A new genus of Noterini, Prionohydrus Gómez and Miller gen. n., and three new species are described from South America: Prionohydrus matogrossensis Gómez and Miller sp. n. from Brazil and Prionohydrus marc Gómez and Miller sp. n. and Prionohydrus ubercornis Gómez and Miller sp. n. from Venezuela. The new genus was scored for characters presented in a recent phylogenetic analysis of the family, and key morphological characters are illustrated, including male and female genitalia. A parsimony analysis of these data resulted in a single, most parsimonious solution, with members of the new genus resolved as sister to Mesonoterus Sharp with moderate support. Prionohydrus is similar to Mesonoterus and can be distinguished from this and other Noterini based on a combination of the following: 1) distal attachment of protarsus to protibia; 2) posterior protibial spine present; 3) single, weakly curved, apical protibial spur present; 4) last abdominal tergum with large medial spine flanked by numerous setae; 5) posterior mesotibial spur strongly serrate; 6) anterior metatibial spur strongly serrate; 7) prosternal process narrow, rounded apically, and widest near the middle; 8) prosternum longitudinally broad and glabrous; 9) weak, angular setae along posterodistal margin of metafemur present; 10) pronotal bead moderately broad; 11) cluster of setae at apex of medial metacoxal lobe present; and 12) antenna of males expanded, from slightly incrassate to strongly incrassate.

Egg morphologies of Anastrepha curitis Stone and Anastrepha leptozona Hendel are described using scanning electron microscopy. Eggs were dissected from females captured in McPhail traps in Manaus and Presidente Figueiredo in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Eggs of A. curitis are very long and have no aeropyles but show a seemingly porous surface on the anterior pole. Eggs of A. leptozona are robust. Eggs of both species are smooth and have no chorion ornamentation, reticulation, or protuberances. The micropyle is located at the apex of the anterior pole of the egg for both species studied. No distinct respiratory horn was detected either in A. curitis or A. leptozona. Diagnostic characters include egg length and presence versus absence of a porous surface on the anterior pole.

Two new species of Dryocosmus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), D. sefuriensis Ide, Wachi et Abe, sp. nov. and D. sakureiensis Ide, Wachi et Abe, sp. nov., are described from Japan. A key to species of Dryocosmus in East Asia is given. Although the members of Dryocosmus have been known to induce galls on the subgenus Quercus of the genus Quercus and the genera Castanea, Castanopsis, Chrysolepis, and Lithocarpus of Fagaceae, this is the first record of this gall wasp genus from the strictly Asian subgenus Cyclobalanopsis of the genus Quercus. The discovery of two new species of Dryocosmus associated with Q. (C.) acuta suggests the exceptionally diverse host range of Dryocosmus and the species richness of Cynipini on this plant subgenus in Asia.

Charipinae collected in different regions of Mexico have been studied. Twelve species are cited for the first time: Alloxysta arcuata (Kieffer, 1902), Alloxysta brevis (Thomson, 1862), Alloxysta castanea (Hartig, 1841), Alloxysta fuscicornis (Hartig, 1841), Alloxysta mullensis (Cameron, 1883) ; Alloxysta victrix (Westwood, 1833 ); Phaenoglyphis americana Baker, 1896; Phaenoglyphis calverti Andrews, 1978; Phaenoglyphis falcata Andrews, 1978; Phaenoglyphis stenos Andrews, 1978; Phaenoglyphis stricta (Thomson, 1877); and Phaenoglyphis villosa (Hartig, 1841). Three new species are described: Alloxysta evenhuisi Ferrer-Suay & Pujade-Villar n. sp., Alloxysta mexicana Ferrer-Suay & Pujade-Villar n. sp., and Alloxysta sarae Ferrer-Suay n. sp. The genera Alloxysta and Phaenoglyphis are cited for the first time from Mexico. A key to all Mexican Charipinae is given. New hosts and trophic relationships are presented for some species.

