Conservation and management strategies are dependent on reliable species richness information. Accurate species richness counts, especially for invertebrates, are almost impossible to obtain from sampling alone, due to the high costs and effort involved. Therefore, there is a great need to optimize sampling effort to gain maximum information from minimum sampling duration and intensity. Reliable species richness information is particularly critical for under-studied, high diversity regions, such as the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), where biodiversity is threatened by agricultural practices and urbanization. Ants (Formicidae) form an important part of the fauna of the CFR, especially as seed dispersers. This study investigated sampling effort options for maximizing ant species representivity in the region. The specific aims were to determine (i) whether a doubling in the sample duration significantly increased the number of species captured (ii) the effect of increased spatial versus temporal sampling effort on diversity estimates and (iii) the effect of adding an additional trapping method. Sampling was conducted at Elandsberg, Western Cape Province, from 20 February to 1 March 2004. Pitfall trapping was conducted in two five-day sessions and tuna-baits were used once. Species rarefaction curves were drawn and compared using EstimateS. A total of 42 species were captured and asymptotes to species richness were reached. Doubling of sample duration yielded no significant increase in species richness and was equally affected in terms of number of species as was doubling the sampling intensity. However, increasing the number of spatial replicates yielded a higher turnover in species. Baiting added no additional species to pitfall catches. Therefore, when sampling ant diversity in the CFR, investing sampling effort within seasons in spatial replication is likely to be more effective than increasing sampling duration.

The management of dead wood is crucial to the conservation of saproxylic beetles, species dependent on dead wood. This holds for both natural forest and tree plantations. However, the importance of dead wood in tropical forest ecosystems is not yet well understood. The present study investigates saproxylic beetle assemblages of native and exotic standing dead trees (snags). The study was conducted in semi-deciduous protected forest and tree plantations of the Lama Forest Reserve in Benin, West Africa. The snag beetle fauna was sampled for a total of 12 weeks during one year, using trunk window traps. As a control an equal number of live trees was sampled to distinguish saproxylic and non-saproxylic beetles. Mean snag beetle species richness, relative abundance and the number of singletons, species sampled only once, per snag were similar among native and exotic snags. The total number of snag beetle species and beta-diversity of snag beetle assemblages were higher for native than for exotic snags, reflecting high heterogeneity in habitat quality among snags in natural forest. It is concluded that snag beetle assemblages were influenced mainly by the forest system, semi-deciduous forest vs plantations. With regard to dead wood management, retention or creation of snags in semi-deciduous forest, as well as in plantations, can enhance and preserve the diversity of the saproxylic beetle fauna.

Phlyctinus callosus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a key phytosanitary pest of South African table grapes, is controlled using sticky Plantex® trunk barriers, while Epichoristodes acerbella (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), another important phytosanitary pest, is controlled using DiPel® (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki). Other less important pests are Gonocephalum simplex (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), Dysdercus fasciatus (Hemiptera: Pyrrhocoridae) and Gryllus bimaculatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae). Bunches of grapes in vineyards were sampled for all phytosanitary pests during the 2003/2004 season, by both direct inspection and by shaking individual bunches to collect insects that fell. Insects moving up the vine trunk were collected with cardboard collars. The heads and bases of vines were also inspected. Cover crops and surrounding habitats were sampled by sweep netting. Pheromone traps, using E. acerbella pheromone capsules, were placed in vineyards. Abundance of pests was related to presence or absence of sticky trunk barriers, use of DiPel® (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki), mean rainfall and maximum temperature, height and type of cover crop. The effects of surrounding habitats, time of day pests were active and the time of year they were found was also evaluated. Use of Plantex® trunk barriers gave effective preventive control of P. callosus. DiPel® was effective against E. acerbella larvae. Numbers of P. callosus weevils increased after periods of high ambient temperatures, while E. acerbella numbers decreased following rainfall. Most phytosanitary pests infested vineyards from adjacent vineyards, with few pests recorded in cover crops or in surrounding uncultivated habitats. Thus, successful long-term reduction in phytosanitary rejections of table grapes from the Hex River Valley, South Africa, requires the coordinated control of phytosanitary pests within vineyards.

