A new genus of Therevidae, Ambradolon, is diagnosed from Dominican amber. The type species, A. grimaldii, is described based on a single fossil male. Species of Therevidae possessing putative synapomorphies with A. grimaldii were identified. A cladistic analysis resolved three additional monophyletic genera. A new genus, Insulatitan, represented by four new species: I. romaynae, I. trishae, I. watsoni, and I. youngi and the described genera, Lindneria Kröber and Penniverpa Irwin & Lyneborg, were also shown to be monophyletic lineages. Lindneria was previously represented by a single species, L. splendida Kröber. Psilocephala platyptera Kröber is here placed in the genus Lindneria. Six new species of Lindneria are described: L. bellingeri, L. browni, L. dicosta, L. penelopae, L. thompsoni, and L. wintertoni. Psilocephala brunnipennis Kröber was recognized as belonging to the genus Penniverpa Irwin & Lyneborg and is so placed as a new combination.

Spodoptera ochrea (Hampson) was recently reared on a new host, asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.), in Peru. Other host plants include cotton, tobacco, and potatoes in Peru. Distribution is restricted to the dry west coast of southern Ecuador and Peru. The female genitalia is illustrated and described for the first time. Additional records of asparagus feeding Spodoptera are discussed.

Museum specimens of two species of mole crickets, Gryllotalpa tali Broza and Gryllotalpa marismortui Broza, from Israel were washed with pentane to remove cuticular hydrocarbons still remaining on the cuticle. The hydrocarbons were separated by gas chromatography into 116 peaks. The two species qualitatively had the same hydrocarbon compounds on the cuticle, but there were consistent quantitative differences in amounts of the different hydrocarbons. Canonical discrimination analysis separated G. marismortui, which lives at the edge of springs near the shoreline of the Dead Sea from G. tali. The G. tali crickets were collected from different regions of Israel, and clustered into three separate groups. One group was composed of individuals from type locality and adjacent places in northern Israel. The second group was composed of individuals from a population within Jericho and East Jerusalem; this population geographically borders the Dead Sea, the habitat of G. marismortui. The third group was from the red sand (Orto-Hamra) soil habitat south of Haifa. The proportion of hydrocarbon chains n -C27 n -C28 in G. marismortui may serve as a taxonomic marker to distinguish this species from G. tali. Hydrocarbon analysis is a useful tool that supports morphological, chromosomal and male song analysis in the division of this Gryllotalpa complex into two species.

Higher-level relationships among the earliest lineages of brachyceran Diptera remain poorly resolved by comparative morphology. Nucleotide sequence data should be useful in clarifying brachyceran relationships, especially where morphological evidence is either contradictory or controversial. We examined phylogenetic relationships among the family-level taxa of the brachyceran infraorder Tabanomorpha using sequences of a large portion of the 28S ribosomal DNA. Twenty-five species were sequenced, including five outgroup species from the Stratiomyomorpha and Xylophagomorpha. Parsimony and maximum likelihood-based phylogenetic analysis of 2,371 alignable sites yielded identical inferred tree topologies. 28S rDNA supports the monophyly of the Tabanomorpha (Vermileonidae, Rhagionidae, Pelecorhynchidae, Athericidae and Tabanidae). Our results contradict several published hypotheses that associate Vermileonidae with asiloid or eremoneuran taxa remote from the Tabanomorpha. The molecular data also support monophyly for all of the included family-level lineages, and corroborate several recent phylogenetic hypotheses based on comparative morphology.

A new species of Strepsiptera Halictophagus naulti (Halictophagidae) that is parasitic in the corn leafhopper Dalbulus maidis (Delong & Wolcott) from the Mexican state of Morelos is described.

Complete bibliographic references and synoptic descriptions of all species of Bruchomyia are given and a key is provided for males. One new species from Peru, B. andina, is described.

