Serial exposure of a susceptible laboratory strain of Phthorimaea operculella (Zell.) recently obtained from the field to granulosis virus over six generations produced a 140-fold increase in LD50. The evidence suggests that this was due to a change in frequency of a resistance gene within the population. An attempt to select for even greater resistance in an already highly resistant laboratory strain resulted in only a small increase, due mainly to reduced variability in response of the population. The implications of resistance to viral insecticides developing under field conditions are discussed.

An electrophoretic method for the study of enzyme variation, which uses cellulose acetate sheets with an agar overlay for staining, the use of a very good general purpose buffer (citric-aminopropyldiethanol amine) and the use of sodium azide as a bacteriocide to allow long term storage of chemicals as solutions are described. Tests are reported of the technique on Tetranychus urticae Koch, Aedes aegypti (L.) and several species of Drosophila. The results demonstrate that the technique offers sensitivity equal to or greater than starch or polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and that it is applicable to very small organisms, allowing either the testing of single individuals for large numbers of enzymes or the testing of fewer enzymes under different electrophoretic conditions (i.e. to detect cryptic variation under a single condition). The technique is efficient of time and materials, and safer than conventional methods.

An interspersed refuge of susceptible plants in a resistant, spring-sown wheat crop was tested as a strategy to protect crop resistance against evolution of virulence by the wheat midge Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin), and also to conserve a biocontrol agent Macroglenes penetrans(Kirby). Eight replicated field experiments were conducted using seed mixtures of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 100% or 0, 5 and 100% susceptible wheat with an agronomically similar wheat expressing the antibiotic resistance gene Sm1. The frequencies of eggs, mature larvae and parasitized larvae in susceptible and resistant wheat spikes, and midge-affected seeds in the harvest, were recorded for each plot. In susceptible wheat, insect densities and seed damage were typical of those in commercial wheat. In resistant wheat, few larvae completed development, 2% or less compared with about 80% in susceptible wheat, when larvae were sampled at maturity. This resistant wheat also deterred midge oviposition, reducing egg densities by 65% compared with susceptible wheat. The wheat midge and its parasitoid oviposited throughout the plots, and parasitism was density independent. The densities of mature midge larvae and parasitoids were in proportion to the size of the refuge. A 5% susceptible refuge produced about 41 mature larvae for each mature larva from the resistant wheat, and provided effective control of damage. An interspersed refuge of susceptible plants in resistant wheat is a promising strategy for sustaining resistance conferred by Sm1 and biocontrol of the wheat midge.

Glossina morsitans and G. swynnertoni were allowed to emerge for three days from pupae placed in each other's habitats and in that of G. pallidipes.

The morsitans in the habitat of swynnertoni were in poorer condition, and survived less well, than in the previous year. This may have been because the release was done a little later in the season, or because the freshly emerged flies were not up to the nutritional standards of a year or two before.

They were, however, nearly as heavy, in later life, as wild morsitans in their own home, and this is contrary to previous experience.

In relation to initial weight, swynnertoni, whether in their own home or as aliens in the habitats of other species, were heavier than morsitans, and in fat and water the alien swynnertoni were heavier than the native ones. However, the difference between the two species may possibly be caused by the fact that swynnertoni, after taking its first meal, cannot apparently fall much below its initial weight at emergence, as morsitans and particularly pallidipes are able to do, so that very hungry morsitans may be represented by swynnertoni which have been cut off by death, and are not available to the catchers.

The males of morsitans and swynnertoni are relatively inactive in early life, which has an important bearing on estimates of population and mean life made from marked flies. The females on the contrary are relatively inactive in later life.

Generally the relation between wing-fray and age found in the previous year is confirmed, except one aberrant result when swynnertoni was released in the habitat of morsitans. Scanty data suggest that the rate of wing-fray during the rainy season is not very different. As before, the females, especially in later life, fray their wings more slowly than the males.

Teneral (unfed) flies below the average size are comparatively non-viable, and about 10 per cent, are too small to survive to obtain their first meal. There is no suggestion that the same applies to non-tenerals.

The external morphology of early larvae is described; the first instar is provided with an egg-tooth in the mouth, which makes it incapable of feeding. Both the first and the second instars are spiny.

Although copulation between morsitans and swynnertoni is random, insemination from interspecific matings often fails, and the sterile egg is aborted. In such cases the left ovary ovulates before the normal time.

