The present study was conducted in a cement production area in Al-Ahsa Province, in eastern Saudi Arabia. The study aimed to investigate the intensity of heavy metal contents at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21 km from the cement factory by determining, quantifying and measuring certain heavy metal contents in honey, bee collected-pollen and forager bee samples from the hybrid Carniolan honey bee, Apis mellifera carnica Pollmann colonies. Values of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) in honey, bee pollen and forager bees were variable and significantly dependent on the distance from the cement factory. The largest values of tested heavy metals were obtained from samples collected from the 1^st location (3 km), except for Cu in honey, and Cu and Ni in forager bees collected from the 2^nd location (6 km). In addition, these values were variable and significantly dependent on the type of product. The largest values of Mn, Zn and Cu were obtained from forager bees, while the maximum values of Fe and Ni were found in bee-pollen. On the other hand, harmful elements including lead (Pb), cobalt (Co) and chromium (Cr) were not detected in any of the samples. From results obtained in this study, it can be concluded that heavy metal pollution was most intense in zones closest to the cement-industry area. Finally, honey bees and their products can be used as an indicator of environmental pollution.

Electropenetrography (EPG) was used to study the feeding preference of Brevicoryne brassicae Linnaeus (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on Brassica napus L. We assessed the probing behaviors of B. brassicae on three B. napus cultivars (Qinyou10, Zhongheza88, and Qinyou79) at three developmental stages (two leaf, four leaf, and six leaf stages). The four leaf treatment had a shorter duration of pathway phase and a longer time to first intracellular stylet punctures on Qinyou10 compared to other cultivars, and the longest total ingestion duration on Qinyou10 and the shortest on Qinyou79, indicating a preference for Qinyou10 over Qinyou79. This cultivar preference is also reflected in the field with higher aphid densities on Qinyou10 in the previous investigation. In the two leaf treatment, we found a longer total probing duration and a shorter non-probing duration on Zhongheza488 compared to Qinyou10. In the six leaf treatment, we found a longer duration in time to the first probe, more probes, and longer duration of non-probing on Qinyou10 compared to other cultivars. However, phloem associated behaviors were not significantly influenced by cultivar in the latter two treatments. We conclude that future research should focus on phloem associated behaviors on the four leaf stage of B. napus in order to evaluate cultivars resistant to B. brassicae.

abstract in chinese:利用昆虫刺探电位图谱技术 (EPG) 评估甘蓝蚜在油菜植株上的取食偏好性。我们选取三个油菜品种 (秦优10, 中核杂488以及秦优79) 分别在二叶期、四叶期和六叶期对甘蓝蚜的取食行为进行研究。结果显示:四叶期, 相比于其它品种, 蚜虫在秦优10上展示了更短的路径期以及需要更长的时间才出现第一次细胞内口针穿刺, 特别是在三个品种中, 蚜虫在秦优10上的取食期最长, 在秦优79上的取食期最短, 说明相比于秦优79, 甘蓝蚜更喜欢在秦优10上取食。蚜虫在秦优10上显示的偏好性也正好匹配我们以前的田间调查的结果, 即秦优10上的蚜虫密度更高。在二叶期, 我们发现在中核杂488上蚜虫比在秦优10上探测的时间更长, 非探测的时间更短。在六叶期, 相比于其它品种, 蚜虫在秦优10上需要更长的时间才开始刺探并且产生大量的非刺探间隔, 和较长的非刺探时间。然而, 在二叶期和六叶期, 与韧皮部相关的行为在三个品种间没有显示出统计上的差异。所以, 我们认为将来的研究应该聚焦于蚜虫在四叶期油菜上的韧皮部相关行为来评估品种对蚜虫的抗性。

The genus Eufriesea is usually represented by few species, and in most cases, by low number of individuals in samples collected from the Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil. The present study extends the geographic distribution of Eufriesea dentilabris (Mocsáry, 1897) and E. mussitans Fabricius, 1787, which are recorded for the first time in the southern state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Males of E. dentilabris were collected with pollinia of Catasetum flowers (Orchidaceae). We discuss the use of a new aromatic bait with a mint base which is inexpensive and was attractive to four Euglossini species: Eufriesea dentilabris, Eufriesea violacea (Blanchard, 1840), Eulaema cingulata (Fabricius, 1804) and Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841.