Kennethia pomorskii, a new genus and species of subfamily Onychiurinae is described from North America. It has a unique suite of apomorphic morphological characters and is most closely related to Arneria Pomorski, 2000; Dinochiurus Pomorski & Steinmann, 2004; and Reducturus Pomorski & Steinmann 2004. A key to genera of the tribe Hymenaphorurini is given.

Biological invasions often have devastating impacts on ecosystems and economies, while facilitative interactions between invasive and native species are often overlooked. Here, we demonstrate how the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomotpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), facilitates native Hymenoptera by opening a novel feeding niche. In the invaded mid-Atlantic region of the United States, several species of native ants and wasps feed on wound exudates from stink bug feeding sites; these exudates have high sugar concentrations and are rapidly used by indigenous Hymenoptera. Positive facilitative interactions between invasive and keystone native species such as ants may have far reaching impacts on invaded ecosystems.

The secretion of cuticular antimicrobial compounds is an important defensive mechanism for social insects and recent studies have demonstrated their role in the evolution of sociality. However, the factors that might affect their production and effectiveness are not well understood. For example, natural variation in colony size and genetic diversity are predicted to influence susceptibility to disease and, as a consequence, we hypothesized that colonies adjust by varying antimicrobial production. We examined the effects of colony size and genetic diversity on the antimicrobial properties of cuticular compounds in 10 colonies of the Australian paper wasp, Polistes humilis F. ( Vespidae: Polistinae). The effectiveness of antimicrobial compounds produced by a colony was found to increase with genetic diversity but decrease with colony size. Further, genetic diversity appears to be the stronger factor in determining effectiveness of antimicrobial compounds and may compensate for larger group sizes. These data highlight a possible trade-off between increasing group size for work efficiency and maximizing relatedness for indirect fitness benefits, with disease risk being the underlying driving factor.

The apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella Walsh (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a major pest of commercially grown domesticated apple (Malus domestica Borkhausen) in North America. The shift of the fly from its native host hawthorn (Crataegus mollis) to apple in the eastern United States is often cited as an example of incipient sympatric speciation in action. However, R. pomonella is also present in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States where it infests apple, native black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii), and introduced English ornamental hawthorn (C. monogyna). It is believed that R. pomonella was introduced to the Portland, OR, area via larval-infested apples from the east. The fly subsequently spread through the region, shifting onto black hawthorn and ornamental hawthorn as additional hosts as it spread. It is also possible, however, that R. pomonella is native to black hawthorn in the Pacific Northwest and switched to infest apple and ornamental hawthorn after the introduction of these two alternative hosts to the region. Here, we document the distribution of R. pomonella through the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states of the western United States to help clarify the origin (s) of the fly outside the eastern United States. We report a distribution pattern consistent with the hypothesis that R. pomonella was introduced to the Pacific Northwest via infested apples. In particular, the low levels or lack of C. dougliasii-infesting R. pomonella east of the Cascade Mountains in the states of Washington, OR, and Idaho implies that the fly is not native on black hawthorn and is of recent origin. We discuss the evolutionary and applied implications of the results with respect to our current understanding of host race formation and control for R. pomonella.

Mating not only enables the female to acquire spermatozoa from the male, but may also enhance female fecundity and induce egg laying in many insect species. The general consensus is that the increased fecundity that results from mating is because of substances obtained from the male reproductive accessory gland at the time of mating. To understand better the effects of mating on reproduction, we compared the longevity, fecundity, and hatchability of eggs laid by females of a tropical strain of Locusta migratoria Linné that had been subject to different mating treatments. Females that were paired with males from which the testes, accessory glands, testes and accessory glands, or genitalia were extirpated did not differ significantly from females mated with intact males in some reproductive parameters. Their reproductive rates up to 92%, preovipositional periods were around 24 d and ovipositional intervals were around 5 d. They laid ≈6 egg pods during their adult lives and produced ≈50 eggs per egg pod. However, isolated females or females physically separated from a male in the same cage only 41.2 or 48.0% laid eggs, over 80 d in preovipositional periods and nearly 8 d in ovipositional interval; they only laid 1.3 or 1.1 egg pods throughout its life span and produced ≈30 eggs per egg pod, which were significantly different with the value for females mated with operated and intact males. The hatchability of eggs laid by females paired with the surgically altered males (around 20%) were significantly lower than those laid by females mated with intact males (83.2% in mean), but significantly higher than those laid by parthenogenic females or females physically separated from a male in the same cage (3.2 or 4.4%, respectively). The results suggested that, in addition to the transfer of spermatozoa and accessory gland secretions, physical contact between males and females, especially mounting behavior, might also promote female oviposition, increasing fecundity and egg hatchability.

