Orizabus australis Ratcliffe and Solís is described as a new species from Costa Rica. It resembles Orizabus hondurensis Ratcliffe and Cave from Honduras and is distinguished from that species. Species of Orizabus Fairmaire are known from the central United States to Honduras, but O. australis represents the first known occurrence for the genus in Costa Rica where it represents the southernmost occurrence of the genus. A revised key to the genera of Pentodontini of Costa Rica is provided, and O. australis is incorported into emended couplets of previously published keys to males and females of Orizabus species.

Buprestidae is a large family of woodboring beetles with nearly 15,000 valid species. The family is well represented in South Africa; however, the distribution and hosts of most species are unknown. The abundance of many species is generally correlated with well-wooded areas since most species' larvae inhabit dead or dying wood. Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, being predominantly grassland, has rocky ridges dominated by Acacia caffra (Thunb.) Willd., Protea caffra Meisner, and Mundulea sericea (Willd.) Chev. The majority of the larger species of buprestids were found in these areas. The smaller species, belonging to the genera Acmaeodera Eschscholtz, Anthaxia Eschscholtz, Agrilus Curtis and often very difficult to differentiate in the field, likely utilize woody forbs. The objective of this study was to compare species richness and relative abundance of buprestid in three habitats over a period of a year in Ezemvelo Nature Reserve. Results indicate that there are overlaps among species occurring in different habitats; however, certain species are host-plant specific.

The second and third instars of Laccornellus lugubris (Aubé) are described and illustrated for the first time, including detailed morphometric and chaetotaxic analyses of the cephalic capsule, head appendages, legs, last abdominal segment, and urogomphi. Laccornellus Roughley and Wolfe shares with Canthyporus Zimmermann a similar shape and secondary setation of the last abdominal segment, the absence of secondary spine-like setae on the lateral margins of the parietal, and the presence of well-developed spinular pectens on the ventral surface of the femora (this last character also is shared with Laccornis Gozis). On the other hand, larvae of Laccornellus differ from those of Canthyporus, Laccornis, and Hydmvatus Motschulsky in the presence of secondary pores on the ventral surface of the prementum and of secondary setae on the tibia, metatarsus, and anterodorsal surface of femur. The known distributional range of L. lugubris is considerably expanded.

We studied the behavioral response of the seven-spotted ladybird beetle, Coccinella septempunctata L., (Coleoptera, Coccinellinae) to various light wavelengths and intensities. Significant differences in the phototactic responses of beetles to 15 wavelengths of monochromatic light and white light were found. High phototactic response rates were observed to red light (649 nm) and ultraviolet (UV) light (340 nm), whereas low response rates were seen to green light, the species thus exhibiting a U-shaped response across the spectrum. The beetle also showed variation in response to 10 different illumination intensities. For a range of light intensities from 10 to 190 lux, beetles were generally more sensitive to ultraviolet light (340 nm) and red light (649 nm) than green light (510 nm) or white light. Differences in beetle response to various specific wavelengths were smallest in dim light (10 lux). The responses to ultraviolet and red light compared to those to green and white light were higher across all light intensity levels tested. The phototactic response to illumination intensity was correlated with light wavelengths, but there was no common trend across the three wavelengths of monochromatic light and white light. This experiment will help provide a scientific basis for the development of selected color traps used in insect pest management.

The first and second instars of the malachiid Laius asahinai Nakane are described, with observations on the growth process from immediately before hatching onward. The first two instars are inactive and non-feeding with vestigial legs, very similar to the prolarva of other cantharid species. Laius asahinai shows foetometamorphosis, making it the second representative among coleopteran families to exhibit this form of development.