Small corn fields are intertwined within hazelnut orchards as main crops in Düzce province, located in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. In recent years, the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Drury) reached outbreak levels in hazelnut orchards and chemical agents represented the primary means used to control the population of H. cunea in those orchards. Frequent pesticide spraying against H. cunea may have an adverse effect on beneficial insects and may also disrupt biological control of the European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) by Trichogramma species. Trichogramma specimens collected from corn fields of Düzce provinces in the West Black Sea region in Turkey were identified as T. brassicae Bezdenko based on morphological and molecular characteristics. As a result of this study, natural occurrence of the parasitoid, T. brassicae is still important in successfully suppressing the ECB population in Düzce province of Turkey. It seems that this wasp species adapts well to corn fields. Two years following the initial incidence of parasitism, T. brassicae parasitized more than 90% of the eggs of ECB. A second generation borer attack had not caused stalk or tassel breakage and/or boring into the ear shanks in 2014 and 2015. In both years, larvae were extremely sparse. It would appear that T. brassicae was responsible for the total collapse of the host population. Parasitization of host eggs by T. brassicae in 2014 and 2015 were correlated with the time of collection (r=0.71 and 0.26, respectively). Reasons for the high incidence of parasitism by T. brassicae possibly may have been overwintering survival and alternate hosts of T. brassicae being available prior to August.

A method for recognizing the final stadium and the four preceding stadia of dragonfly nymphs (Odonata: Anisoptera) was derived by dividing hind wing sheath length (WSL) by maximum head width (HW). Based on measurements for 15 species representing all seven North American families, five stadia can be delineated, counting backwards from the final (F-0) to the four preceding stadia (F-1, F-2, F-3, and F-4). The ratio WSL/HW over all species ranged as follows: F-0, 0.89–1.39 (mean 1.16); F-1, 0.57–0.88 (mean 0.70); F-2, 0.36–0.61 (mean 0.46); F-3, 0.24–0.44 (mean 0.32); and F-4, 0.15–0.32 (mean 0.23). As a crude guide, a ratio near 1 or greater indicates F-0, about two-thirds indicates F-1, about one-half indicates F-2, about one-third indicates F-3, and about one-fourth indicates F-4. Plathemis lydia (Libellulidae) had the highest WSL/HW ratio in F-0 (1.32–1.39).

The Pantanal is the largest floodplain in the word with more than 140,000 km², and the annual cycles of flood and drought are the most important factors that determine ecological interactions and patterns of diversity. Usually, capões are elongated or rounded arboreal patches of herbaceous vegetation found in flooded fields. This study aimed to determine the effect of size, distance, and heterogeneity of capões on selected components of insect communities in Brazilian Pantanal, testing the hypotheses that (I) larger capões show greater ecological metrics, (II) the closer one is more similar in insect composition, and (III) heterogeneity affects the composition of the insect community. We used Malaise traps to capture insects. There was a positive relationship between richness and abundance and capão size and this influenced insect community composition. The distance between capões also affected insect community composition. The variation in heterogeneity of capões influenced community composition at the family level, and these characteristics are important in determining the components of community.

Arachnids are important predators in arthropod assemblages that occur from early successional old fields to mature forests. As generalist predators, they may occupy varying trophic niches in different environments that have different prey available. Given that trophic niche can be quantified by the enrichment of ¹⁵N in an organism, we tested the null hypothesis that the trophic niche is invariant between old fields and forests in three groups of arachnids: cursorial and web weaving spiders (Araneae), and harvestmen (Opiliones), by comparing the stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) in specimens of each group collected from field and forest. Cursorial spiders fed at the highest trophic level in both habitats, and likely consumed other predators as well as herbivores in the field. Web weavers showed slightly higher δ¹⁵N in the field than in the forest. Harvestmen and cursorial spiders had significantly lower δ¹⁵N in the forest, indicating a trophic shift downward during later succession when they may increase the proportion of detritivore prey in their diets.