The family Carabidae is an important group of mostly terrestrial predators in the order of Coleoptera. Their diversity and assemblage structure were analyzed using samples obtained from six localities in northern Tunisia using pitfall traps. Species richness and abundance of carabids in different habitat types (forests, parks and cultivated fields), and their relationship with the environment were discussed. A total of 840 carabid beetles belonging to 39 species were collected. An analysis of site similarity based on species richness showed spatial variation. The Shannon-Wiener diversity and evenness indexes were calculated. The most abundant taxa were Chlaenius chrysocephalus (Rossi, 1790), Carterus rotundicollis (Rambur, 1842) and Amara aenea (De Geer, 1774). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination highlighted the faunistic affinities among sites revealing three main groups. Temperature, rainfall, soil organic matter content, altitude and abundance of vegetation seem to be the major drivers structuring beetle assemblages and influencing species abundance and richness. These results suggest that habitat heterogeneity was the predictor of beetle assemblages, while species richness could be expected at a landscape scale using abiotic features.

In this study, the fauna of diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera from the Darboğaz, Bolkar Mountains in Ulukışla, Niğde province in the south of the Anatolian region of Turkey has been investigated. Field studies were carried out during the years 2008 and 2009. Specimens of butterflies and moths were collected from nine localities for this study. These specimens belong to 63 diurnal and 105 nocturnal species distributed in 15 families. The distribution of species, according to families, is as follows: Hesperidae, 7; Nymphalidae, 18; Papilionidae, 1; Pieridae, 7; Lycaenidae, 30; Crambidae, 17; Pyralidae, 10; Drepanoidae, 2; Lasiocampidae, 3; Sphingidae, 1; Geometridae, 28; Erebidae, 10; Noctuidae, 30; Nolidae, 2 and Notodontidae, 2. The evaluation of literature revealed that forty of 63 butterflies and all of the moths species determined in this study are newly recorded for the Lepidoptera fauna of the Darboğaz, Bolkar Mountains.

Cockroaches are a common and important pest that inhabits various public places such as warehouses, restaurants, etc. Essential oil from Piper nigrum was evaluated for its repellent activity against nymphs (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th instars) and adult German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), under laboratory practical conditions. Laboratory trials were conducted using preference tests with the absence of food and the presence of food, and choice tests (control and treatment) in restaurants. The essential oil repelled both nymph and adult stages. The maximum repellencies recorded were 73.33±4.28% and 63.33±3.65% at 1 h for adults before and after food and 53.33±2.89% and 45.00±3.70% at 1 h for nymphs before and after food, respectively, in the laboratory. Whereas repellency percentages from P. nigrum were 65.19±6.90% and 55.00±8.56% at 6 h and 12 h, respectively, in kitchen experiments. Results from this study indicated that essential oil from P. nigrum could be effective to manage nymph and adult stages of German cockroaches.

The expansion of agriculture in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil has been associated to an increase in the number of insect pests and the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals. We performed a field survey of two major okra pests, Aphis gossypii and Bemisia tabaci, taking into consideration their within-plant vertical distribution. We also investigated the presence of parasitized insects and the short-time effect of the application of deltamethrin. Throughout the experiment, 59,787 phytophagous insects were collected, which were categorized in four groups: healthy nymphs/adults of Aphis gossypii (N = 31,767), A. gossypii parasitized by Hymenoptera (N = 4189), Bemisia tabaci eggs (N = 2507) and B. tabaci nymphs (N = 21,324). The abundance of A. gossypii was higher than that of B. tabaci at both, the control and the insecticide-treated area. The frequency of parasitism of A. gossypii by Hymenoptera was higher in the areas that did not receive deltamethrin. Higher numbers of A. gossypii occurred in the middle part of the plants and B. tabaci populations were lower in apical leaves.