Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences, which serve as DNA barcodes, have been used to associate immature and adult stages of insects and to delineate species. The partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences for South Korean Megaloptera (all known in the adult stage) were tested to identify undetermined larvae as a rapid and effective method from 31 specimens (16 adults and 15 larvae). The COI gene sequences distinguished all six known Megaloptera species, with a low genetic distance between larvae and adults (0.50±0.21%). Based on the COI gene sequences, we associated five types of larvae with known adults including the following four species of newly described larval stages: Sialis annae Vshivkova, 1979 (Megaloptera: Sialidae); Neochauliodes formosanus (Okamoto, 1910) (Megaloptera: Corydalidae); Parachauliodes asahinai Liu et al., 2008 (Megaloptera: Corydalidae); and Protohermes xanthodes Navás, 1913 (Megaloptera: Corydalidae). The known larval stage of Sialis koreana Jung and Bae, 2012 (Megaloptera: Sialidae) was confirmed, and the morphological variation in the male genitalia of Sialis longidens Klingstedt, 1932 (Megaloptera: Sialidae) is discussed. A larval key to the six South Korean species of Megaloptera is provided.

The Palaearctic leaf beetle species Cassida viridis Linnaeus (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is newly recorded from North America on the basis of recent observations of established populations on Monarda Linnaeus (Lamiaceae) plantings in an Ontario, Canada garden. Historical specimen records show that the species has been in Ontario at least since 1974.

Linognathoides laeviusculus (Grube) (Phthiraptera: Anoplura: Polyplacidae) is a louse found on holarctic ground squirrels but little is known about how the life history, physiology, and hibernation of the host influence its population dynamics. Two hundred and fourteen Richardson’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus richardsonii (Sabine); Rodentia: Sciuridae) were trapped over the summer of 2010, and the age, sex, and mass of all euthanised squirrels were recorded. Squirrels were hand-washed to remove lice, which were then identified to species, stage of development, and sex. Linognathoides laeviusculus was the only louse collected. In total, 5057 lice were collected with 63.6% of the squirrels infested at a mean intensity of 37.2 (90% confidence interval=29.98–48.66). Two peaks in prevalence of L. laeviusculus infestations occurred (April and mid-June), and one peak in intensity (June). Juvenile squirrels had higher prevalence and mean intensity when compared to adults. Adult male squirrels had higher mean intensity compared to adult females. Adult lice comprised most of the population infesting emerging adult squirrels in the spring but nymphs predominated for most of the active season of the host. Infestations were highly aggregated with k=0.203 and index of discrepancy D=0.813. The seasonal dynamics of L. laeviusculus appear to be strongly correlated with the annual cycle of the squirrel host.

Phasgonophora sulcata Westwood (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) is a North American parasitoid now using Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) as a novel host, and may prove useful in biocontrol. Unfortunately, information is lacking regarding mating and the presence of pheromones, which may be important when attempting to exploit this parasitoid within a management context. Herein we used olfactometer assays and behavioural observations to determine the courtship and mating sequences of P. sulcata. A significantly higher proportion of males oriented towards females over the control arm containing filtered air in an olfactometer regardless of the age classes of females or males examined. We also observed four pre-copulatory behaviours that were consistent in all mating pairs. Our results indicate that courtship may be mediated by male perception of female-produced pheromones. Understanding the courtship sequence may be useful in rearing laboratory populations, while the putative pheromones may be useful in detection and retention of P. sulcata populations.

Infection by Nosema fumiferanae (Thomson) (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) and feeding by late-instars on previous year’s foliage due to depletion of current year’s growth (also known as back-feeding) are likely to co-occur in high-density outbreak populations of the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)). We tested the hypothesis that effects of the two factors on larval fitness are exacerbated by their interaction. Twigs of balsam fir (Abies balsamea Linnaeus; Pinaceae) with or without new-growth shoots were fed to sixth-instar offspring from uninfected, moderately infected, or highly infected females in two laboratory experiments. Pupal mass and time to reach the pupal stage were significantly affected by infection and back-feeding but not by their interaction. Pupal mass decreased and development time increased with increasing spore burden in a linear fashion. Back-feeding had a significant effect on survival to the pupal stage, but infection did not, nor did their interaction. The relatively small changes in survival, pupal mass, and development time caused by infection and back-feeding were additive. The results thus refute our hypothesis that infection by N. fumiferanae and forced feeding on last year’s foliage by late instars are likely to interact in affecting spruce budworm recruitment in older outbreak populations.

The emitted aliphatic hydrocarbon profile of four Indian Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Coccinella septempunctata (Linnaeus) (C7), Coccinella transversalis Fabricius (Ct), Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius) (Ms), and Propylea dissecta (Mulsant) (Pd) has been investigated by simple solvent-less headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) technique coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Identified volatile and non-volatile compounds were confirmed by running corresponding standards and comparing with the National Institute of Standards and Technology library. Among the 56 identified aliphatic hydrocarbons, saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons were more in number than unsaturated ones. Among saturated hydrocarbons, methyl branched hydrocarbons were more in number in C7 and Ct than Ms and Pd. Menochilus sexmaculatus and Pd had higher percentages of unsaturated hydrocarbons than C7 and Ct. Among branched chain-hydrocarbons, mono-methylated saturated hydrocarbons were more in number than dimethylated saturated hydrocarbons. Further analysis of the semiochemical profile revealed a closeness between C7 and Ct, and between Ms and Pd. Quantitative analysis revealed that straight chain hydrocarbons form separate clusters to branched chain methylated hydrocarbons. This is the first attempt to identify the semiochemical profile of some Indian coccinellids using the headspace solid phase micro-extraction technique coupled with the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. This report will be helpful for various chemotaxonomic studies of the species in the future.

Cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a serious pest of several crops throughout the world, representing millions of United States of America dollars worth of damage. This pest can adapt to various cropping systems in a wide geographical range and has high migratory potential. It features high fecundity and can develop resistance to almost all insecticides used for its management. Several investigations to develop microsatellite markers for H. armigera have not been successful because of the paucity of microsatellites in the lepidopteran genome. As well, collections of H. armigera from cotton fields of southern and western India were not yet studied for molecular genetic diversity. The current study aimed to screen publicly available expressed sequence tag resources for simple sequence repeats and assess their potential as DNA markers for assessment of gene flow between collections of southern and western India. We identified 30 polymorphic microsatellites for potential use in diversity analysis of H. armigera collections. Genetic diversity analysis revealed that the collections were widely diverse with population differentiation index (Fst) of 0.17. Furthermore, gene flow analysis revealed a mean frequency of private alleles of 11% within the collections. The microsatellite resources we developed could be widely used for molecular diversity or population genetic research involving this important pest of cotton and food crops.

Phanerotoma libertinecidanew species (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Cheloninae) is described and put in context with the latest North American revision of the genus. The species has been reared repeatedly from Grapholita libertina Heinrich (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), which is found on lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. minor Loddiges, Loddiges, and Loddiges (Ericaceae)). Its natural history is also described.

We describe three new genera and four new species (three named) of siricomorph sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) from the Ypresian (early Eocene) Okanagan Highlands: Pamphiliidae, Ulteramus republicensisnew genus, new species from Republic, Washington, United States of America; Siricidae, Ypresiosirex orthosemosnew genus, new species from McAbee, British Columbia, Canada; and Cephidae, Cuspilongus cachecreekensisnew genus, new species from McAbee and another cephid treated as Cephinae species A from Horsefly River, British Columbia, Canada. These are the only currently established occurrences of any siricomorph family in the Ypresian. We treat the undescribed new siricoid from the Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil as belonging to the Pseudosiricidae, not Siricidae, and agree with various authors that the Ypresian Megapterites mirabilis Cockerell is an ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The Miocene species Cephites oeningensis Heer and C. fragilis Heer, assigned to the Cephidae over a century and a half ago, are also ants. Many of the host plants that siricomporphs feed upon today first appeared in the Eocene, a number of these in the Okanagan Highlands in particular. The Okanagan Highlands sites where these wasps were found also had upper microthermal mean annual temperatures as are overwhelmingly preferred by most modern siricomorphs, but were uncommon in the globally warm Ypresian, only found then in higher elevations and highest latitudes.

Nine winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum Linnaeus) (Poaceae) were the source of the Sm1 gene for resistance to wheat midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Géhin) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), in spring wheat. All nine showed antibiosis characteristic of Sm1, as expected. They also showed oviposition deterrence and reduced hatch, which contributed to overall resistance. The overall level of resistance of the nine winter wheat cultivars was usually lower than that of resistant spring wheat lines in laboratory trials, but equally high in a field trial. Five of seven other North American winter wheat cultivars also showed resistance. Three of these were grown in the 1920s and earlier, before wheat varieties were officially registered. One of these, “Mediterranean”, came from Europe in the 1880s and may be the origin of Sm1 in North America. Two of 11 Chinese winter wheat lines showed resistance to wheat midge but at a lower level than that characteristic of Sm1. Widespread resistance in North American winter wheat cultivars was unexpected because wheat midge has not been a pest of winter wheat for many decades. North American winter wheat cultivars can provide sources of resistance to wheat midge, particularly high levels of oviposition deterrence as exhibited by “Goens” and “Rawhide”.

This study investigated thermal aspect potentials of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera (Linnaeus) (Arecaceae)) infested by red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)) in early detection. Palms were forced infested, i.e., fertile females and males were introduced inside the palms to initiate infestation. Effects of three infestation intensities on date palm were examined throughout a 24-day period. Temperature gradients inside infested and healthy palms of the commercial cultivar (Khalas) were determined using data loggers. Adult weevils and loggers were introduced inside holes drilled in palm trunks for measuring temperatures at 15-minute intervals during 24 consecutive days. These 24 days after infestation is the larval stage where most of the damage occurs and the infested palms can still be rescued through remedial control measures. A repeated measures analysis showed that the temperature of infested palms during the two seasons of the study were 33.22 °C and 30.08 °C, while for the healthy palms were 31.83 °C and 27.56 °C. Differences were significant during the first (F=6.14, df=3, P=0.009) and the second (F=3.89, df=3, P=0.038) season. The corresponding ambient atmosphere temperatures were 31.83 °C and 28.03 °C, respectively. This study provides valuable baseline information for developing a real-time sensor fusion system for a nondestructive early detection of insect infestation.