Dominant arthropods, per guild, found during the surveys.

<p>Total counts of dominant arthropods per guild in the experimental blocks during the field survey from August 4^th to September 30^th, 2011, in Ezhou (China).</p>a<p>mainly <i>Propylaea japonica</i> Thunberg (292, 65.03%), <i>Harmonia axyridis</i> Pallas (90, 20.04%) and <i>Coccinella septempunctata</i> Linnaeus (67, 14.92%).</p>b<p>mainly <i>Erigonidium graminicolum</i> Sundevall.</p>c<p>mainly from Miridae, Nabidae and Anthocoridae families.</p><p>Dominant arthropods, per guild, found during the surveys.</p

Population dynamics of other natural enemies.

<p>Mean numbers (±SEM) of other natural enemies per plot in the various natural enemy exclusion treatments from early August to end of September in Bt cotton in Ezhou (China).</p

Population dynamics of aphid parasitoids.

<p>Mean numbers (±SEM) of Aphidiine per plot in the various natural enemy exclusion treatments from early August to end of September in Bt cotton in Ezhou (China).</p

Design of the stainless steel capsule used to prepare <i>Pseudapanteles dignus</i> eggs and larvae for scanning electronic microscope (SEM) study.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Capsule in front view, opened. (<b>B</b>) Serigraphic- mesh pieces covering the internal sides of capsule openings in plan view. (<b>C</b>) Capsule in front view and plan view, closed.</p

Population dynamics of coccinellid predators.

<p>Mean numbers (±SEM) of (<b>A</b>) all Coccinellids and (<b>B</b>) <i>P. japonica</i> per plot in the various natural enemy exclusion treatments from early August to end of September in Bt cotton in Ezhou (China).</p

Cotton aphid population dynamics.

<p>Mean numbers (±SEM) of <i>A. gossypii</i> per plot in the various natural enemy exclusion treatments from early August to end of September in Bt cotton in Ezhou (China).</p

SEM images of non-encapsulated <i>Pseudapanteles dignus</i>.

<p>(<b>A</b>) egg and (<b>B</b>) late first larval stadium.</p

Design of the field study.

<p>(<b>A</b>) The four different cage treatments, i.e. natural enemy exclusion degree, in the field study; Exclusion cages: prevented natural enemy (predators and aphid parasitoids) movement, Restriction cage: prevented predator movement but allowed aphid parasitoids to colonize the plants, Sham cage and No cage: allowed free access to the plants for all natural enemies. (<b>B</b>) Within- and among block design: the distance among treatments within a block was 3 m, and among blocks was 10 m. The experimental cotton field was 70 m×30 m.</p

Distribution of phytophagous arthropods on leaf discs in dual choice assays after 15 minutes.

<p>(A) Mean (± SEM) numbers of aphids. (B) Mean (± SEM) numbers of thrips. Asterisks denote significant Wilcoxon tests comparing treatments (*: <i>P</i><0.05, **: <i>P</i><0.01, ns: not significant).</p

Development of immature <i>Pseudapanteles dignus</i> stages found upon host necropsies after 16, 24 to 48, 48 to 96, 96 to 120 and > 120 hours of <i>Tuta absoluta</i> larval parasitation.

<p>Development of immature <i>Pseudapanteles dignus</i> stages found upon host necropsies after 16, 24 to 48, 48 to 96, 96 to 120 and > 120 hours of <i>Tuta absoluta</i> larval parasitation.</p