,The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is native to Asia where it is an occasional pest of soybean, Glycine max (L.). Aphis glycines was found during 2000 in North America and since then has spread throughout much of the area where soybean is grown. In Asia, A. glycines seldom reaches damaging levels; however in North America, it has become the most important insect pest of soybean, decreasing yields and incurring large control costs. Field surveys and exclosure experiments in China showed that natural enemies can limit soybean aphid abundance. A project to find, evaluate, and introduce Asian natural enemies into North America was initiated in 2001, with an emphasis on parasitoids. To ensure that introductions of exotic parasitoids would have minimum impact on non-target species, we tested host specificity of all candidates for introduction. These data sets provide results of no-choice laboratory experiments on host specificity of 13 populations in seven species from three species complexes in the genus Aphelinus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). They also provide results of experiments on the mechanisms of host specificity in three parasitoid species with narrow host ranges.,See the included README file list for more details on methods and citations for these data files.,,

,Data are from a laboratory experiment conducted to examine the potential effects of honeydew from six different aphid species by crop species combinations on the longevity of Bracon cephi Gahan (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), the most important biological control of the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), a major pest of wheat in the northern Great Plains of North America. We quantified the number of days parasitoids lived on each honeydew type.,Abstract from published manuscript: The absence of sugar resources can be an important factor in limiting the success of parasitoids as biological control agents. Restoring vegetation complexity within agricultural landscapes has thus become a major focus of conservation biological control efforts, with a traditional emphasis on nectar resources. Aphid honeydew is also an important source of sugars that is infrequently considered. We carried out a laboratory experiment to examine the potential effects of honeydew from six different aphid species by crop species combinations on the longevity of Bracon cephi Gahan (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), the most important biological control of the wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), a major pest of wheat in the northern Great Plains of North America. The benefits of honeydew for parasitoid longevity varied significantly among different aphid and crop species, illustrating the complexity of these interactions. However, honeydew produced by four aphid species commonly found in wheat, pea, and canola crops significantly increased the longevity (by two- to threefold) of the parasitoid. The study suggests that honeydew provisioning could be an important mechanism underlying the benefits of crop diversification to support biological control that merits further research.,Resources in this dataset:,

The project is focused on the topic, 'enhanced heat tolerance of virus-infected aphids lead to niche expansion and reduced interspecific competition. The two aphid species studied are Rhopalosiphum padi and Rhopalosiphum maidis. The project had some of the following objectives: [1] Spatial distribution of two aphid species on the host plants [2] Upper thermal limits of two aphid species. [3] Effects of the viral infection on the host plant thermal profile. [4] Levels of expression of heat shock protein genes of virus-free and viruliferous aphids. [5] Locomotor capacity of aphids, effects of viruses on the locomotor capacity. [6] Effects of viral infection, temperature, and competition on the lifespan and fecundity of R. padi [7] Effects of viral infection, temperature, and competition on the lifespan and fecundity of R. maidis [8] Temperature of acrylic tubes used on aphid experiments. [9] Thermal lethal dose 50 of virus-free and viruliferous aphids [10] Thermal preference of virus-free and viruliferous aphids. This information can be very useful for ecologist working on insect population dynamics as well as physiologist and eco-physiologists doing meta-analyses of expression of heat shock protein genes induced by symbionts.

,All source data from the referenced paper (Figures 1b and Table 1). 22 Excel files of data from each experimental block of the reactive oxygen species assay, 1 Excel file of the combined data from the bacterial growth enhancement assay, 1 Excel file of the RT-qPCR data.,Parasitic plants are the primary biotic constraint in many crop production systems. The most agriculturally devastating parasitic plants, including witchweeds (Striga spp.) and broomrapes (Phelipanche and Orobanche spp.), are in the Orobanchaceae family. Phelipanche aegyptiaca is an obligate holoparasite that lacks the capacity for photosynthesis and therefore relies on host parasitization for acquisition of all nutrients. P. aegyptiaca is a broad host range pathogen with the ability to parasitize diverse dicot hosts through attachment and development of a feeding structure known as a haustorium. The mechanisms P. aegyptiaca and other parasitic plants employ to avoid host plant immunity and form successful haustorial attachments are unknown. Here, we demonstrate that P. aegyptiaca actively suppresses salicylic acid-mediated immunity of the host plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We hypothesized that parasitic plants may deploy immunity-suppressing effector proteins through the haustorial interface to subvert host plant immune responses. We devised a pipeline to select and clone 27 candidate secreted effector proteins in P. aegyptiaca and tested these proteins for the potential to suppress known plant immunity pathways. Five candidate effectors suppressed flg22-elicited production of reactive oxygen species when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. We propose that two of these candidate effectors function through interfering with pattern triggered immunity using molecular mimicry.,,