The flies and pupae live at about the temperature of the standard climate as recorded in a Stevenson screen ; possibly the flies are a little cooler and the pupae a little hotter.

The biology of Aedes geniculatus (O1.) was studied in 1967–73 in Monks Wood National Nature Reserve, an oak-ash woodland, in southern England. Adult emergence from tree-holes occurred from May to September, and the sex ratio was approximately 1:1. Catches on man indicated that the maximum biting densities occurred in July and August and that females spend about two minutes obtaining a blood-meal. Significant positive correlations were found between their unfed weight and the weight of the blood-meal and also between female wing length and fecundity. The mean number of eggs per batch was 70. Studies with bamboo pots used as artificial oviposition sites in the field showed that the seasonal peak in oviposition spanned July and August, daily ovipositional activity was greatest in mid-afternoon and evening and ovipositing females preferred oviposition sites positioned within 4 m of the ground. A small proportion of eggs hatched during the summer in which they were laid, but most hatched in the following spring. Continuous or intermittent soaking failed to induce hatching until this time. In 'the laboratory, partially em'bryonated eggs required a minimum relative humidity of 88% to develop fully, but some embryonated eggs survived at 58%. Some eggs survived for 18–24 months in the field. The sampling of preadult stages dn tree-holes showed that larvae in the first two instars occurred almost throughout the year while third- and fourth-instar larvae were present in spring and summer. Pupae occurred only in the summer. It was concluded that A. geniculatus is univoltine in Monks Wood.

The responses of male and female Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Neiva) to different wavelengths of light was tested by presenting the sandflies with two light sources simultaneously, a series of test wavelengths between 350–670 nm and a 400 nm control. To test whether L. longipalpis could discriminate between the test and control, three sets of experiments were carried out in which the test wavelengths were presented at higher, equivalent or lower intensity than the control. In all three experiments, ultra-violet (350 nm) and blue-green-yellow (490–546 nm) light was more attractive to L. longipalpis than the control wavelength. However, at low intensity, UV was less attractive, than equivalent or higher intensity UV light. At intensities equivalent to or higher than the control wavelength, ultra-violet light was more attractive than blue-green. Furthermore, at low intensity, green-yellow (546 nm) light was more attractive to males whereas blue-green (490 nm) was more attractive to females. Blue-violet (400 nm) and orange-red (600–670 nm) light were least attractive in all three sets of experiments. Response function experiments indicated that the responses were dependent on both intensity and wavelength and that therefore more than one photoreceptor must be involved in the response. The results indicated that L. longipalpis can discriminate between different wavelengths at different intensities and thus have true colour vision. It also suggests that L. longipalpis may be able to navigate at dusk or under moonlight or starlight conditions using light in the blue-green-yellow part of the spectrum. The difference in response of males and females to light in this region is interesting and may indicate the different ecology of the sexes at night. Overall, these results may have important implications for sandfly trap design.

Extracts of different sesame plant (Sesamum indicum) Linnaeus organs inhibited the in vitro growth of the fungus Leucocoprinus gongylophorus (Möller) (=Rozites gongylophora Möller), which is cultivated by the leaf-cutting ants of the species Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The presence of the factor responsible for this inhibition was detected in methanol or chloroform extracts and is constant in the plant.

In Zimbabwe, the catches of Glossina pallidipes Austen and G. morsitans morsitans Westwood in traps were roughly doubled by the presence of two bushpig bedding sacks or jars containing 200 ml of urine from ox or buffalo. The main effect of these residues was to increase the trap-entering responses of tsetse once they reached the trap; in addition, the urine brought G. pallidipes to the traps. The efficacy of the residues persisted for at least two months after initial exposure, although urine on soil was ineffective after two days. Efficacies were not affected by the presence of 1-octen-3-ol, acetone or butanone as additional attractants but were lower in the presence of carbon dioxide and lower with electrified visual targets than with traps. A ten times increase in dose caused no clear increase in catches, ten jars of urine being repellent, but catches increased when the urine and sacks were used together.

