In the presence of the odour of carbon dioxide and acetone, an electrified net adjacent to a stationary cylindrical black model in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe, in the hot dry season caught more adults of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westw. and G. pallidipes Aust. than in the absence of odour. In the absence of odour, a moving model attracted more G. m. morsitans males than did a stationary model. Between 20 and 50% of males of G. m. morsitans but only 0 to 12% of males of G. pallidipes near a model were caught by electrified decoys (surrogate females) on the model. Hidden observers recorded the numbers of flies copulating with decoys baited with pheromone or pheromone plus bisazir (P, P-bis(1-aziridinyl)-N-methylphosphinothioic amide) on a stationary model with odour between 16.00 and 19.00 h daily. Males of G. m. morsitans contacted the decoys with much greater frequency than did males of G. pallidipes although the latter species was the more abundant. The numbers of copulatory attempts by G. m. morsitans males during each 10 min suggested that changes were a function of the total numbers of flies attracted to the model. At all times of the day, the average duration of copulation was 37–40 s. However, approximately 50% of responses were of 10 s duration or less and fewer than 10% endured for longer than 3 min. The presence of bisazir on the decoys did not influence the response duration or the total numbers of flies responding. A comparison with laboratory data suggested that further refinement of technique will allow pheromone-baited decoys to be used in the autosterilisation of G. m. morsitans males with bisazir in the field.

Ips typographus (L.) and Pityogenes chalcographus (L.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are two common bark beetle species on Norway spruce in Eurasia. Multiple biotic and abiotic factors affect the life cycles of these two beetles, shaping their ecology and evolution. In this article, we provide a comprehensive and comparative summary of selected life-history traits. We highlight similarities and differences in biotic factors, like host range, interspecific competition, host colonization, reproductive behaviour and fungal symbioses. Moreover, we focus on the species' responses to abiotic factors and compare their temperature-dependent development and flight behaviour, cold adaptations and diapause strategies. Differences in biotic and abiotic traits might be the result of recent, species-specific evolutionary histories, particularly during the Pleistocene, with differences in glacial survival and postglacial recolonization. Finally, we discuss future research directions to understand ecological and evolutionary pathways of the two bark beetle species, for both basic research and applied forest management.

Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) is an economically important pest, restricted to the Greater Antilles and southern Florida. It infests a wide variety of hosts and is of quarantine importance in citrus, a multi-million dollar industry in Florida. The observed recent increase in citrus infested with A. suspensa in Florida has raised questions regarding host-specificity of certain populations and genetic diversity of the pest throughout its geographical distribution. Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) DNA sequence data was used to characterize the genetic diversity of A. suspensa from Florida and Caribbean populations reared from different host plants. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic methods were used to analyse COI data. Sequence variation among mitochondrial COI genes from 107 A. suspensa samples collected throughout Florida and the Caribbean ranged between 0 and 10% and placed all A. suspensa as a monophyletic group that united all A. suspensa in a clade sister to a Central American group of the A. fraterculus paraphyletic species complex. The most likely tree of the COI locus indicated that COI sequence variation was too low to provide resolution at the subspecies level, therefore monophyletic groups based on host-plant use, geography (Florida, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico or Dominican Republic) or population sampled are not supported. This result indicates that either no population segregation has occurred based on these biological or geographical distinctions and that this is a generalist, polyphagous invasive genotype. Alternatively, if populations are distinct, the segregation event was more recent than can be distinguished based on COI sequence variation.

Components of male seminal fluids are known to stimulate fecundity and fertility in females of numerous insect species and paternal effects on offspring phenotype are also known, but no studies have yet demonstrated links between male effects on female reproduction and those on progeny phenotype. In separate laboratory experiments employing 10-day-old virgin females of Cheilomenes sexmaculata (F.), we varied male age and mating history to manipulate levels of male allomones and found that the magnitude of paternal effects on progeny phenotype was correlated with stimulation of female reproduction. Older virgin males remained in copula longer than younger ones, induced higher levels of female fecundity, and sired progeny that developed faster to yield heavier adults. When male age was held constant (13 days), egg fertility declined as a function of previous male copulations, progeny developmental times increased, and the adult weight of daughters declined. These results suggest that male epigenetic effects on progeny phenotype act in concert with female reproductive stimulation; both categories of effects increased as a consequence of male celibacy (factor accumulation), and diminished as a function of previous matings (factor depletion). Male factors that influence female reproduction are implicated in sexual conflict and parental effects may extend this conflict to offspring phenotype. Whereas mothers control the timing of oviposition events and can use maternal effects to tailor progeny phenotypes to prevailing or anticipated conditions, fathers cannot. Since females remate and dilute paternity in polyandrous systems, paternal fitness will be increased by linking paternal effects to female fecundity stimulation, so that more benefits accrue to the male's own progeny.

