Scutellera perplexa (Westwood) was observed as a serious sucking pest of Jatropha curcas L. from Delhi and adjoining areas. As details were not previously available on its bionomics, studies were done between April 2007 and August 2009 under laboratory and field conditions. It remained active throughout the year and severe damage to foliage and developing fruits was observed between July and March. Population density was highest between September and November. The life cycle takes about 63.3±3.07 days: egg period lasted for 6.67±0.87 days with 98.87±2.24 per cent hatchability and nymphal durations of I, II, III, IV and V instar were 5.33±0.82, 7.95±0.68, 6.15±0.91, 7.54±0.76 and 9.69±1.18 days, respectively. A key to the identification of different instars is given.

Two new species of Anteon Jurine are described from P.R. China, Hunan Province, Mt. Mangshan: A. mangshanense sp. nov. and A. hunanense sp. nov. The types of both species are deposited in the Hymenopteran Collection of South China Agricultural University, Guangdong, Guangzhou, P.R. China.

Fifteen new species of leafhoppers from Thailand are described in the genus Thagria. These are hamula, subta, acrodens, expanda, bicurta, nielsoni, quadrata, delta, longistyla, anisa, chelata, trispinosa, basirama, anisota and acuminata. All species are from various National Parks in Thailand. Also a checklist of the known species of Thagria from Thailand, with distribution records and two new synonyms are given.

Eight sexual mosaic offspring of Zizina emelina (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) were obtained from females infected with male-killing Wolbachia (wEmeTn2), though they were mostly dead at the stage of pharate adult. Uninfected females or females infected with another strain of Wolbachia (wEmeTn1) produced no mosaics. Therefore, the occurrence of these sexual mosaics was associated with wEmeTn2 infection. In sexual mosaics, the ventral and dorsal parts of genitalia differentiated independently into male-specific and female-specific formations, respectively, i.e., the ventral part of abdominal segment IX may have tendencies to retain male structures, while the dorsal parts of abdominal segments IX and X possess female structures. More than two pairs of ill-developed valvae were observed in several individuals in a deep pouch. The presence of additional valvae would mean that the segment IX or the ventral phallic lobe is at least partly duplicated.

Larvae of Neophylax toshioi Vineyard and Wiggins were first collected from Doe Creek, Johnson County, Tennessee, in 2005 during a qualitative benthic survey conducted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Additional collections in 2007 allowed confirmation of the species by association of adult with larval stages through a series of eight reared male and female metamorphotype pupae. Larvae were again collected from the Doe Creek site and in nearby Roan Creek in early 2007. These findings represent new distribution records for N. toshioi and the first reports of this species from Tennessee.

A field survey was conducted on the reproductive host plant species of the Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) complex throughout Egypt. Infested plants were collected during each month of the year. Bemisia tabaci completed its development on 118 species of plants in 79 genera belonging to 28 families. The family Asteraceae (= Compositae) included 23 host plant species (20% of the total) belonging to 16 genera, while the family Fabaceae (= Leguminosae) included 17 host plant species belonging to 13 genera. The study revealed six new reproductive host plants consisting of five species and one subspecies in the families Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Piperaceae, Plantaginaceae and Portulacaceae. About 70% of the host plants are new host records for Egypt. Several recent studies have mistakenly cited a previous list of B. tabaci hosts in Egypt by erroneously referring to an early world host list as being a list of hosts in Egypt. The results of this study have implications on whitefly ecology and management.

Sigara mathesoni, collected from Big Spring Creek in south-central Pennsylvania, were observed under laboratory and field conditions in 2007 in order to test Dyar's law in predicting developmental stage from head width. In the laboratory, eggs were collected with subsequent hatching. Head width was obtained at each developmental stage. It was found that Dyar's law accurately modeled growth of S. mathesoni and instar number is easily determined by head width measurement. In the final two stages of growth, head width and body length were sexually dimorphic. Female head width was larger than male head width.

Studies in recent decades have revealed that the group Arctoperlaria (Plecoptera) has developed the most diverse and complex system of vibrational communication known in insects (Stewart, 2001). Within this group, the family Taeniopterygidae includes almost 150 species distributed in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions (Fochetti and Tierno de Figueroa, 2008), but only the vibrational calls of seven species belonging to two genera, Taeniopteryx Pictet, 1842 and Oemopteryx Klapálek, 1902 (e.g. Rupprecht, 1982; Stewart and Zeigler, 1984; Stewart et al., 1991), have been recorded (Stewart and Sandberg, 2006). These latter authors pointed out that all of the seven species present a percussion (drumming) male call, ancestral to slightly derived (change of beat number and/ or intervals). Nevertheless, the several species of Taenionema Banks, 1905 and Doddsia Needham & Claassen, 1925 that have been tested suggest the possibility that some Taeniopterygidae do not drum (Stewart and Sandberg, 2006).

The genus Rhabdiopteryx Klapálek, 1902 has a West Palearctic distribution and includes eleven species (Krno, 2004; Vinçon and Murányi, 2009). One of them, R. thienemanni lilies, 1957 is distributed in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France, and the male drumming call is described for the first time in the present work.

In this study, 110 adult Alydidae (Coreoidea) specimens belonging to 4 genera and 7 species were collected from 25 different localities in Anatolia in 2008–2009. These new records increased the number of Turkish Alydidae genera from 2 to 4 and species from 5 to 7. A key to the Alydidae genera of Turkey is provided. Megalotomus ornaticeps (Stål, 1858) and Namausus sordidatus (Stål, 1858) are recorded for the first time from Turkey, redescribed and their genitalia are illustrated.

In the Middle-Atlantic region, the distribution, abundance, and habitat associations of fireflies in the genus Photuris are poorly understood. Six species in Photuris are recorded from Delaware. Ten years (1998–2008) of periodic survey work has yielded three new state records and contributed valuable information regarding species abundance and habitat affiliations in this region. Results from that survey are summarized and compared to previously published Delaware records. This is the first concerted effort to report the conservation status and the associated habitat and natural community types of Photuris fireflies from the Middle-Atlantic region.