The present paper is the result of studies begun privately by the writer shortly after his return from South America in February 1930. The subsequent continuation and conclusion of the task was made possible through the authorities of the Imperial Institute of Entomology, to whom, especially the Director, Sir Guy A. K. Marshall, C.M.G., F.R.S., the writer is gratefully indebted for his appointment, in a temporary capacity, at the Farnham House Laboratory, as from 1st August. It was considered that a final revision of the American forms of the groups here considered would be a useful contribution to the West Indian investigations on sugar-cane insects being conducted on behalf of the Institute by Dr. J. G. Myers. At the laboratory the writer found conditions ideal for the prosecution of such work, and he desires to acknowledge his appreciation of the continuous help and encouragement received from the Superintendent, Dr. W. R. Thompson, and his colleagues there, among whom Dr. G. Salt deserves a special word of thanks for his never-failing generosity in offering friendly advice and practical aid, both of which, it must be confessed, have been frequently needed.

The Eriophyid gall mite, Aceria chondrillae (G. Can.), which is distributed from south-east Russia to Portugal, was studied in the Mediterranean region as part of a biological control programme against skeleton weed (Chondrilla juncea) for Australia. The mite induces the vegetative and flower buds of Chondrilla to form leafy galls in which the full life-cycle is completed, causing stunting of the plant and reducing seeding. The mite overwinters in the rosettes of C. juncea without inducing gall development or reproducing. Populations decrease markedly during winter, recover in spring and infestations spread rapidly during summer. Reproduction is sexual and spermatophores are deposited by the males. Amblyseius sp. preys on A. chondrillae without marked effect. Tests made by placing fully developed galls of A. chondrillae on 75 species of plant including certain Cichoriaceae closely related to Chondrilla showed that the mite was highly specific to Chondrilla. Comparative tests with four geographical strains of A. chondrillae against six forms of C. juncea of various geographical origins indicated that the strains were specialised to their usual host form of the plant. A Greek strain of the mite readily attacked the main Australian form of C. juncea, and this strain has been introduced into Australia as a biological control agent for the weed.

The family Tephritidae (order: Diptera), commonly known as fruit flies, comprises a widely distributed group of agricultural pests. The tephritid pests infest multiple species of fruits and vegetables, resulting in huge crop losses. Here, we summarize the composition and diversity of tephritid gut-associated bacteria communities and host intrinsic and environmental factors that influence the microbiome structures. Diverse members of Enterobacteriaceae, most commonly Klebsiella and Enterobacter bacteria, are prevalent in fruit flies guts. Roles played by gut bacteria in host nutrition, development, physiology and resistance to insecticides and pathogens are also addressed. This review provides an overview of fruit fly microbiome structure and points to diverse roles that it can play in fly physiology and survival. It also considers potential use of this knowledge for the control of economically important fruit flies, including the sterile insect technique and cue-lure baiting.

Host plant associated genetic differentiation is a common phenomenon in phytophagous insects, but the degree to which such associations sequentially drive diversification at higher trophic levels is not as well understood. A recent study examining neutral molecular markers in Hyalopterus aphids revealed that genetic structure in this genus is strongly determined by primary host plant use (Prunus spp.). In this paper, we take a similar approach to determine whether this host plant specificity has affected genetic structure in the parasitoid Aphidius transcaspicus, an important natural enemy of Hyalopterus spp. in the Mediterranean. Mitochondrial DNA (428 bp) and seven microsatellite loci were examined in parasitoids collected from aphid populations on almond, apricot, peach and plum trees from Spain and Greece. In contrast to the previous findings for Hyalopterus from the same regions, here we find no evidence for host associated diversification in A. transcaspicus at the species level or below, though geographic structure between regional populations is exceptionally high. These findings have several implications for our understanding of the ecology and evolution of A. transcaspicus as well as for its use as a biological control agent for Hyalopterus, suggesting that a consideration of host plant specificity may be less critical than factors such as climatic suitability or geographic origins of invasive populations.

We studied the use of a supervised artificial neural network (ANN) model for semi-automated identification of 18 common European species of Thysanoptera from four genera: Aeolothrips Haliday (Aeolothripidae), Chirothrips Haliday, Dendrothrips Uzel, and Limothrips Haliday (all Thripidae). As input data, we entered 17 continuous morphometric and two qualitative two-state characters measured or determined on different parts of the thrips body (head, pronotum, forewing and ovipositor) and the sex. Our experimental data set included 498 thrips specimens. A relatively simple ANN architecture (multilayer perceptrons with a single hidden layer) enabled a 97% correct simultaneous identification of both males and females of all the 18 species in an independent test. This high reliability of classification is promising for a wider application of ANN in the practice of Thysanoptera identification.

