Adult caddisfly specimens were collected during 2015 and 2016 in the Republic of Serbia. Out of twenty-six taxa found during this investigation, two are first records for the caddisfly fauna of Serbia: Rhyacophila brevifurcata Kumanski, 1986 and Hydroptila lotensis Mosely, 1930. First reliable records of Hydropsyche bulbifera McLachlan, 1878 and Hydropsyche incognita Pitsch, 1993 based on adult specimens are also reported. Additionally, several other rare species were found during this investigation.

Cockchafers of the genus Melolontha (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) seem to have a strong effect on forest management by inducing significant losses in the forest stands. Monitoring of the occurrence of Melolontha is carried out in many European countries, and the detailed data are available. But there is still a lack of data of the genetic population structure of Melolontha species as well as appropriate genetic markers. Amplification of microsatellite loci, developed for Melolontha melolontha, was performed in the closely related species Melolontha hippocastani. We successfully amplified the same eight polymorphic markers in both species of Melolontha. Generally, more alleles (from 5 to 15) were obtained for M. melolontha markers, and considerably fewer alleles (from 2 to 7) were observed for M. hippocastani. The mean observed heterozygosities were 0.676 and 0.192 respectively. The microsatellite markers tested in this study could be successfully used to study the population genetics of M. hippocastani.

Agriculture continues to expand in the tropics, capturing a subset of original biodiversity. Here, butterfly diversity was sampled in four land uses resulting from montane Neotropical agriculture: a forest fragment, a coffee plantation, a banana grove, and a cattle pasture. Butterflies were sampled in both traps baited with rotting fruit and visual transects during the dry season in the tropical premontane moist forest life zone near Monteverde, Costa Rica. The samples were dominated by Cissia spp., overshadowing the diversity and evenness, therefore statistical analyses were run with and without the species. Diversity was highest in the coffee, followed by the forest, then pasture, and banana. Excluding Cissia spp., diversity increased in all sites but remained highest in the coffee, then banana grove, followed by the forest fragment, with the pasture the least diverse. Coffee displayed the highest diversity presumably because it had the highest structural diversity that still allowed abundant light. The pasture may have the lowest diversity because of low structural diversity and high winds. Forest-dwelling butterfly species were less common as habitats lost structural diversity, indicating that while highest local diversity can occur with agriculture, regional species diversity may suffer.

We present the first records of six fulgoroid species in Texas. Tagosodes wallacei (Muir and Giffard, 1924) (Delphacidae) is recorded from Texas (new state record), Belize, Honduras, and Ecuador (new country records). Delphacodes puella (Van Duzee, 1897) (Delphacidae), Pareuidella magnistyla (Crawford, 1914) (Delphacidae), Nilaparvata wolcotti Muir and Giffard, 1924 (Delphacidae), and Asarcopus palmarum Horvath, 1921 (Caliscelidae) are recorded from Texas (new state records). Also, a Bruchomorpha species (Caliscelidae) is reported from Texas that is either B. costaricensis Schmidt, 1927 or an undescribed species. Distributional commentary is provided for the aforementioned species, as well as Isodelphax basivitta (Van Duzee, 1909).

The relationship between insect development rate and temperature represents an important ecological variable for modeling the population dynamics of insects. The development time of different stages of Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuiter) (Hemiptera: Miridae) was determined at 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35°C by using Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) as prey on tomato (Solanum esculentum (Miller). N. tenuis was able to complete development with a similar (five) number of nymphal instars at temperatures between 15 and 35°C. Development rate of the insect was temperature-dependent and temperatures above 25°C were suitable for faster development. The developmental threshold varied from 6.66°C for third instar nymphs to 12.12°C for the first instar nymphs. The thermal constant also varied with developmental stage and was lowest (26.25 degree-days) for the first instar nymphs, and highest (200 degree-days) for the egg stage. The degree-day requirements were 250 for the entire nymphal stage and 500 for the egg to adult stage. The information generated can be used for developing phenological models based on temperature and development rate relationships, and for programming mass breeding for commercial purposes.

The nymphs of Chankagenesia yangi (Hsu, 1936) are described for the first time and selected key structures of adults are clarified. Compared to the valid congener C. natans Buldovsky, the nymphs of C. yangi have spines on lateral large projections of frons and more in between them. In the same structure of adults, the lateral projections of C. yangi are smaller and blunter. The nymphs described here confirm the status of the species and show that the genus has a vast distribution.

The qualitative and quantitative survey of flea beetles in the cruciferous vegetable ecosystem in different agro-ecological zones viz., North, South, and Central, of Kashmir valley revealed a total of four flea beetle species, which include Psylliodes tenebrosus Jacoby, Phyllotreta striolata (Fabricius), another different Psylliodes sp. Indet. 1 and Altica himensis Shukla. Phyllotreta striolata was the most predominant species, accounting for 57.88 per cent on kale and 78.68 per cent on turnip during the entire growing season. The values of diversity indices varied evenly amongst the selected sites in both the crops. On kale, the beetles of the overwintering generation emerged from the second fortnight of March up to the end of May depending upon weather conditions. The emergence of the beetles of new generations started in the beginning of June and the highest trap catches were recorded during the second fortnight of July i.e. from 27th to 29th standard weeks. The mean number of trap catches decreased afterwards and minimum trap catch was observed by the end of October. However, in turnip, the population density of flea beetles increased from 32nd to 38th standard weeks and thereafter showed a decline. The study further revealed that the temperature influenced the activity of the flea beetles significantly. All the flea beetle species collected in the current study are presently considered important pests of cruciferous crops.

Taxonomic research on animals is an important topic. In particular, closely related species are difficult to differientiate by morphological descriptions. The Lycosidae, commonly called wolf spiders, is one of the largest spider families, and species separation needs to be supported by molecular studies.

In morphological studies of spider specimens of the genus Alopecosa only certain mature specimens could be diagnosed to species. In molecular studies, both mature and juvenile specimens were investigated and mitochondrial COI gene sequences were analyzed using MEGA6 software. In total, high quality sequences were obtained for 76 specimens and a phylogenetic tree was contructed and evaluated, with a 1000 bootstrap repetetition. As a result four Alopecosa species, Alopecosa aculeata (Clerck, 1757), A. kuntzi Denis, 1953, A. albofasciata (Brullé, 1832) and A. accentuata (Latreille, 1817), were identified and their DNA sequences recorded in Gen bank. Of these species Alopecosa kuntzi was newly added to the list of known Turkish spider species.

Cryptops hortensis is a successful invasive species probably of Palearctic origin. However, recent molecular studies in Europe identified multiple similar species previously misidentified as C. hortensis. In the Nearctic Region, C. hortensis is presumably an exotic species with well-established populations in the northeastern USA. After molecular and morphological identification, C. hortensis from Ohio, USA, were identified as the same species in Europe. The molecular data supported the hypothesis that C. hortensis was introduced from Europe.

Severe outbreak of rice green semilooper Naranga aenescens Moore (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Eustrotiinae) in West Bengal, India is documented along with the first record of its primary parasitoid Cotesia ruficrus (Haliday) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae). Simultaneously two hyperparasitoids viz., Trichomalopsis apanteloctena (Crawford) (Pteromalidae) and Mesochorus sp. (Ichneumonidae) were also recorded. The population of rice green semilooper varied from 3.20 to 5.45 larvae per hill with the peak in the first fortnight of August, 2015. Percent parasitism of the larvae was as high as 94.00% recorded in the first fortnight of August with 77.50% as the mean.