The genus Callyntra Solier (Pimeliinae: Nycteliini), distributed in central Chile, is restored, revised, and redefined including 16 species formerly assigned to the genus Epipedonota Solier. The use of new morphological features such as genital structures and internal skeletal anatomy, together with external morphology, establish that the species of Callyntra are not congeneric with the species of Epipedonota. New synonymies are Epipedonota opaca Peña under Callyntra inflata (Peña), Epipedonota rugulosa Gemminger under Callyntra unicosta Solier, and Epipedonota schlingeri Peña under Callyntra rossi (Kulzer). Other valid species of the genus are C. multicosta (Guérin-Méneville), C. servillei Solier, C. laticollis Philippi and Philippi, C. carbonaria Philippi and Philippi, C. macrocosta (Guérin-Méneville), C. rugosa (Waterhouse), C. penai (Kulzer), C. paulseni Fairmaire, C. andina Germain, C. subrugosa (Peña), C. montana (Peña), C. planiuscula (Fairmaire), and C. riverai (Kulzer). Callyntra servillei Solier is designated type species. Lectotypes are designated for C. andina Germain, C. major Germain, C. anthracina Germain, C. laticollis Philippi and Philippi, C. carbonaria Philippi and Philippi, and Epipedonota rugosa Waterhouse. This article includes a redescription of the genus, redescriptions of each of its 16 species, an identification key, photographs of habitus, scanning electron micrographs of pronota and clypeus, drawings of genital features and metendosternites, and distribution maps.

The fireworm Choristoneura parallela (Robinson) is a major pest in New Jersey cranberry bogs where it produces two generations each year. Eggs are laid in compact, single-layered masses of a few to >300 eggs on the leaves of various plant species, and are parasitized by the endemic generalist egg parasite, Trichogramma minutum Riley. In preparation for an augmentative biological control program using T. minutum, we assessed egg-mass variability and parasitism rates in a series of unmanipulated field populations. We examined 193,950 eggs from 1,789 egg masses on 17 plant species, which represented 12 samples taken from three bogs (one sample per generation per bog each year for 2 yr). Egg-mass size, shape, and density (number of eggs per unit area within masses) differed across samples and plant species. Egg masses on narrow-leafed species (e.g., redroot, swamp candles, and grasses) tended to be longer and narrower than those on broad-leafed species (e.g., brier, red maple, leatherleaf, marsh Saint John’s wort, and marsh fern). Relatively few eggs per mass on certain plant species (e.g., marsh fern) indicate possible host preferences, whereas unusually high (e.g., grasses, sweet pepperbush) or low (e.g., marsh fern) densities indicate additional host plant influences on egg mass structure. Overall, T. minutum parasitized 4,309 eggs (2.2%) from 271 egg masses (15.1%) on 12 plant species, which included the 11 most common fireworm host plants. Parasitism rates for egg masses varied from 1.6 to 44.9% across samples, and only 11 parasitized masses were completely parasitized (4.1%). Parasitized masses had fewer eggs and lower density than nonparasitized masses, but did not differ in length, width, area, or circumference. T. minutum exhibited an apparent preference for masses on sweet pepperbush and marsh Saint John’s wort over those on leatherleaf. This preference was not fully explained by egg number or density, and might be associated with other differences among egg masses or host plants. These results indicate potentially complex tritrophic interactions that could have important implications for the development, monitoring, and success of biological control programs.

Restriction fragment-length polymorphism analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was used to characterize the genetic variation and population structure of the human bot fly, Dermatobia hominis (Diptera: Cuterebridae), in parasite populations from cattle in southeastern, southern and central regions of Brazil. Forty-eight haplotypes with a nucleotide sequence divergence of 2.75% were found among 227 individuals. Haplotypes could be divided into three clades, with interclade variation ranging from 0.94% to 2.00%. The degree of differentiation obtained suggests that the mitochondrial clades may have differentiated in allopatry, and that their contemporary pattern of distribution probably results from secondary contact of isolated populations, reinforced by the introduction and movement of livestock in South America.

This study deals with preference of different seed particles of a novel type of foods by ants of the species Messor arenarius (Fabricius). Given choices between different wheat seed particles at the same distances from the nest, the first time wheat was offered to M. arenarius they reacted as follows: They preferred halves of wheat seeds cut longitudinally most significantly over whole-wheat seeds. Three-quartered of wheat seeds were preferred significantly over one-quartered wheat seeds. There was no preference in the choice between whole-wheat seeds and halves of wheat seeds cut transversely. From the second day and up to the fourth day when these choices were offered, the ants showed no preference in choice between whole-wheat seeds and halves of wheat seeds cut longitudinally. The preferences in the other choices were about the same as the first time that wheat was offered to the ants. The average returning time of ants to the nest with a whole-wheat seed did not differ significantly from that with a half seed cut longitudinally. From these findings, it seems that the first time wheat is offered to the ants, both the odor and the relative length of the food item are preference criteria used by the ants in their food choice.