Colonies of the western harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis Cresson) with greater genetic diversity begin foraging earlier, forage for longer durations, and collect more food than those with less genetic diversity. In this study we tested whether earlier onset of foraging improved the foraging success of colonies at baits placed midway between neighbors. Colonies that began foraging earlier in the morning were more likely to be the first to discover the food and to monopolize the food source. Colony size was also important with larger nests monopolizing significantly more baits than smaller nests. These results show that early foraging by colonies can provide an intraspecific foraging advantage at a clumped food resource. This advantage adds more evidence to a growing body of work showing how polyandry, genetic diversity, and colony-level performance are interrelated in P. occidentalis colonies.

Knowledge of the host-feeding pattern of blood-sucking insects helps to understand the epidemiology of a vector-born disease. A set of primers was used to selectively amplify segment of vertebrates' prepronociceptin gene from abdomens of engorged sand flies. Vertebrate DNA was successfully amplified in 65% of blood-fed phlebotomines assayed. Direct sequencing and comparison of resultant sequences with sequences in GenBank, using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, led to the specific identification of the host in 100% of the cases. In total, 249 blood-fed females belonging to five different sand flies species were captured thanks to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention light traps and sticky papers in different areas of Tunisia between 2007 and 2009. Bloodmeal origin was determined for 146 blood-fed midges: Phlebotomus sergenti Parrot sampled fed only on Ovis aries and Equus caballus, while bloodmeal origin of P. perniciosus Newstead, P. longicuspis Nitzulescu, and P. papatasi (Scopoli) was diversified. We found that midges were fed mainly on Homos sapiens (n = 37; 22.69%), Bos taunts (n = 11; 6.74%), Mus musculus (n = 2; 1.22%), Capra hircus (n = 4; 2.45%), Camelus dromedarius (n = 3; 1.84%), Ovis aries (n = 98; 60.12%), Equus caballus (n = 3; 1.84%), Felis catus (n = 1; 0.6%), Oryctolagus cuniculus (n = 3; 1.84%), and Rattus norvegicus (n = 1; 0.6%). In this study, interestingly, we found for the first time that Mus musculus DNA was found in one female of S. minuta (Rondani) specie and question about its possible vectorial role is opened.

Lygus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae) causes economic damage to a wide range of crops in the western United States. While stylet-probing, L. hesperus discharge saliva consisting of lytic enzymes that facilitate extraoral digestion of host tissues. L. hesperus saliva primarily consists of polygalacturonases, α-amylases, and proteases, but salivary constituents other than these enzymes have not been documented. Improved knowledge of L. hesperus salivary proteins could lead to a better understanding of Lygus-host interactions, and aid in the development of crops that are resistant or tolerant to injury caused by Lygus spp. The objective of our study was to use mass spectrometry to identify salivary proteins of L. hesperus adults. Multiple polygalacturonases and proteases were identified from diet that was stylet-probed and fed upon by L. hesperus. Laccase, alkyl hydroperoxide reductase-like protein, glucose dehydrogenase, and xanthine dehydrogenase were identified in styletprobed diets by using mass spectrometry, and laccase activity was confirmed using a colorimetric assay. This is the first study to identify laccase, glucose dehydrogenase, and xanthine dehydrogenase from L. hesperus saliva; we propose these enzymes target plant-defense compounds. Nearly 100 proteins from the bacterial plant pathogen, Pantoea ananatis and nine proteins from Serratia spp. were identified in stylet-probed diets. These results suggest L. hesperus may vector these plant pathogens. Our study adds to the list of documented L. hesperus salivary proteins, and provides information that will be useful for the further study of L. hesperus saliva and Lygus-microbe interactions.