Effective pest management with lower amounts of pesticides relies on accurate prediction of insect pest growth rates. Knowledge of the factors governing this trait and the resulting fitness of individuals is thus necessary to refine predictions and make suitable decisions in crop protection. The European grapevine moth, Lobesia botrana, the major pest of grapes in Europe, is responsible for huge economic losses. Larvae very rarely leave the grape bunch on which they were oviposited and thus cannot avoid intraspecific competition. In this study, we determined the impact of intraspecific competition during the larval stage on development and adult fitness in this species. This was tested by rearing different numbers of larvae on an artificial diet and measuring developmental and reproductive life history traits. We found that intraspecific competition during larval development has a slight impact on the fitness of L. botrana. The principal finding of this work is that larval density has little effect on the life history traits of survivors. Thus, the timing of eclosion, duration of subsequent oviposition, fecundity appears to be more uniform in L. botrana than in other species. The main effect of larval crowding was a strong increase of larval mortality at high densities whereas the probability of emergence, sex ratio, pupal mass, fecundity and longevity of mated females were not affected by larval crowding. Owing to increased larval mortality at high larval densities, we hypothesized that mortality of larvae at high densities provided better access to food for the survivors with the result that more food was available per capita and there were no effect on fitness of survivors. From our results, larval crowding alters the reproductive capacity of this pest less than expected but this single factor should now be tested in interaction with limited resources in the wild.

An attempt to eradicate Glossina pallidipes Austen from the Lambwe Valley of western Kenya by sequential aerial application of endosulfan aerosol spray is described. The operation was ultimately unsuccessful, even after nine sprays of relatively heavy dosages of insecticide. Survivors were present throughout after each spray, and females mated and bred between sprays. The population was reduced by over 99·9% in main habitats of thicket and woodland and by about 90% in conifer plantation. The outcome of a model of spray effectiveness suggested, however, that the final reduction in population size was the cumulative effect of only about a 90% kill per spray application. Post-spray monitoring showed that the tsetse population in thicket returned to its pre-spray level in little more than 12 months and became stabilized thereafter. Elsewhere, recovery was much slower and more variable. Evidence was found for population regulation by density-dependent emigration of flies. Calculations of population growth rate gave an instantaneous rate of increase of 0·0148/day, equivalent to a finite rate of increase of 1·568/month or a doubling time of 47 days. This permitted a 90-fold increase in population size over a ten-month period of unrestricted growth. The failure to achieve eradication is discussed in terms of certain operational shortcomings and environmental constraints which exist in the Lambwe Valley.

The effect of excluding the night-flying dung fauna, which included one abundant species of dung beetle (Scarabaeidae) in each of two areas, on the numbers of Musca vetustissima Wlk. emerging from cattle dung pads was studied in south-western Australia. Fresh dung pads were exposed to natural, daytime oviposition by M. vetustissima and half were covered at night. A test at one site before dung beetles emerged showed no effect of other nocturnal fauna on fly survival. In three experiments where Onthophagus ferox Har. was excluded, the numbers of flies emerging increased from 679 to 1019 per dung pad. In five experiments where Onitis alexis Klug was excluded, the number of flies emerging increased from 14 to 33 per dung pad. The mortality contributed by Onthophagus ferox was estimated to be around 27% and that by Onitis alexis around 15%.

Studies were carried out at Nguruman, south-west Kenya to develop an effective trap/odour bait system that could be used for sampling and possibly controlling the tsetse Glossina longipennis Corti. Neither acetone nor cow urine increased trap catches significantly when used alone, but together they increased catches by about four to five times. Used with a target and electric screens, acetone with p-cresol, 3-n-propyl phenol and 1-octen-3-ol gave a significantly higher index of increase than did acetone and cow urine. The use of odour baits did not affect the age composition of the catch. The standard F3 trap was about three and a half times more effective for females than was the biconical trap and about eight times more effective when used without its blue floor. The NG2B was the best of the NGU series of designs, and caught about four times more females than did the biconical trap. Neither the F3 nor the NG2B caught significantly more males than the biconical trap. The NG2B caught a significantly higher proportion of parous female flies than the biconical. Either the F3 or the cheaper NG2B, baited with acetone and cow urine or phenols, is recommended as a sampling tool for G. longipennis. Electric screen experiments showed that the NG2B caught less than 10% of the flies that approached it. Despite this, it might still be effective for control of G. longipennis given the high mobility of this species and the consequent likelihood of encountering traps.