Allozyme electrophoresis was conducted on Acanthoscelides obtectus Say and A. obvelatus Bridwell collected from seeds of wild and cultivated populations of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and P. coccineus L. from Mexico to test for evidence of host-related and regional genetic differentiation. In total, five enzymes representing six different loci were resolved for the two beetle species. Significant genetic differentiation was found at the regional level for A. obtectus, but not among populations within regions or between hosts. In A. obvelatus, differentiation was not significant. Gene flow values were high among insect populations within regions despite their association with different wild and cultivated species and subspecies of beans. Populations belonging to the same region cluster together in a unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average dendrogram, based on Nei’s unbiased genetic distances. A comparison of average expected heterozygosities revealed that A. obtectus had significantly higher levels of genetic variation than A. obvelatus, which may be explained by differences in life history traits and the geographic ranges of the two bruchids.

The tiger beetle C icindela limbata albissima Rumpp is confined to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes formation in southern Utah where its habitat is under threat. To assess the conservation value of this population, the level of divergence in mtDNA throughout the range of C. limbata in the central and western parts of the United States and Canada was tested. A representative sample of 25 specimens from four subspecies was sequenced for 1,873 bp and three mtDNA regions. The data revealed the wide separation of C. l. albissima from the other subspecies. In a phylogenetic analysis that included all species in the maritima species group, C. l. albissima was placed as sister to seven species of a western North American clade. The remaining C. limbata populations formed a (weakly supported) monophyletic group within this western clade but were not closely related to C. l. albissima. These populations could not be further subdivided into discrete geographic entities defined by diagnostic characters. It was concluded that the distinct taxonomic status of C. l. albissima had not previously been recognized, possibly because of morphological similarity in elytral patterns and other characters that are convergent in sand dune-dwelling species. On the basis of the mtDNA data, C. l. albissima is eleveated to species status, C. albissima Rumpp [revised status]. The results highlight the importance of conservation efforts for C. albissima and its habitat.

Karyotype occurrence and host plant association of Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch) were studied in Catalonia (northeastern Iberian Peninsula), a region with a Mediterranean climate. Populations with 2n = 10, 2n = 8 and 2n = 9 chromosomes were found, the latter being much less common. Aphids with the 2n = 10 karyotype were found mainly on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), Setaria verticillata (L.) P. Beauv., and Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) P. Beauv. It is suggested that the partial overlap of the life cycles of these hosts allows aphids with this karyotype to complete their annual cycle on local hosts. The aphids with nine chromosomes were mainly found on barley, whereas those with the 2n = 8 karyotype were found mainly on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench.) and johnsongrass [ Sorghum halepense C. (L.) Pers.]; and corn (Zea mays L.) was an unsuitable host. The role of corn as a host of R. maidis in the region and the reasons why colonies are incapable of growing on corn are discussed. The corn leaf aphid should not be regarded as a single pest in the area studied. Karyotypes with 8 and 10 chromosomes show different biological features and host-plant associations. Thus, separate strategies should be followed to control them on sorghum and barley, respectively. The results of our survey show that R. maidis cannot for the moment be considered a corn pest in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Ontogenetic timing of photoperiodic sensitivity is critical in the life history of insects that rely on photoperiod as a token stimulus. The life stages of Orius insidiosus (Say) sensitive to photoperiod for diapause induction were investigated by transferring predators between short (10:14 [L:D] h) and long (14:10[L:D] h) constant photoperiods (at 20°C) at various life stages. Bugs were considered to be in diapause if their preoviposition period exceeded 14 d after adult eclosion. The first three instars exhibited no clear sensitivity to photoperiod relative to diapause induction or intensity (as measured by preoviposition period). The fourth instar was somewhat sensitive, appearing to enhance the sensitivity of subsequent stages. In contrast, the fifth instar was highly sensitive to the short photoperiod. Exposure of bugs to short photoperiods during this instar induced diapause in at least 50% of the population. Likewise, the adult stage was sensitive to photoperiod during at least the first 14 d after eclosion. Exposure to short photoperiods during the early adult stage also appears to be necessary to induce diapause in ≈50% of the population. In addition, short photoperiod served to maintain diapause in adult females. Transferring diapausing adults from short to long photoperiods accelerated diapause termination relative to those remaining in short photoperiod.

