A species delimitation study of Korean CafiusStephens, 1829 using molecular characters (COI and 28S) is presented. Six coastal species are recognized, one of which is described as Cafius calculosus Lee & Ahn sp. nov. in the intertidal zone of the southern part of the Korean peninsula based on morphological and molecular characters. The new species is closely related and very similar to C. mimulus (Sharp, 1874). Interspecific genetic divergence of COI using uncorrected p-distance ranged from 10.77% to 18.78%, while intraspecific divergence ranged from 0.00% to 2.51% among six Korean Cafius species. All six species were each strongly supported as a single lineage using COI and 28S on both neighbor-joining and parsimony trees. A description, habitus photograph and diagnostic characters of the new species and a key to the species of Korean Cafius are provided to facilitate identification.

Water hyacinth, Pontederia crassipes (C. Mart.) Solms (Pontederiaceae), is a serious aquatic weed in lakes, ponds, and waterways in California and around the world. Three insects, the weevils Neochetina eichhorniae Warner, 1970, Neochetina bruchi Hustache, 1926 (Coleoptera: Brachyceridae), and a leaf moth Niphograpta albiguttalis (Warren, 1889) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) were released at four sites in 1982–1987 for the biological control of water hyacinth in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Here we report on statewide efforts to distribute the biological control agents outside the Delta and subsequent surveys to determine insect establishment. From 1987–2006, the three insects were redistributed to seven locations in five counties (Fresno, Los Angeles, Merced, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz) in California. Surveys in 2018–2020 found both Neochetina weevils at two locations in Merced County and one location in Sacramento County. No weevils were found at release locations in the upper San Joaquin River and associated waterways in western Fresno County or at the release location in Santa Cruz County. Plants at the release locations in Los Angeles County and eastern Fresno County had been eradicated and not sampled in this survey. These recoveries expand the known locations of Neochetina weevils in central California. The hyacinth moth, N. albiguttalis, was not recovered.

Smoke from burning plants is a traditional spatial repellent against insects worldwide. Smoke is also commonly used in religious rituals. In Chinese folk religion and Taoism as practiced in Taiwan, Asiatic wormwood leaves, agarwood incense sticks, and joss paper (“ghost money”) are often burned or carried to pray for health or at festivals that overlap with peak mosquito seasons. The possibility exists that some of these rituals became popular due to repellent effects of the smoke reducing the impact of insect-vectored pathogens. The effects of these smokes on the Dengue-vectoring mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) (Diptera: Culicidae) was measured following the World Health Organization guidelines for spatial repellency testing. The chemical constituents of the smoke were identified using a solid-phase microextraction fiber for extraction followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Smoke from wormwood weakly repelled mosquitoes and had some knock-down effects. Smoke from incense showed consistent but weak repellency effects, with no knock-down. Smoke from joss paper had no effect overall, with some mosquitoes seemingly attracted to the flames. While air pollution remains a concern regarding smoky incense, the possibility that mosquito-repelling volatiles can be isolated from the incense and utilized without smoke justifies deeper investigation into the source of these repellent effects.