The chemical characterization of the hydrocarbon fraction of the epicuticular lipids of the vector mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) was performed using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–electron impact mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Seventy eight compounds were detected in purified hexane extracts and of these, 42 hydrocarbons were identified and several of the remaining compounds were partially characterized. The hydrocarbon classes present were n-alkanes, monomethylalkanes, dimethylalkanes and alkenes and the results were similar to those published for other Aedes species. Quantitative comparisons of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles were made between males and females, different age groups and between a standard laboratory strain and a recently colonized strain of A. aegypti. These results provide baseline data for further studies on the possible role of mosquito cuticular hydrocarbons in the modification of mating behaviour.

Between 1908 and 1959, the predatory coccinellid, Hyperaspis pantherina Fürsch, was released for the biological control of the ensign scale Orthezia insignis Browne in Hawaii, four African countries and Peru. Substantial control was reported after all the releases, although the outcome was disputed in Malawi. Other coccinellid species and predatory Diptera were released against Orthezia spp. in various programmes from 1952 to 1977. In most cases these agents failed to establish, and there were no reported effects on the target Orthezia spp. In 1993, H. pantherina was released in St Helena for the control of O. insignis on the endemic gumwood tree, Comm idendrum robustum (Compositae). Preparatory investigations for this release revealed that the taxonomy and biology of this biocontrol agent were poorly known. Hyperaspis pantherina is redescribed and shown to be the correct name for the species previously known incorrectly as H. jocosa (Mulsant). Hyperaspis laeta Gorham and H. levrati (Mulsant) are transferred to the genus Cyra Mulsant (comb. n.). Hyperaspis metator (Casey) (stat. rev.) is resurrected from synonymy with H. levrati auctt. Studies of the life history revealed that H. pantherina normally lays its eggs directly onto the adult female O. insignis and that the first two instars of the larvae are frequently passed inside the ovisac of the female host, after which the host itself is often consumed. The information on the biology and taxonomy of H. pantherina, together with details of culturing methods, should facilitate the further use of this agent for the classical biological control of O. insignis, a pantropical pest.

Cereal aphids are important pests of wheat, Triticum aestivum L. and Triticum durum Desf. Crop resistance is a desirable method for managing cereal aphids in central North America, where the dominant crop, spring-sown wheat, has a low value per unit area. A diploid ancestor of wheat, Triticum monococcum L., is reported to be partially resistant to Sitobion avenae (Fabricius), the most damaging cereal aphid in the region. To identify potential sources of resistance, 42 accessions of T. monococcum and three cultivated wheats were infested with aphids, seedlings for six days and adult plants for 21 days. Overall resistance was estimated by the biomass loss of foliage and spikes in relation to uninfested control plants. Antibiosis was estimated by the gain in biomass of aphids during infestation, and tolerance was estimated as a biomass conversion ratio, overall resistance divided by antibiosis. A few T. monococcum accessions exhibited partial resistance. No relationship was found between seedling and adult plant resistance: the former exhibited primarily antibiosis and the latter primarily tolerance. Two accessions with antibiosis reduced aphid biomass by 60% compared with commercial wheats. Tolerance was correlated with growth potential, and was useful only in accessions with high growth potential. Four accessions exhibited tolerance levels at least 30% greater than commercial wheats. Highly susceptible accessions also were identified, which would be useful for investigating the inheritance of antibiosis and tolerance.

The biology and biogeography of the economically important species of Heteropsylla Crawford, including H. cubana Crawford, are discussed. Heteropsylla comprises a group of legume-feeding neotropical psyllids within the subfamily Ciriacreminae. Taxonomic characteristics previously used to diagnose Heteropsylla and related genera are discussed and a new generic diagnosis is made using both adult and larval characters. Thirty-nine species of Heteropsylla are now recognized and each is described and illustrated. Of these, 21 are new to science. One species, H. boquetensis (Brown & Hodkinson), is transferred from Limbopsylla Brown & Hodkinson. Final instar larvae of 22 species are described and illustrated. Host-plants are recorded for 35 species, showing that Heteropsylla species are generally found on legumes belonging to the Mimosoideae. Three exceptions occur in the Caesalpinioideae. A checklist of species and keys to the identification of adult males, adult females and final instar larvae are provided.