Delphacodes kuscheli Fennah (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) is the main natural vector of Mal de Rio Cuarto virus (family Reoviridae, genus Fijivirus, MRCV), which infects different gramineae and causes the most important maize (Zea mays L.) disease in Argentina. MRCV—vector interactions usually are studied using different winter cereals as hosts. Under experimental conditions, <50% of D. kuscheli planthoppers fed on a MRCV-infected plant can transmit the virus to wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ). This fact is influenced by insect development stage at acquisition and the latency period. This work describes the relation between transmission efficiency and MRCV accumulation in its planthopper vector. First- and third-instar D. kuscheli nymphs were allowed to feed on MRCV-infected plants, and 9 or 17 d after the acquisition access period (AAP), viral load of transmitting and nontransmitting planthoppers was quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The transmitting planthoppers showed significantly higher viral titers than nontransmitting ones, suggesting that successful transmission is positively associated to viral accumulation in the insect. However, planthoppers of the third-instars group did not transmit the virus 9 d after AAP, even when 46% had similar titers to the transmitting insects of the other treatments. These results indicate that additional factors influence MRCV transmission efficiency when acquisition occurs in older planthoppers. This is the first precise quantitative analysis of MRCV in its main vector species and will definitely contribute to better understand planthopper—Fijivirus interactions and its epidemiological implications.

Although it is well established that biodiversity plays an important role in pest control, there is limited knowledge on how the origins of agriculture may shape arthropod biodiversity. Arthropod food webs likely have coevolved with wild crop relatives before domestication, but not all arthropod taxa may be able to inhabit cultivated habitats. We sampled wild and cultivated rice fields in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam to determine how season (dry versus wet) and rice cultivation influenced arthropod diversity and community composition. We found that cultivated rice fields supported ≈50% fewer taxa than wild rice fields, and that there were widespread losses in taxonomic richness within all of the major orders. Wild rice fields supported 173 unique taxa that were not found in any cultivated rice fields, whereas cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) supported only 23 unique taxa. Furthermore, wild and cultivated rice supported different arthropod communities. Predators and parasitoids were the most abundant in wild rice during the dry season. Herbivore densities were similar in wild and cultivated rice, but were reduced in wild rice (Oryza rugipogon L.) during the wet season. Neither season nor habitat influenced the densities of detritivores, but aquatic predators were more abundant during the dry season. This study provides empirical evidence that large-scale losses of species richness and changes in arthropod community structure are associated with the cultivation of domesticated rice.

The solitary, ground-nesting crabronid wasp Cerceris fumipennis Say excels at detecting buprestid diversity in a given geographic area, and after the introduction of the invasive pest emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) to the United States in 2002, has been developed as an effective tool for the biosurveillance of pest Buprestidae in eastern North America. Here we report records of Buprestidae collected from foraging C. fumipennis in 13 North Carolina counties over the course of three seasons (2009–2011). Nests of the wasp were located, and beetle prey collected from foraging females in three geographic regions, with a concentration on the western, mountainous area of the state. In total, 909 beetles were collected, comprising 52 buprestid species that included eight native pests and 17 species of Agrilus. Our results emphasize the utility of C. fumipennis in documenting buprestid biodiversity and in detecting forest pests. Eight new state records and five new prey records for the wasp are here recorded.