The comparative influence of Busseola fusca (Fuller) and Chilo partellus (Swinhoe), both as separate and mixed populations, on growth and yield of grain sorghum was investigated in a field experiment, using an artificial infestation in cages. C. partellus was more injurious than B. fusca as indicated by whorl damage, stalk injury and yield loss. In the case of mixed populations, dispersion of larvae and damage were independent of B. fusca numbers. A regression equation, Logit Y = 0.24 + 2.06 logit x, relating visible plant damage to yield loss was determined. Control strategies in the case of mixed stem borer populations should be directed against C. partellus.

The long range orientation of West African mosquitoes to birds was studied using ramp-traps set up 3–23 m from the bait. The baits comprised chickens, ducks, pigeons and the carbon dioxide equivalent of the chickens. From the pattern of convergence of mosquitoes to the baits, it was shown that Anopheles melas Theo. and Culex thalassius Theo. were orienting to all the bird-baits from distances of at least seven metres. Responses to carbon dioxide were only apparent at a distance of three metres indicating the greater range of effect of the chickens over their carbon dioxide equivalent. Mosquitoes of the largely bird-biting C. decens group showed no long range response to any bait, even though they were entering pigeon-baited traps and to a limited extent feeding on the birds. Catches of A. melas in bird-baited traps were larger at the foot of a tall tree than in the foliage at 5·33 m; for Culex spp. the converse was true. Catches of Culex at 5·33 m outside the tree were smaller than within the foliage.

Hourly and nightly catches of Heliothis armiger (Hb.) and H. punctiger Wllgr. at a site adjacent to 2000 ha of commercial cotton in the Namoi Valley of New South Wales, were analysed in relation to various environmental factors and showed that wind speed, temperature, night-length and (H. armiger only) moonlight exerted a significant influence on trap-catch. For H. punctiger and H. armiger respectively, these factors accounted for 80 and 60% of the deviance in hourly catches but only 70 and 40% of the variation in nightly catches. Wind speeds of more than 1·7 m/s suppressed the catch of both species but had a greater effect on H. punctiger than H. armiger. Whereas with both species, the optimum temperature for trapping was about 27°C, temperature had a greater influence on the catch of H. punctiger than of H. armiger. Bright moonlight was estimated to reduce the catch of H. armiger by 49%, but no significant effect was detected for H. punctiger. The analysis revealed a number of occasions for both species in which the hourly distribution of catch and/or the change in catch between successive nights was aberrant. With H. armiger, these inconsistencies appeared to be associated with changes in population due to adult emergence, whereas for H. punctiger the most likely cause seemed to be changes due to movement. The combined effects of wind speed, temperature, night-length and moonlight were used to adjust the nightly catches of each species according to the environmental conditions prevailing on a ‘ standard’ night. This was defined as a typical summer's night with temperatures decreasing from 28·8°C at dusk to 20·6°C at dawn and ideal catching conditions, i.e. no moon and wind speed never exceeding 1·7 m/s. As such, the adjusted catches could be taken as indices of moth abundance. These showed that H. armiger had three discrete periods of abundance, characterised by the presence of large numbers of young moths and spaced at intervals suggesting successive generations. A similar pattern was lacking in H. punctiger, which was abundant only during the first half of the season. Except during periods of emergence (H.armiger), or once when spraying occured during daylight, the aerial application of insecticides to the cotton adjecent to the light-trap resulted in marked reductions in the populations of both species.

Myiasis has been defined by Austen as follows:—“There remains yet a third category of flies, chiefly belonging to the great Family Muscidae, the larval stage of which is sometimes actually passed in the living human body, the presence of the larvae in the various organs and tissues, and the disorders or destruction of tissue caused thereby, being comprehensively known as Myiasis.” It will be noted that this definition only refers to the larval stages of flies, but as the eggs, and in one case at least, pupae and adults, may be found in the human body, and as myiasis is a common condition in many animals, the definition may now be amplified as follows:— The condition or conditions, resulting from the invasion of the tissues and organs of man and other animals by all the stages of the Diptera.

