. C. floridana switches host plants seasonally, using the grass species mainly during the winter months, when the herbaceous species experience a substantial dieback. The herbaceous species are nutritionally superior to the two grass species as a food source for C. floridana. C. floridana reared on the herbs produce larger, more fecund, adults than they do on the grasses (Rossi 1991). However, during cold winter snaps the grasses, while less "attractive", may provide the most abundant nutritional and ovipositional resources available to C. floridana. The results of this study indicate how variable rates of plant-and parasitoid-mediated egg mortality may work synergistically with the interspecific nutritional status of the plants to explain host switching for this insect.