,The data set is collected to evaluate if two parasitoids (Spathius galinae and Tetrastichus planipennisi), introduced for biocontrol of the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, into North America have established niche-partitioning, co-existing populations following their sequential or simultaneous field releases to 12 hard-wood forests located in Midwest and Northeast regions of the United States. Ash trees of various sizes (large, pole-size and saplings) were debarked meter by meter in early spring of 2019 (Michigan sites) or fall of 2019 (Northeast states: Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York). Detailed data collection procedures can be found in the associated publication in Biological Control.,,

,Source Insects and Microbes,Sitophilus oryzae that were 4–8-week-old and collected from a food facility in eastern Kansas in 2012 were used. Adults were reared continuously in the laboratory at CGAHR and subcultured on tempered whole organic wheat, with 75 mixed-sex adults added to 300 g of wheat. Adults were sieved off after a 1-week oviposition period. Colonies were maintained in a chamber set at 27.5˚C, 65% RH, and 14:10 (L:D) h photoperiod. The fungus, Aspergillus flavus, was isolated from field-collected S. oryzae after allowing adults to forage on potato dextrose agar dishes (100 × 15 mm) for 5 d. From the initial dish, A. flavus was re-plated on a new dish in multiple successive rounds until it was a pure isolate. This was used to create A. flavus-inoculated grain, which was then used for the treatments below.,Treatments and Preparation of Grain Masses,At the outset of the experiment, the grain moisture of the wheat for the experiments was determined to be 10.8% using a moisture meter (DICKEY-john, GAC2100, Auburn, IL, USA). A total of 300 g of organic, whole untampered organic wheat (Heartland Mills, Marienthal, KS, USA) was added to each pint mason jar (950 mL; 8.5 D × 17 cm H). In order to assess the effect of singly or multiply infested grain by insects and microbes on the microclimate and fitness outcomes, each grain mass was assigned to one of our treatments: control (no insects or added microbes; Ctrl), the addition of 75 mixed-sex S. oryzae adults only (SO), inoculation with 11.6 g of A. flavus inoculated grain only (AF, details below), and finally the addition of both S. oryzae (75 adults) and A. flavus (11.6 g of inoculated grain; SO + AF). In each grain mass, a datalogger (Hobo® U10-003 Temp/RH Data Logger, Onset, Bourne, MA, USA) was attached below the lid and recorded temperature and relative humidity every 5 min. The experiment was allowed to run for 60 d in an environmental chamber set to 30°C, 60% RH, and 14:10 L:D photoperiod. At the end of the period, all jars were immediately frozen to stop halt reproduction and microbial activity. There were n = 5 replicate grain masses per treatment. For the purposes of looking at changes in abiotic variables, the 60 d period was divided into equal 20 d increments, and labeled early (first 20 d), mid (second 20 d), and late (final 20 d).,Preparation of A. flavus-inoculated grain,In order to inoculate treatments with A. flavus, an inoculum was prepared from wheat that had already undergone a complete colonization process. Briefly, 600 g of grain was added to a stainless-steel pot filled with water and placed on a hot plate at 500°C. It was allowed to boil for 15 min, then the water was drained, and the grain was evenly spread out on sterile wipes (38.1 × 42.5 cm, 3 ply, Tech wipes, Skilcraft, NIB, Alexandria, VA). The grain was allowed to dry inside a laminar fume hood (for ca. 3 h). Subsequently, the grain was divided (in 300 g lots) and placed in two separate sterile mason jars (950-mL capacity). A single hole was drilled through each lid and lined with a cotton ball. The jars were then sealed with aluminum foil and were autoclaved (533LS, Getinge, Rochester, NY, USA) for 30 min. To inoculate with A. flavus, a 3-inch strip of agar containing a pure culture of A. flavus grown on PDA for 7 days at 30°C, 60% RH, and 14:10 L:D photoperiod as above (Ponce et al., 2023; Ponce et al., 2024) was placed into each jar containing the grain. The jars were maintained at room temperature for roughly 10 days or until the A. flavus evenly covered as much of the grain as possible. Inoculated grain was used within 10–15 days of preparation. A total of 11.6 g of this inoculated grain was then added to 300 g for the A. flavus treatments above.,Grain Moisture & Progeny Production,At the end of 60 d, grain moisture readings were taken from 20 g of every replicate and each treatment after allowing grain masses to reach room temperature by using a moisture meter (DICKEY-john, GAC2100,

