Sustainable strategies are needed to manage plant pathogens and pests without disrupting ecological functions provided by beneficial organisms. Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae), such as Eupeodes corollae , provide ecosystem services and are applied especially in cultivations of horticultural crops: adults serve as pollinators, while larvae prey on pests like aphids. Here, we investigated whether E. corollae can also function as...

Aim Ecological theory predicts lower herbivory on islands. However, most island‐mainland comparisons have focused on vegetative tissues, while reproductive structures remain understudied despite their direct influence on plant fitness and recruitment. This study investigates how insularity affects insect herbivory in oak ( Quercus ) acorns across multiple island‐mainland regions and explores the role of acorn traits (chemical...

Grey mould (caused by Botrytis cinerea ) is the most important pathogen underlying high fungicide dependence in strawberry fields. Reliable biocontrol agents (BCAs) with improved efficiency are needed to replace fungicides. The yeast-like beneficial fungus Aureobasidium pullulans (AP-SLU6) has previously exhibited great potential to combat grey mould in greenhouse environments. Here we report results from a two-year full-facto...

Utilization of biocontrol agents is a sustainable approach to reduce plant diseases caused by fungal pathogens. In the present study, we tested the effect of the candidate biocontrol fungus Aureobasidium pullulans (De Bary) G. Armaud on strawberry under in vitro and in vivo conditions to control crown rot, root rot and grey mould caused by Phytophthora cactorum (Lebert and Cohn) and Botrytis cinerea Pers, respectively. A dual...

Biological control , or biocontrol , is the exploitation of living agents (incl. viruses) to combat pestilential organisms (incl. pathogens, pests, and weeds) for diverse purposes to provide human benefits. Thus, during the last century the practices and concepts involved have evolved in separate streams associated with distinct scientific and taxonomic disciplines. In parallel developments, there have been increasing referenc...

To decrease the dependency on chemical pesticides, the resistance of cultivated strawberry to pests needs to be increased. While genetic resources within domesticated varieties are limited, wild genotypes are predicted to show high heritable variation in useful resistance traits. We collected 86 wild accessions of Fragaria vesca L. from central Sweden and screened this germplasm for antibiosis (pest survival and performance) a...

Gregarious organisms need to handle the trade‐off between increasing food competition and the positive effects of group living, and this is particularly important for ovipositing females. We hypothesized that insect females consider how many conspecifics previously visited a host plant. In a no‐choice assay, we show that the gregarious blue willow leaf beetle ( Phratora vulgatissima ) laid the most eggs and the largest clutche...

The attraction of natural enemies of herbivores by volatile organic compounds as an induced indirect defence has been studied in several plant systems. The evidence for their defensive function originates mainly from laboratory studies with trained parasitoids and predators; the defensive function of these emissions for plants in natural settings has been rarely demonstrated. In native populations and laboratory Y‐tube choice...