Sublethal doses of chlorfluazuron (LD₁₀: 1.00 ng per larva or LD₃₀: 3.75 ng per larva) topically applied on newly molted fifth instars of Spodoptera litura (F.) significantly reduced ovarian weight and number of mature eggs in pupae and adults, compared with those of the controls. The ratios of fresh ovarian/fresh body weight, dry ovarian/fresh ovarian weight, and dry ovarian/fresh body weight were the same among controls, LD₁₀, and LD₃₀treated newly emerged adults. In treated adults, the germarium was significantly longer than the pedicle and vitelarium compared with those of the controls, whereas in controls the vitelarium was significantly longer than the germarium and pedicle. This indicates a delayed of maturation of ovarioles in treated cutworms. These doses also disrupt growth and development of oocytes by significantly affecting the size of basal oocytes and thickness of follicular epithelium. The maximum size of basal oocytes recorded on the day of adult emergence was significantly reduced in LD₁₀or LD₃₀treated females, compared with those of the controls. The thickness of the follicular epithelium of basal oocytes reached to a maximum in the controls on the eighth d and in treated females on the ninth d after pupation. In newly emerged treated adults, the protein content of ovaries was significantly reduced but the carbohydrate and lipid contents were not significantly affected, compared with those of the controls. The effects of chlorfluazuron on ovarian development and oogenesis are presumed to be responsible for the reduction in fecundity caused by sublethal exposure to chlorfluazuron.

Differentiation of Blattella asahinai Mizukubo, Blattella vaga Hebard, and Blattella germanica (L.) was investigated using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). DNA fragments corresponding to mitochondrial CO1, CO1/TL2 (small and large fragments), and ITS2 regions were amplified using PCR. The universal primers used for amplifying mitochondrial CO1 and CO1/TL2 (small and large fragments) were CO1-J-1718/CO1-N-2191, CO1-J-2441/TL2-N-3014, and CO1-J-1751/TL2-N-3014. Amplification was observed with all primer combinations, but diagnostic patterns were found only with Alu I digested amplicons of CO1 and CO1/TL2 (large fragments) regions. Both inter/intraspecific polymorphism was observed for the 517 bp CO1 region between German (A, B) and Asian (A, B, C) cockroach populations. Polymorphic form B of the Asian cockroach (374 and 179 bp fragments) was nearly identical to the field cockroach (370 and 178 bp fragments). The CO1 amplicon (517 bp) differentiated German and field cockroaches but not Asian and field cockroaches. The CO1/TL2 amplicons (1275 bp) digested with Alu I clearly differentiated all three species. The Asian cockroach had a distinct 540 bp fragment, whereas the field cockroach had a 403 bp fragment and the German cockroach lacked both fragments. Intraspecific polymorphs for CO1/TL2 amplicons (1275 bp) were observed with the German cockroach only. Portions of the CO1 and TL2 genes were sequenced, revealing 76% identity among German, Asian, and field cockroaches. Sequence data also revealed that German and Asian cockroaches were more closely related to each other than to the field cockroach.

The ultrastructure and morphogenesis of apyrene and eupyrene spermatozoa of Lymantria dispar (L.) is examined. Apyrene prophase I spermatocytes are characterized by sparse perinuclear membrane, smaller nuclei, bivalents lacking synaptonemal complexes, and few mitochondria. Eupyrene prophase I spermatocytes are characterized by dense perinuclear sheathing, large nuclei, diffuse chromatin, synaptonemal complexes, and numerous mitochondria. Apyrene metaphase I is atypical involving chromatin clumping and mis-segregation. Eupyrene metaphase I spermatocytes show localized meiotic centromeres and sheathed nuclear division. However, kinetochores are amorphous and difficult to discern. Apyrene spermiogenesis involves the morphogenesis of the axoneme and mitochondrial derivatives in the absence of differentiating nuclei and acrosomes. Eupyrene spermiogenesis involves the differentiation of nuclei, axonemes, acrosome tubes, mitochondrial derivatives, lacinate appendages, and reticular appendages. Both eupyrene spermatozoa and apyrene spermatozoa undergo additional morphogenesis upon leaving the testis. The most apparent of these are the loss of lacinate appendages in eupyrene sperm and the gain of an extracellular sheathing in both eupyrene sperm and apyrene sperm.

Coleomegilla maculata De Geer is an abundant, widely distributed, New World polyphagous lady beetle. High levels of variation at 14 polymorphic allozyme loci were used to examine breeding structure of populations from New England, Iowa, south Texas, and Honduras. Analysis of variance of gene frequencies and F-statistics showed high levels of gene flow within each region and between the Texan and northern United States populations, but negligible rates of gene flow between these and the Honduran populations. Thus, gene flow was largely unrestricted in North American C. maculata. Honduras populations were highly differentiated genetically from the North American populations and shared with North American beetles only 41 of 70 alleles at 14 allozyme loci. Nei’s genetic distances within Honduran, Texas, and Iowa–New England samples did not differ significantly from zero, but the intergroup distances were large. Reciprocal crosses within and between Texas and Iowan populations were fertile, but reciprocal crosses between Honduran and North American strains were completely sterile. No consistent morphological differences between North and Central American C. maculata were detected. Backcrosses of male and female hybrids of Iowa and Texas beetles to either parental strain were fertile. The results indicate two sibling species are present, one in North America and another in Honduras.