Although drosophilids are widespread models in genetics and molecular biology, their diversity and distribution is relatively poorly known. Field information is important because it provides an appropriate framework to interpret genetic and evolutionary studies. We sampled drosophilids in the Brazilian savanna, one of 34 biodiversity hot spots worldwide. This extremely rich and endangered biome is highly seasonal and consists of a vegetation mosaic, ranging from open fields to riparian forests; these forests occupy only 5% of the Brazilian savanna but concentrate most of the biome's diversity. Twelve monthly collections in a riparian forest of the Brazilian savanna revealed 61 drosophilid species, comprising the genera Amiota Loew, Drosophila Fallén, Neotanygastrella Duda, Rhinoleucophenga Hendel, Scaptodrosophila Duda, Zaprionus Coquillett, and Zygothrica Wiedemann. This richness represents about a half of the recorded drosophilid species of the whole biome, and includes five new occurrences for the Brazilian savanna: the genus Amiota, Drosophila coffeata Williston, D. neorepleta Patterson and Wheeler, D. pseudosaltans Magalhães, and Rhinoleucophenga brasiliensis (Lima). This result suggests that drosophilid richness in this biome is likely to be high but remains understudied.

We showed that an oral administration of a fungicide containing iminoctadine triacetate had a delayed effect on the development of Bombyx mori (L.) larvae. Larvae that ingested a diet with a moderate dose of formulated-iminoctadine triacetate throughout the third instar stage developed to the next (fourth) instar stage; thereafter they stopped growing. Those larvae died finally after prolonged fourth instar duration without molting to the next (fifth) instar stage. Dietary intake of the larvae showing the growth inhibition was significantly lower than that of the control group. Fourth instar larvae were reared with restricted amount of diet that was comparable to that of formulated-iminoctadine-treated specimens. These dietary restricted larvae grew at a slower pace and reached a lower maximum weight than controls; however, they developed to the next (fifth) instar stage. Nevertheless, the weight of which was smaller than the control group. These results suggested that reduced food intake did not cause the failure to molt to fifth instar. In the larvae affected by formulated-iminoctadine, “housekeeping genes” (18S ribosomal RNA, actin 3, elongation factor 2, and nsd-2) were expressed normally. From these results, it is assumed that the formulated-iminoctadine-treated larvae lost the capacity of high assimilatory performance and could not build up their body mass furthermore.

Inbreeding is well known to have adverse effects on fitness-related traits in insects, but less is known about its effect on behavior, particularly outside the context of mating success. We used the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) to determine the effect of moderate inbreeding (inbreeding coefficient F = 0.25) on host discrimination, that is, the ability of ovipositing females to avoid occupied hosts and thereby reduce competition among larval offspring. Inbreeding depression was simultaneously estimated for morphological (body mass), physiological (egg hatch), and life-history (realized fecundity) traits in the same population. Compared with outbred females, inbred females exhibited an 11% reduction in mass, a 9% reduction in fecundity, and a small (4%) but significant reduction in egg hatching success. Nearly all of the decline in fecundity among inbred females could be explained by the decline in body mass. In contrast to the other three traits, host discrimination was unaffected by inbreeding. Inbred females actually distributed their eggs slightly more uniformly among seeds than did outbred females, but this difference disappeared after we corrected for inbreeding effects on fecundity. An assay of doubly inbred females (F = 0.375) confirmed that the tendency to avoid occupied hosts is immune to moderate inbreeding. The lack of inbreeding depression for host discrimination suggests that heritable variation for the trait within populations (as detected in previous studies) is largely caused by alleles with additive rather than dominant effects, and contrasts with predictions based on population crosses.

We introduce a novel method for quantifying the response of tephritid fruit flies to chemical attractants (lures) under seminatural conditions by using automated detection and quantification via computer vision and an interruptible lure apparatus. We use this method to obtain a high-resolution (0.1 Hz) dataset representing the response of colony-reared melon flies, Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett, to cuelure [1-(p-acetoxyphenyl)-butan-3-one] at three different times of the day: morning (0900–1000 hours), mid (1200–1300 hours), and afternoon (1500–1600 hours), or all three times combined. Results consistently show a high and sustained response to cuelure in the morning period, a high but quickly decreasing response during the middle of the day and a low response in the afternoon. We propose possible reasons for the difference in response between the morning and middle of the day periods that could be investigated in future studies. The approach used here also can be used to study other important questions on the biology of tephritid fruit flies and other insects of similar size, particularly those involving their response to chemical lures.