Lasioderma serricorne (F.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) is the most serious pest in stored tobacco on the Cape Verde islands. The development of appropriate sampling plans is needed for cost-effective control of stored-product insect pests. Sequential sampling plans for classifying pest status help the manager to decide whether or not to implement control measures, with a minimum risk of error using few sampling units. From September 1998 to February 2001, a sampling plan, using sex pheromone traps, was implemented in the cigarette factory in Cape Verde, to assist management decision-making based on an empirical threshold of 10 insects/week/trap and to make inferences about the pest population, such as its density and spatial pattern. From the results obtained a sequential sampling plan was developed for classifying the pest status of L. serricorne based on complete counts from insects caught in the pheromone traps. Two sequential sampling techniques were used: the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT), as the adult population followed the binomial negative distribution, and Iwao's confidence interval method. It was shown that, using SPRT or Iwao's methods, managers can make decisions using six and 13 traps, respectively, with a minimum risk of incorrect assessment.

African species of the Tetrastichus howardi species group are revised, and a key for their differentiation is provided. These species are facultative hyperparasitoids of a variety of hosts, and are being studied in connection with their association with cereal stem borers. Three native African species are currently recognized: T. atriclavus Waterston, T. sculpturatus Waterston, T. flaviclavus sp. n., as well as the introduced Asian species T. howardi (Olliff). Two new synonymies are proposed with T. atriclavus: Tetrastichus dispar Masi and Tetrastichus sesamiae Risbec. Tetrastichus mauripennis Waterston is transferred to the genus Aprostocetus (comb. n.). Tetrastichus sesamiae var. angolensis Risbec is elevated to specific status, although this species does not belong to the howardi species group. Lectotypes are designated for Tetrastichus atriclavus, T. sculpturatus, T. sesamiae, T. sesamiae var. angolensis and T. mauripennis.

The Afrotropical Asilidae genus Lasiocnemus (Loew, 1851) is revised. Seven species are recognized (La. fascipennis Engel & Cuthbertson, 1939; La. griseicinctipes Speiser, 1913; La. hermanni Janssens, 1952; La. hyalipennis Janssens, 1952; La. lugens Loew, 1858; and La. obscuripennis (Loew, 1851)), one of which is newly described from Kenya, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania, La. londti sp. n. La. anthracinus Janssens, 1952, is synonymized with La. griseicinctipes Speiser, 1913. Redescriptions and descriptions of the genus and all species as well as an identification key to species are provided. Distribution, occurrence in biodiversity hotspots, seasonal incidence, and biology are discussed.

Aspidimorpha areata is a common and widespread African cassidine species. The larvae and the beetle life cycle are described. It is currently known to reproduce on three host plants of the Convolvulaceae, Ipomoea batatas, I. cairica and I. plebeia. In captivity the total life cycle lasts 37–42 days. The species has three generations per year in coastal KwaZulu-Natal, during summer and autumn. The adult and larval feeding patterns, as well as the few known parasitoids and predators, are discussed. Older instars forcefully eject faecal material, a new report for this family.

Large-scale monitoring programmes often make inferences about insect abundance based on count data collected using some probability-based sampling technique. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to obtain reliable estimates of insect abundance from count data unless the scale is very fine or localized. A major issue, that has to be explicitly addressed when estimating insect abundance, is the problem of false negatives. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate a simple approach to estimate insect abundance from occupancy data collected using presence–absence surveys. Using count data on the seed-feeding insect, Eurytoma sp. (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae), and the alien invasive insect, Heteropsylla cubana (Homoptera: Psyllidae), this paper has demonstrated the application of (1) generalized linear models for modelling abundance and detection probability, (2) information criteria for model selection and (3) occupancy-abundance models for precise estimation of insect abundance. Potential applications of this approach in monitoring colonization of sites by alien invasive species and local extinction of species endangered by habitat fragmentation are also indicated.

The eight southern African king cricket genera, namely Bochus, Borborothis, Henicus, Libanasa, Libanasidus, Nasidius, Onosandridus, and Onosandrus are redescribed from type and museum material. A key to the genera is provided. The status of Libanasidus impicta is investigated and species characteristics confirmed. A key to the two Libanasidus species is also provided.