A clone of the Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) gene Act5C was used to isolate an actin gene from a Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), genomic library in phage lambda. A combined molecular and cytological analysis with the Hessian fly actin gene (designated MdA1) was undertaken. The coding region of this gene was contiguous and encoded a protein that was 99% identical to the intersegmental muscle actins 57A and 87E from D. melanogaster. Additionally, the protein was >97% identical to the flight-muscle-specific actin 88E from D. melanogaster as well as muscle actins 1 and 2 from Bombyx mori (L.). Only the muscle actin 79B from D. melanogaster, a muscle actin in leg and thorax, showed <97% identity with actin 1 from Hessian fly. The actin 1 from Hessian fly shared less amino acid identity (94–95%) with the cytoplasmic actins from D. melanogaster, Anopheles gambiae (Giles), and B. mori, with differences occurring in a conserved region of the cytoplasmic actins proposed to function in interaction with actin binding proteins. These results are consistent with the Hessian fly MdA1 gene encoding a muscle actin. When compared with the D. melanogaster Act57A and Act87E genes, the Hessian fly MdA1 gene revealed 81% identity at the nucleotide level, with most of the variation associated with third-codon-position G C content. The MdA1 gene also had a high degree of general synonymous codon usage bias as measured by scaled chi-square. Southern gel blot analyses as well as in situ hybridization on salivary polytene chromosomes with MdA1 as the probe revealed that a gene family with at least five members encodes the actins in Hessian fly. Future identification of promoters for actins from Hessian fly should prove useful for gene expression in transgenic constructs.

Ejaculate size in seed beetles (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) is subject to both sexual and fecundity selection. We examined interpopulation variation and inheritance of ejaculate size in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (F.). There was significant variation among three populations in both body mass and the proportion of a male’s body mass that was transferred to females during mating. The seed upon which beetles were raised had a small effect on male body size but not the size of their ejaculates. To investigate the inheritance of ejaculate size, we performed inter- and intrapopulation crosses with two of these populations. The progeny of interpopulation crosses were intermediate between the intrapopulation (parental) crosses, suggesting additive genetic autosomal inheritance. This result differs from an earlier study in which ejaculate size of a different population was maternally inherited. This study demonstrates that there is indeed genetic variation in ejaculate size, but that the loci exhibiting within-population variation may be different than the loci producing among-population variation.

Male–female interactions among three wild and three laboratory strains of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), were observed on caged trees in Hawaii and Guatemala. Sterile and wild males appeared comparable at attracting wild and sterile females into their territories and initiating courtship. Wild females, though, consistently accepted courtship overtures of wild males more readily (copulation occurred in 28% of 199 interactions) than they accepted those of sterile males (8% of 261 interactions). Depending on the strains involved, wild females were more likely to reject sterile (versus wild) males during the male’s courtship display, after the male mounted the female, or both. Sterile females accepted sterile males in 23.8% of 407 interactions and wild males in 26.1% of 257. Periodicity of mating behavior varied somewhat among strains, but sterile flies did not mate consistently earlier or later in the day than did wild flies. Less-than-desirable levels of mating compatibility between sterile and wild C. capitata appear to result primarily from the relatively low rates at which wild females accept courtship overtures of sterile males.

Reflex bleeding in New World froghoppers is described in detail for the first time. Prosapia sp. n. adults exude hemolymph from rupture lines in pretarsal pads when attacked by predators. After an assault, food access permitted replenishment of exudate volume within 6 h. A survey of New World Cercopoidea (53 species) demonstrated the behavior to be synapomorphic in the predominantly aposematic family Cercopidae, but not present in the largely cryptic Aphrophoridae and Clastopteridae. A comparative study of four species [ Iphirhina quota (Distant), Mahanarva costaricensis (Distant), P. plagiata (Distant), and Prosapia sp. n.] showed that total volume of exudate, volume per weight, and response to general versus localized assaults varied among sexes, species, and habitats. Laboratory and field bioassays failed to demonstrate mechanical or chemical deterrency. In tandem with warning odors, however, conspicuousness coloration and reflexive discharge of blood form an elaborate warning signal in cercopid froghoppers, probably functioning as a startle stimulus that permits escape by jumping.