The main purpose of this note is to give a name to the Malayan Culicoides that sucks blood from the abdomen of Anopheline mosquitos, and thus to afford cover for the publication of some very interesting observations made recently upon this species by Dr. W. A. Lamborn. At the same time, some account is given of the very few additional specimens of Oriental Culicoides in the British Museum—most of which were also collected by Dr. Lamborn in Malaya; and the opportunity is further taken to describe two other apparently new species of the genus, from Somaliland and Jamaica, respectively, which have recently been received at the Museum.

Coronatin-2, a 14.5 kDa protein, was isolated from culture filtrates of the entomopathogenic fungus Conidiobolus coronatus (Costantin) Batko (Entomophthoramycota: Entomophthorales). After LC–MS/MS (liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry) analysis of the tryptic peptide digest of coronatin-2 and a mass spectra database search no orthologs of this protein could be found in fungi. The highest homology was observed to the partial translation elongation factor 1a from Sphaerosporium equinum (protein sequence coverage, 21%), with only one peptide sequence, suggesting that coronatin-2 is a novel fungal protein that has not yet been described. In contrast to coronatin-1, an insecticidal 36 kDa protein, which shows both elastolytic and chitinolytic activity, coronatin-2 showed no enzymatic activity. Addition of coronatin-2 into cultures of hemocytes taken from larvae of Galleria mellonella Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), resulted in progressive disintegration of nets formed by granulocytes and plasmatocytes due to rapid degranulation of granulocytes, extensive vacuolization of plasmatocytes accompanied by cytoplasm expulsion, and cell disintegration. Spherulocytes remained intact, while oenocytes rapidly disintegrated. Coronatin-2 produced 80% mortality when injected into G. mellonella at 5 µg larva−1. Further study is warranted to determine the relevance of the acute toxicity of coronatin-2 and its effects on hemocytes in vitro to virulence of C. coronatus against its hosts.

Morphometric studies of five allopatric parasitoid populations (genus Psyttalia Walker) from coffee plantations in Cameroon (Nkolbisson), Ghana (Tafo) and Kenya (Rurima, Ruiru and Shimba Hills) and one non-coffee population (from Muhaka, Kenya) were compared with individuals of Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti), a species released in several biological control programmes in the Mediterranean Region since the 20th Century. Analyses of wing vein measurements showed the second submarginal cell of the fore wing and its adjoining veins had the heaviest principal component weights and served as the main contributing variables in the diagnostic differentiation of the populations. Two populations (Rurima and Ruiru) were found to be the closest to each other and with the strongest phenetic affinity toward P. concolor (and forming one cluster). Populations from Shimba Hills (of unknown identity), Nkolbisson (P. perproximus (Silvestri)) and Tafo formed a second cluster and were separated from P. concolor. Comparison using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) also showed the Shimba, Nkolbisson and Tafo populations forming a cluster in a dendrogram generated from their genetic distances, with the Shimba and Tafo populations placed as the most closely related species. Based on consistent morphological similarities, morphometric and ecological data coupled with the genetic evidence from AFLP data, the Shimba population is suggested as belonging to the P. perproximus group and, thus, represents a new occurrence record in Kenya. Our results also support earlier conclusion from cross mating data that populations from Rurima and Ruiru belong to the Psyttalia concolor species-group.

Temperature is a key environmental factor in determining the population size of Cnaphalocrocis medinalis in summer. High temperatures inhibit survival, development and fecundity of this insect. However, biological responses of female and male adults to heat shock, and physiological mechanism of high temperature suppressing population development are still ambiguous. We experimentally tested the impact of heat shock (5 h day−1) on biological traits, spermatogenesis and sperm transfer of adults of C. medinalis. The result showed that heat exposure to 39 and 40 °C for 5 h reduced longevity and copulation frequency of adults, and hatchability of eggs. Immediate survival rate of males was lower than that of females after 3 days of exposure to 41 °C. The oviposition period, copulation frequency, fecundity of adults and hatchability of eggs were significantly lower when male adults were exposed to 40 or 41 °C for 3 days. Heat shock decreased frequency and success rate of mating when males were exposed, and it also resulted in postponement of mating behaviour and prolongation of mating duration as both the female and male adults were exposed. Heat shock did not affect spermatogenesis, but significantly inhibited sperms maturation. Moreover, males could not ejaculate sperm into females during copulation when these male moths received heat shock. Heat shock remarkably suppressed mating behaviour and sperm transfer, which led to a dramatic decline of rice leaf folder populations.