,The soybean aphid (Aphis glycines) is an insect pest of cultivated soybeans (Glycine max). Several genes with resistance to A. glycines (i.e. Rag genes) have been identified in soybean. Virulent strains of soybean aphid are able to overcome the resistance and colonize soybeans having one or more Rag genes. It is important to classify virulent strains of soybean aphids in evaluating soybean lines in order to develop cultivars with durable resistance. The files presented here report the number of soybean aphids on soybean lines that differed in the Rag genes they contained. Two colonies of soybean aphid were tested.,Tests were conducted separately against the two soybean aphid colonies, which were maintained on soybean plants at North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory (NCARL), USDA-ARS, Brookings, South Dakota, USA, largely according to procedures described in Hesler and Tilmon (2018). The first colony was established from a single aphid collected near Volga, South Dakota, USA in 2016 and designated as ‘Volga16’ (Conzemius et al. 2019). It was reared on soybean cultivar ‘LD12R12-15805Ra’ (Rag1+Rag2 pyramid; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA).,A second colony designated ‘Accrue’ was derived from a colony originally established from a single first instar isolated from aphids collected at Urbana, IL, USA, and initially reared in Urbana (‘Urbana clone’; Hill et al. 2004). This colony was established as an avirulent soybean aphid colony (Hill et al. 2004). A series of sequential colonies from the initial colony was established, in order, at The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA; Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA; South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA; and finally, in 2018 at NCARL. Although established as an ostensibly avirulent colony derived from the ‘Urbana clone’ colony, it was unexpectedly virulent against a known resistant accession, LD05R-16137 (containing Rag1), in initial screening tests.,Two separate no-choice tests were run for each soybean aphid colony. Each test consisted of seven soybean lines. Six had one or more Rag genes: 19APH18 (Rag1), 19APH25 (Rag2), 19INC (Rag3), 19APH29 (Rag4), 19APH30 (Rag6), 19APH09Rag12 (a Rag1+Rag2 pyramid); and ‘Titan,’ an aphid-susceptible soybean cultivar (Diers et al. 1999). Two-week-old, unifoliate-stage soybean plants growing in plastic pots (6 cm top diameter, 4 cm bottom diameter, 5.7 cm height) were each infested with 10 apterous adult soybean aphids and covered with a clear plastic, ventilated, cylindrical tube. After 20 days in an environmental chamber, the shoots of test plants were clipped at soil level, placed individually in sealable plastic bags, and stored in a freezer. Plants were removed over the next few days, and the aphids on them were counted. The data are contained in separate files—one for each of two soybean aphid colonies.,

