Nearly 6000 species of thrips have been described and only 12 species are reported to be vectors of tospoviruses (Bunyaviridae) globally In this regard, Thrips palmi and Scirtothrips dorsalis are two important vectors of Watermelon Bud Necrosis Virus (WBNV) and Peanut Yellow Spot Virus (PYSV) to watermelon and groundnut respectively in India. Accurate and timely identification of thrips vectors in the early developmental stages is important for understanding the epidemiology of tospoviruses, their management and also in quarantine. Morphological identification of thrips often has been a stumbling block in the absence of trained personnel. Using the tools of molecular biology, morphological identification is further strengthened by developing species-specific markers, which can differentiate the above two species of thrips based on the PCR amplicon size. Molecular studies can elucidate the occurrence of biotypes or cryptic species, if any. In this study, we examined genetic differences in COI among 21 populations of T. palmi collected from Karnataka, India, along with the sequences from other countries which were acquired from GenBank. The phylogenetic analysis showed that there are two major groups: one is clearly associated with Indian population of T. palmi and the second is associated with the remaining countries (Japan, Thailand, Dominican Republic, China, and U.K.). Our studies clearly refute the general belief that T. palmi is a single cosmopolitan and polyphagous species. On the contrary, by the standards of genetic and ecological differentiation in other species groups, the recognition of geographically associated and distinct T. palmi subspecies may be considered, similar to what has been observed in T. tabaci. Such similar results have been observed for S. dorsalis, where Indian and Chinese population of S. dorsalis form separate groups.

A new species is added to the genus Paracatua (Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae) from Colombia, P. decastroi n. sp. We propose additional characters to the description of P. rubrolimbata that complements the definition of the genus and allows outlining a species group named here as rubrolimbata, keeping in mind the similarities of the new species with the type species. This is an attempt to bring a clearer and comprehensive view of the genus considering the attributes shared among the Colombian species. As a result of the analysis we propose here a species group characterized by the following new characters shared by P. decastroi n. sp. and P. rubrolimbata: nearly rectangular foveae laterad of the ocelli; surface of pronotum flanges concave; scutellum bulging dorsally; forewings with rounded whitish spots; female sternum VII wider than long with a median halfmoon shaped depression that bears an apical and bulging cuticle sclerotization.

Two new Lagynochthonius species, L. leptopalpus sp. nov and L. niger sp. nov. from Hainan Island are described, and the morphological and diagnostic characters of the two new species are illustrated. The distribution map of the new species and the key to Chinese Lagynochthonius species are present.

The insect fauna of the native milkweed plant Calotropis procera (Ait.) Ait. in the Ibex Reserve, in the Central Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was studied. Insects were sampled bimonthly from May 2007 to late April 2008, and then irregularly until June 2011. Ninety-nine insect species belonging to eight orders, 43 families and 80 genera were found to have some type of association with the plant during the period of sampling. The carpenter moth, Semitocossus Johannes (Staudinger), scale insect Contigaspis zilla (Hall) and milkweed aphid Aphis nerii (Boyer de Fonscolombe) were pests attacking the plant. Nine taxa collected represent new country records for Saudi Arabia: Clambus sp. (Coleoptera, Clambidae); Angiometopa sp. (Diptera, Sarcophagidae); Steleoneura sp. (Diptera: Tachinidae); Goniurellia longicauda Freidberg (Diptera, Tephritidae); P silochalcis sp. (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae); Odynerus blanchardianus Saussure (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae); Nomioides kenyensis Pesenko & Pauly (Hymenoptera, Halictidae); Cremastus aegyptiacus Szepligeti (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) and Cerceris chlorotica Spinola (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae).

The biological control of pests is an alternative to chemical control in plant crops used in folk medicine. The bark and the roots of tropical almond Terminalia catappa L. (Combretaceae) are indicated for dysentery, bile and gastric fevers and intestinal parasites; the leaves are used to treat colic and hemorrhoids; the unripe fruit is an astringent, the ripe fruit is a laxative, and its oil is used as an emulsifier for soothing the chest. Palmistichus spp. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), gregarious endoparasitoids, were little known until the publication of the first revision of this group in 1993. Fifty-four individuals of Palmistichus elaeisis Delvare and LaSalle, 1993 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) were collected after emerging from a pupa of Thagona tibialis Walker, 1855 (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) when their caterpillars defoliated a tree of T. catappa at the campus of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Viçosa, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The parasitoid individuals were identified by the Department of Biology of the Lund University in Sölvegatan, Lund, Sweden. The present study includes a new host, pupae of T. tibialis associated to T. catappa, for P. elaeisis in Brazil.

Genetically modified plants protect the crop of maize (Zea mays) from fall armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda) (J. E. Smith), which are responsible for great losses in maize crops. This plague might spread to other areas and feed on alternative hosts. Among these hosts, attack of such caterpillars on commercial crops of onions (Allium cepa) has been noted in Alto do Paranaíba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. This paper reports, for the first time, the damage, the percentage of attack, and a possible migration of S. frugiperda from genetically modified maize to onion crops. The caterpillars penetrate the tube sheet and cut the onion leaf tissue in the apical-basal direction, causing the weakening of the sheet, which ends up breaking with the wind. It was found that the attack of the caterpillars in onion crops began in the region close to the genetically modified maize crops. That probably happened due to the repellency of the adult S. frugiperda from such genetically modified crops.

A species of the genus Neoperla from Henan of Central China, N. baotianmana, is described as new to science. It belongs to the clymene group and its relationships with similar species are discussed.

In this paper, Sialis luohanbaensis (Megaloptera, Sialidae), a new species of alderfly from Yunnan Province, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is distinguished by the long and broad male ninth sternum, the male eleventh gonocoxite with a pair of elongate hook-like ventral processes, and the subquadrate female eighth gonocoxite.

The detailed morphology of the malleoli in two male solfugids, Biton zederbaueri (Werner, 1905) and Gluviopsilla discolor (Kraepelin, 1899), (Daesiidae, Solifugae) are described and illustrated. This study was performed using stereo and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Soli-fuges have five pairs of malleoli on the ventral surface of the fourth pair of legs of both sexes, as distinct from other arachnids. Malleolar sensory systems function as mechanoreceptors and chemoreceptors. A malleolus consists of two parts: a basal stalk and a triangular fan. There are epicuticular protrusions on the anterior face of each fan, and there are granular/vesicular structures on each stalk. Also, there are waved surfaces on the distal of the fan. This is the first study on the morphology of malleoli in solifuges in Turkey.

The nomenclatural problems with the hackberry gall psyllid species names are rectified. The genus Pachypsylla Riley, 1883, type species, Psylla venusta Osten-Sacken, includes 14 nominal species: Pachypsylla venusta (Osten-Sacken, 1861); P. celtidismamma Riley, 1875; P. celtidisgemma Riley, 1885; P. celtidisasterisca Riley, 1890; P. celtidiscucurbita Riley, 1890; P. celtidisglobula Riley, 1890; P. celtidispubescens Riley, 1890; P. celtidisumbilicus Riley, 1890; P. celtidisvesiculus Riley, 1890; P. celtidisinteneris Mally, 1894; P. dubia Patch, 1912; P. pallida Patch, 1912; P. tropicala Caldwell, 1944; and P. cohabitons Yang & Riemann, 2001.