The primary coffee of commerce, Coffea arabica, has well-developed pit domatia in the primary vein axils on the undersurfaces of the leaves. In plantations near Mareeba and Daintree in far north Queensland, Australia, these morphogenetic structures are commonly occupied by mites. Mites used domatia on over 80% of all leaves examined, and 41% of all domatia had been occupied by mites (15–28% on young leaves and 54–59% on older leaves at Mareeba, and 58% overall at Daintree). At Mareeba, domatia use by mites did not differ among plants or shoots within plants but did vary significantly with leaf position within shoots, a reflection of leaf age. Domatia were important sites for mite reproduction and development; 93% of the eggs and all moulting mites on leaves were in domatia. Seven mite taxa were identified on leaves at Mareeba and nine were present at Daintree. With the exception of Fungitarsonemus sp. and Brevipalpus obovatus Donnadieu at Mareeba, all were concentrated in leaf domatia. Almost all mites in domatia were from groups in which arboreal representatives are primarily predatory (e.g., Stigmaeidae, Phytoseiidae, and Bdellidae), fungivorous (e.g., Winterschmidtiidae, Oribatida and Acaridae), or both (Tydeidae and Tarsonemidae). The data suggest that domatia influence the distribution and abundance of predatory and fungivorous mites that have the potential to affect fungal pathogens and some arthropod pests on coffee leaves.

This subfamily comprises a large number of genera, which are, as a rule, easily distinguished by the presence or absence of secretionary matter in one form or another. All agree, however, in having the anal ring with a number of hairs and, further, in having the hind margin cleft. The anal ring is covered above by a pair of more or less triangular plates which are usually densely chitinised. The eighteen genera known to be represented in South Africa are tabulated.

This paper focuses on the differentiation of specimens, identified as Phytoseiulus longipes, collected in four countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and South Africa. Two of these populations are known to feed and develop on Tetranychus evansi, whereas the two others do not. As morphologically similar specimens can sometimes belong to different species and because differences in predatory behaviours exist among the four populations considered, we tested for the presence of cryptic species. Morphological and molecular experiments (12S rDNA) were carried out. The four studied populations of P. longipes could be morphologically differentiated thanks to a combination of characters. However, these morphological differences are very small. The two populations that feed and develop on T. evansi (from Argentina and Brazil) are morphologically closer to each other than to the two other populations. Genetic distances among the four populations of P. longipes were very low, suggesting that despite their different feeding habits, all specimens belong to the same species. However, the populations associated with T. evansi showed some genetic differentiation from those that do not use this pest. This is the first time that this type of differentiation has been reported for the family Phytoseiidae. These results are of primary importance to ensure the success of biological control programs and to develop strains adapted to both crops and prey species.

In temporary wetlands in the River Dalälven floodplains, recurrent but irregular floods induce massive hatching of the flood-water mosquito Aedes sticticus, which causes enormous nuisance. Flood-water mosquito control using the biological larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) was commenced in parts of the floodplains during 2002, and here we report the first six years of full-season monitoring of general insect emergence from temporary wetlands with and without treatment. Emergence traps, which were emptied weekly, were used from May to September each year. A total of 137,153 insects of 13 taxonomic orders were collected. Diptera was highly dominating and especially the sub-order Nematocera with 18 families was a very prominent taxon. Bti-treatment effects were analysed by taxonomic order, by sub-order in Diptera and Hemiptera, and by family for Nematocera and Coleoptera for the whole study period. We found no significant negative effects of Bti treatments on the production of insects by taxonomic order, with the exception of Coleoptera in the long term. However, no significant negative effects were found for the Coleoptera families, neither in the short term nor in the long term. There was no significant negative treatment effect on Nematocera production, neither when analyzed for the whole sub-order nor when analyzed by family. However, abundance of Ceratopogonidae was significantly higher in experimental than in reference wetlands. We conclude that Bti-treatment effects on insect production may be minute in comparison to other environmental factors structuring the insect fauna of the temporary wetlands studied.