,Trapping in 2023 with a linear set of dosages of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate,Field trapping was done according to the methodology in Ruiz et al. 2022. The fields were located in North-Central Kansas at the Land Institute near Salina, KS. No pesticides were applied to these fields during the experiment in 2023. Starting the first week of June, six transects were set out, two in each Silphium integrifolium field. Each transect contained seven 30.4 cm x 30.4 cm sticky card traps (Alpha Scents, Canby, OR, USA) affixed to the top of a 1.27 cm diameter, three foot in length PVC pole that was hammered into the ground until sturdy. The cards were affixed using a 271 cm long sticky card ring holder (Olson Products Inc., Medina, OH, USA) that was bent to a 90° angle and placed inside the PVC pipe. Two large binder clips were also used to anchor the sticky card to its card holder.,The sticky traps in each transect were spaced 10 meters apart around the perimeter of the field. Within each transect, traps were baited with a linear increase in concentrations in 2023, including either a control (50 µl of acetone), a low concentration (50 µl of a solution made by mixing 5.75 µl of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate in 5 ml of acetone), or a doubled concentration (11.5 µl of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate diluted in 5 ml of acetone) of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate (Alfa Chemistry, Ronkonkoma, NY, USA). All lures were added to a 3-ml LDPE dropping bottle (Wheaton, DWK Life Sciences, Millville, NJ, USA). The clear sticky card traps were collected and replaced biweekly until the first E. giganteana adult was caught, then traps were changed weekly. The lures and control bottles were replaced once every two weeks (with lure emissions confirmed out to 14 d in Ruiz et al. 2022) and their position in the field rotated at each change. Each lure was in each position twice over the course of the season.,When collected, the sticky cards were held in a 7.6 L (=2 gal) labeled Ziploc© bag transported back to USDA-ARS. All collected sticky traps were placed in a freezer for approximately 24 h. The total number of E. giganteana per trap and their distance from the lure in millimeters was recorded. In addition, the number of nontarget lepidoptera was recorded on each trap. Individual E. giganteana and non-target lepidoptera were only counted if more than half of the specimen was remaining on the sticky trap at the time of counting to ensure positive identification.,Trapping in 2024 with an exponential set of concentrations of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate,Field trapping in 2024 was conducted similarly to that in 2023 with the following modifications. Three different fields located at the Land Institute were used (Table 1). [HS1] Pesticides were applied once to one of the fields and adjacent to one of the others. Three transects were deployed in each of the three fields. Each transect contained four traps for a total of 36 traps. The traps were assembled similarly to those used in 2023, but a hand-made sticky card was used instead of a manufactured one to improve captures. These sticky cards were made of a laminated 21.6 × 27.9 cm (=8.5 by 11 in) piece of white cardstock paper (Astrobright, Neenah, WI, USA) coated on both sides with TADⓇ all-weather adhesive (Trécé Adhesives Division, Adair, OK, USA). The sticky sides were covered with wax paper for ease of travel. Additionally, the sticky cards had a chicken wire cage placed over them in the field to try to prevent the capture of birds and other nontargets on the traps. Traps in 2024 were baited with an exponential set of concentrations of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate. In each transect, there was a solvent only control (50 µl of acetone), a low concentration equivalent to the 2023 treatment (50 µl of a solution made of 5.75 µl of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate diluted in 5 ml of acetone), a medium concentration (50 µl of a solution made of 78.5 µl of (E)-8-dodecenyl acetate diluted in 5 ml of acetone), and a high concentration (50 µl of a solution made

,Description: This dataset consists of field data (arthropods, nematodes and NDVI) collected over the course of 6 field excursions in 2015 and 2016 near TyTy, GA, in a field used for growing Miscanthus x giganteus. It also includes interpolated values of soil measurements collected in 2015 and meteorological data collected on an adjacent farm. Point-in-time measurements include all meteorological, NDVI, arthropod and nematode measurements and their derivatives. Fixed values were measurements that were held constant across all sampling dates, including location, terrain and soils measurements and their derivatives.,Dawn Olson and Jason Schmidt collected and processed arthropod count data. Jason Schmidt collected and processed spider count data and computed spider diversity. Richard Davis collected and processed nematode count data. Alisa Coffin collected and processed NDVI data and positional locations. Tim Strickland collected and processed soils data and Alisa Coffin interpolated soils values using kriging to derive values at arthropod sample locations. David Bosch collected and processed meteorological data. Lynne Seymour provided statistical expertise in deriving any estimated values (phloem feeders, parasitoids, spiders, and natural enemies). Alisa Coffin derived terrain data (elevation, slope, aspect, and distances) from publicly available datasets, transformed values (SI, WI, etc), carried out the geographically weighted regression analysis and calculated C:SE values, harmonized the full dataset, and compiled it using Esri's ArcGIS Pro 2.5. Methods for most data are published in the accompanying paper and associated supplements.,Questions about dataset development and management should be directed to Alisa Coffin (alisa.coffin@usda.gov). This work was accomplished as a joint USDA and University of Georgia project funded by a cooperative agreement (#6048-13000-026-21S). This research was a contribution from the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network. LTAR is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture.,At request of the author, the data resources are under embargo. The embargo will expire on Fri, Jan 01, 2021.,