Mesquites (Prosopis spp.) are thorny leguminous shrubs or trees native to Southwest Asia, Africa, and predominantly North and South America. Introduced as beneficial plants to India, Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt, Kuwait, Australia, U.S.A. (Hawaii), and Brazil, some Prosopis species have become invasive in some of these countries. Mechanical and chemical control methods implemented in the U.S.A., Australia and South Africa have been only marginally effective. In an attempt to preserve the beneficial attributes of mesquite while arresting its spread, biocontrol efforts in South Africa have only focused on seed-feeding agents. Between 1987 and 1993, three species of bruchids were introduced from the U.S.A., but their impact has been limited as ripe pods are eaten by livestock before the agents have had a chance to eat the seeds. In this paper we present a list of insects that attack the reproductive structures of Prosopis species in Argentina, focusing on those that feed on green, unripe pods and flower buds. We provide information on the biology, distribution and host range of nine beetles, four moths and one gall midge species. Their potential as biological control agents against mesquite in South Africa is discussed with special reference to that of a new weevil species, Coelocephalapion gandolfoi Kissinger which was selected for further studies. The adults feed and oviposit on green pods, while the larvae feed on the immature seeds, apparently without causing a substantial reduction in the value of pods as fodder.

Natural populations of Anopheles gambiae s.s. M form and An. melas were assessed for susceptibility to pyrethroid (deltamethrin and permethrin), DDT and carbosulfan insecticides in three localities in coastal Cameroon. Anopheles melas was recorded only from Limbe and Idenau localities, with all samples susceptible to the four insecticides. Anopheles gambiae M form from all three villages was 100 % susceptible to deltamethrin and permethrin, but showed 6.3 % survival on 4 % DDT in Tiko village. Resistance in An. gambiae M form to carbosulfan was found at all three sites, with mortality rates ranging from 53 to 90 %. These findings provide a baseline for evidence-based planning and implementation of malaria vector control activities in the surveyed areas and can be used for comparison in vector control monitoring activities.

The ‘lesser dung fly’, Archicollinella penteseta (Richards), previously known only from the Scilly Isles of Great Britain, was discovered on three of Namibia's off-shore guano islands, Ichaboe, Mercury and Possession islands, in 2003, from where the species was presumably introduced to Great Britain. Adults were found to feed on the guano of seabirds, in the nests of Jackass penguins and on carcasses and scats of Cape fur seals. The third instar larva and puparium are described, this being the first description of immature stages for the genus. Species dominance of guano-producing seabirds and Cape fur seals has altered on these islands during the last 180 years or so, since the onset of human exploitation. Changing larval food resources are discussed by drawing on historical accounts of the islands. Introduction of the species to Great Britain could have resulted directly from the guano trade between Namibia and Great Britain in the 1840s or later, probably as a result of mass fly emergence, dumped ballast from sailing ships or shipwrecks off the coast of the Scilly Isles.

The fungus-growing termite, Macrotermes natalensis (Haviland), the most common and widely distributed member of the genus in southern Africa, produces a single brood of alates annually. The release of these alates from the colony is under the control of workers. The latter construct crescent-shaped flight holes over the mound surface and in the surrounding grass. On flight evenings workers open these holes. Large numbers of workers and small numbers of minor soldiers exit the mound to surround the flight holes. Alates then rapidly leave the nest by way of these flight holes. When the last alate has flown workers and soldiers move back into the mound and the flight holes are sealed. Following the flight the females land before the males, selecting elevated sites where they stand head down with wings fully extended. The male seeks out the female and when he joins her, the wings of both are flexed. Following a period of stimulation, both sexes dealate simultaneously and the pair move to the ground to search for a nesting site, moving in tandem with the male following the female. The female chooses the site and initiates digging-in. The male joins in the excavating and together they complete the project.

The pteromalid genus Trichilogaster is revised. All the species are associated with galls on native Australian acacias, with the exception of one from Arabia. Two species, namely T. acaciaelongifoliae and T. signiventris, have become established in South Africa following their introduction for biological control of Acacia longifolia and A. pycnantha. The following seven species are redescribed: T. acaciaelongifoliae (Froggatt), esculenta Ferrière, flavivena (Girault), maideni Froggatt, pendulae Mayr, signiventris (Girault) (all native to Australia) and arabica Ferrière from Saudi Arabia. Epiperilampus atra Girault, E. atricorpus Girault, E. atricorpus socratis Girault and E. significatus Girault are synonymized (syn. n.) with T. maideni. The following two new Australian species are described from both sexes: T. olgae and T. stefani. A key for the separation of the females of the nine known species of the genus is provided, as well as a list of the 13 species of known host plants, which include 12 species of Acacia and one of Paraserianthes.

Phanacis neserorum sp. n. is described from both sexes from South Africa. This species has been reared from the stems of Chrysanthemoides monilifera (Asteraceae) and is the first record of a phytophagous Afrotropical cynipoid wasp. The taxonomic placement of the new species within the genus Phanacis is discussed.