Three different patterns of feeding of sixth-instar spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana Clemens were simulated in the laboratory. Larvae were fed artificial diets whose nitrogen and total soluble sugar contents varied according to levels similar to those found in three types of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Miller foliage (current-year foliage from middle and lower crown sections and one-year-old foliage). The biological performance of offspring was studied according to the nutrition of their parents. Although food quality had no impact on pupal weight of female parents and individual mean egg weight, progeny fitness was influenced by parental nutrition. Old foliage simulated diet, poor in nitrogen, clearly affected the early larval development of progeny, especially the percent of egg hatch and first-instar survival. Lower crown current-year foliage simulated diet, with low total soluble sugar content, reduced the first-instar survival of the progeny. However, the selective pressure exerted by low food qualities on the parental generation and on the early stages of their progenies resulted in C. fumiferana populations having higher tolerance to starvation and higher survival after the diapause period. These results highlighted the potentially direct and indirect effects of C. fumiferana parental nutrition on the next generation. The patterns of feeding of parental generations would appear to affect the quality and size of subsequent populations through several selections on the different life-history stages of both generations.

All more than 3000 species of Agrilus beetles are phytophagous and some cause economically significant damage to trees and shrubs. Facilitated by international trade, Agrilus species regularly invade new countries and continents. This necessitates a rapid identification of Agrilus species, as the first step for subsequent protective measures. This study provides the first DNA reference library for ~100 Agrilus species from the Northern Hemisphere based on three mitochondrial markers: cox1–5′ (DNA barcode fragment), cox1–3′, and rrnL. All 329 Agrilus records available in the Barcode of Life Database format, including specimen images and geo data, are released through a public dataset ‘Agrilus1 329’ available at: dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-AGRILUS1. All Agrilus species were identified using adult morphology and by using molecular phylogenetic trees, as well as distance- and tree-based algorithms. Most DNA-based species limits agree well with the morphology-based identification. Our results include cases of high intraspecific variability and multiple species para- and polyphyly. DNA barcoding is a powerful species identification tool in Agrilus, although it frequently fails to recover morphologically-delimited Agrilus species-group. Even though the current three-gene database covers only ~3% of the known Agrilus diversity, it contains representatives of all principal lineages from the Northern Hemisphere and represents the most extensive dataset built for DNA-delimited species identification within this genus so far. Molecular data analyses can rapidly and cost-effectively identify an unknown sample, including immature stages and/or non-native taxa, or species not yet formally named.

In Western Tanganyika, Heliothis armigera (Hb.) occurs as a major pest of cotton from February to April, but also feeds on many other host plants. The dry season (August–October) is spanned usually by diapause pupae, the moths emerging from which oviposit on a species of Gleome, on which the first generation develops, giving rise to adults in November–December. Larvae of the second generation feed mainly on early-sown maize, and it is usually those of the third and fourth generations that attack cotton. Two subsequent generations occur on a variety of host plants, including late cotton, maize and legumes. The increasing severity of the attacks of Heliothis on cotton has accompanied the replacement of sorghum by maize in recent years. Maize is not only an intermediate host on which Heliothis builds up before it attacks cotton but also a source of diapause pupae later in the season.

In studies of the natural control of H. armigera, based on regular sampling of eggs and larvae on host plants in the field, the most important parasites were the Tachinids Drino imberbis (Wied.) and Goniophthalmus halli Mesnil, and field observations suggested that a species of Chrysopa (Neuroptera) was the main predator. Increasing use of insecticides may be reducing the effectiveness of natural control. A polyhedral virus was common, mainly found in larvae of Heliothis feeding on maize. The control of Heliothis on cotton by cultural methods was attempted by banning early sowing of maize and by sowing strips of maize in cotton fields as trap crops. Neither method is practicable on a large scale. Early sowing of cotton appears to be the best means of withstanding attack by Heliothis, for the local strains of cotton are able to compensate by later growth even for a very heavy Heliothis attack, provided they are sown early enough to utilise the late rains.

In cotton that was subject to a heavy attack by H. armigera, five applications at 2-week intervals of DDT at 1 lb. per acre gave good control of the larvae and increased the yield from about 200 lb. seed cotton per acre to about 500 lb., the difference being mainly in the early pickings. The addition of toxaphene increased the yield, probably by controlling Earias spp., but neither toxaphene alone nor carbaryl appeared to control Heliothis. The numbers of eggs laid were higher on cotton treated with DDT than on untreated cotton.