Relatively few studies have examined predation of Empoasca fabae (Harris) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), an important insect pest of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. [Fabaceae]). In this laboratory study, we quantified rates at which E. fabae adults and nymphs were attacked by three predatory species: Coleomegilla maculata (Degeer) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Chrysoperla carnea Stephens (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), and Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae). Individual predators and E. fabae were held in a feeding arena for 24 hours (individual fava bean plants [Vicia faba L. (Fabaceae)] enclosed within dialysis tubing). Adult C. maculata attacked 4.2 nymphs and 1.6 adults at the high-prey density (15 E. fabae nymphs or 10 adults per cage) and 2.0 nymphs and 0.6 adults at the low-prey density (5 E. fabae nymphs or 3 adults per cage). Orius insidiosus attacked twice as many E. fabae nymphs than adults at the high density (2.9 versus 1.2). In contrast, similar numbers of nymphal and adult E. fabae were attacked by C. carnea larvae (4.6 versus 3.5, 1.2 versus 0.8; at high - and low-prey densities, respectively). Of the three predatory species, C. carnea larvae attacked the most E. fabae nymphs and adults. These predatory species may play a role in maintaining low population densities of E. fabae in alfalfa.

The initial results of the first formal survey of the bee fauna of Pennsylvania are reported. Specimens were examined from some 20 private, research and institutional collections in and around the state, as well as from pan-trapping and sweep-netting results from three years (2005–2007) of surveying by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) Apiary Inspection Service. Of the 371 species reported here, 150 are new state records, including 27 of the 98 species found in the PDA surveys. Non-native species are indicated along with the earliest year of collection in the state and, for all species, the range of collection dates and the most recent year of collection are reported.

In Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica there are 13 species of Centris (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of which six are referred to as lodger or cavity-nesting bees. Here we describe nests of these six lodger bees, five of which have been found to nest in holes bored into wooden stick “trap nests”. Although the nests of three of these five have been described from Brazil (C. bicornuta, C. analis and C. vittata), the nests of these same species from Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica have some differences that may be due to resource availability. We also describe nests of two additional species of lodger bees (C. nitida and C. trigonoides) from trap nests in Guanacaste. In addition, one nest is described of the remaining lodger bee in Guanacaste (C. lutea) that was fortuitously discovered. We also provide information to help identify nests of each species of lodger Centris from Guanacaste after nests are complete and sometimes after the mature bees have emerged and dispersed.

During the dry season, males of several species of stingless bees (Meliponini) in Thailand aggregate at or near nest entrances. Mating with virgin queens occurs there, and with the male on her metasoma, such a queen commonly walks into the nest and on the nest floor. The males frequently carry pollen or propolis on the hind tibiae, which are hairy but lack corbiculae. Hind tibiae of males of such species are similar in size and shape to those of workers, a condition that might be termed isopodal, while those of males of other species are quite different from those of workers, a condition possibly termed anisopodal.

A 5 yr field study evaluated 49 sunflower, Helianthus annuus L., accessions, and 5 interspecific crosses for resistance to infestation by naturally occurring populations of the red sunflower seed weevil, Smicronyx fulvus LeConte (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Germplasm with potential sources of resistance to attack was identified. The accession PI 162453 averaged only 8% damaged seed per head in 3 yr of testing and PI 431545 averaged 8% damaged seed per head in 4 yr of trials. The accessions PI 431542 and PI 650375, which were tested for five years, averaged 5% and 10% damaged seed per head, respectively over the study. PI 431542 averaged less than 6% in all but one year of testing. Additional accessions that appeared promising in two consecutive years of trials included PI 195573, PI 219649, PI 250085, and PI 432516. Hybrid 894 consistently had high seed damage from S. fulvus feeding. Results revealed potential for developing resistant genotypes for decreasing seed feeding injury by the red sunflower seed weevil. Research is in progress to introgress resistance genes from the identified lines into cultivated sunflower through conventional breeding facilitated by the use of marker-assisted selection.

A new species of leaf-cutter bee, Megachile (Eutricharaea) arachosiana, new species, is described and illustrated based on males and females from west-central and northern Pakistan. The opportunity is taken to provide new taxonomic notes on the subgenus Eutricharaea Thomson. The subgenus Platysta Pasteels, comprising the large African species M. platystoma Pasteels and M. khamana Cockerell, is synonymized with Eutricharaea (new synonymy). It is noted that M. microxanthops Cockerell, considered widely a synonym of M. concinna Smith, is allied to M. apostolica Cockerell and is removed from synonymy accordingly. A new taxonomic summary is provided for M. concinna with M. microxantha Cockerell, M. atratula Rebmann, and M. privigna Rebmann considered new junior subjective synonyms (new synonymies).

Velvet ants are larval ectoparasitoids on a variety of insect taxa, and like many insects show sexual dimorphism in color patterns and size. For many mutillids, host size appears to be an important criterion in sex allocation. The criteria that female mutillids use when determining the sex of an egg are unclear and it is unknown how this size dependent sex allocation system is manifested. We conducted an experiment to test if size-based sex allocation in Sphaeropthalma pensylvanica is a product of host species specificity, differential mortality, or if it is facultatively size dependent. We show that male S. pensylvanica commonly develop in large host species, females in small host species, and both in intermediately sized host species, supporting facultative size-dependent sex allocation. We also report new observations on the natural history of five hosts of S. pensylvanica.