The genera Akonesis Opitz, Crusbatus Opitz, and Diutius Opitz, which comprise a monophyletic group within Peloniinae (Coleoptera: Cleridae), are discussed. The species of Akonesis are reviewed. There are five recognised species of Akonesis: A. pictipennis (Gorham), A. privoatus Opitz new species, A. ridens (Gorham), A. strictus Opitz new species, and A. vittatus (Spinola). According to the morphological analysis performed herein, the species treated in this work are thought to be predatory. Colour patterns of the elytra and field observations suggest that members of Akonesis and Diutius are involved in Batesian mimicry with Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera), and in particular with Galerucinae. Included in this treatise are: a brief discussion of the natural history and evolution of Akonesis species, one Bootstrap consensus tree, a key to Akonesis species, a phylogenetic tree generated by WINCLADA in conjunction with NONA, 15 line drawings, 10 electron micrographs, one distribution map, four photographs of male terminalia, and five colour habitus photographs.

There is no consensus on the overwintering strategy used by the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae). As a result, the topic of diamondback moth overwintering in temperate climates remains controversial. However, there has been general agreement that the diamondback moth does not overwinter in diapause. This review compiles data on low temperature survival to determine cold tolerance mechanisms and the cold tolerance strategy of the diamondback moth. According to cold tolerance data and observations from key overwintering studies in eastern North America, the diamondback moth likely overwinters in a quiescent state in no specific overwintering stage and is chill susceptible. Observations from key overwintering studies suggest a northern overwintering limit for diamondback moth of ~43°N in eastern North America. Climate change may alter winter conditions in temperate climates, making temperate regions susceptible to potential diamondback moth overwintering and recurring outbreaks.

Eggs of the balsam twig aphid Mindarus abietinus Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae) overwinter for several months in obligate diapause, which terminates in early springtime when embryogenesis of the stem mother supposedly resumes. Important shape and size changes were observed on eggs collected at regular intervals during late winter and early spring. These observations led to the visual classification of eggs into three shape categories: flat eggs (C1), semi-flat eggs (C2), and round and turgid eggs (C3). Egg mass significantly increased with time during late winter and early spring, which coincided with the noticeable changes in morphological composition (i.e., from C2 to C3). Our observations suggest that free water surrounding eggs on fir (Abies balsamea (Linnaeus) Miller; Pinaceae) shoots is essential for M. abietinus normal embryonic development during snowmelt. Also, reduced egg water content during winter could modify its supercooling point, and the renewed availability of water in springtime may signal diapause termination and/or initiate embryogenesis of the stem mother.

The annual abundance of chewing lice (Phthiraptera) was recorded from 1996 to 2015 in Manitoba, Canada, on two species of woodpeckers (Piciformes: Picidae). Yellow-bellied sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius (Linnaeus)) were infested with Menacanthus pici (Denny) (Amblycera: Menoponidae) and Penenirmus auritus (Scopoli) (Ischnocera: Philopteridae); northern flickers (Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus)) were also infested with M. pici, as well as two other Ischnocera, Penenirmus jungens (Kellogg) and Picicola porisma Dalgleish. The mean annual abundance varied from nine to 51 lice per bird for the four species, with prevalence, mean intensity, sex ratio, and nymphs per female also varying among louse species. Menacanthus pici populations on both hosts were unstable: abundance rose over two decades because of increasing prevalence, whereas the abundance of the other three louse species fluctuated around a mean. Population variability was similar for the lice on both hosts, with the metric, PV, ranging from 0.41 to 0.51 on a 0–1 scale, once the effect of the trend in abundance for M. pici had been removed. Although the population dynamics for species of lice on these two woodpeckers were distinct, inter-specific differences in population stability were less pronounced than observed in the few other species of bird lice studied in this way.

Insects of the family Nabidae (Hemiptera) are generalist predators commonly found in agroecosystems, but little is known about their predation rates on common pests of forage crops. We determined the functional response and prey preference of Nabis Latreille species to two common leafhopper pests of red clover (Trifolium pratense Linnaeus; Fabaceae): Agallia constricta Van Duzee (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and Ceratagallia agricola (Hamilton) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). We also determined the survivorship of A. constricta to predation by Nabis species over the course of five days. The Nabis species displayed a Type III functional response to both leafhopper species with a preference for A. constricta. The 10-A. constricta/cage treatments and 20-A. constricta/cage treatments had the highest survival probabilities after five days with survival probabilities of 0.19 and 0.23, respectively. These results indicate that Nabis species may help in controlling leafhopper populations in forage-crop systems.

Two rearing records from trap nests set in São Paulo State, Brazil and one oviposition observation show that the parasitoid wasp Phlebopenes longicaudata (Westwood) (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae: Eupelminae) parasitises the nests of oil-collecting bees of the genus Tetrapedia Klug (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Based on this and one previously published host record, species of Phlebopenes Perty are newly hypothesised to be parasitoids of solitary wasps and bees rather than wood-boring Coleoptera. Other Eupelmidae reported as parasitoids of aculeate wasps are summarised.

Most major modern families of Hymenoptera were established in the Mesozoic, but the diversifications within ecologically key trophic guilds and lineages that significantly influence the character of modern terrestrial ecosystems – bees (Apiformes), ants (Formicidae), social Vespidae, parasitoids (Ichneumonidae), and phytophagous Tenthredinoidea – were previously known to occur mostly in the middle to late Eocene. We find these changes earlier, seen here in the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands fossil deposits of western North America. Some of these may have occurred even earlier, but have been obscured by taphonomic processes. We provide an overview of the Okanagan Highlands Hymenoptera to family level and in some cases below that, with a minimum of 25 named families and at least 30 when those tentatively assigned or distinct at family level, but not named are included. Some are poorly known as fossils (Trigonalidae, Siricidae, Peradeniidae, Monomachidae), and some represent the oldest confirmed occurrences (Trigonalidae, Pompilidae, Sphecidae sensu stricto, Peradeniidae, Monomachidae, and possibly Halictidae). Some taxa previously thought to be relictual or extinct by the end of the Cretaceous (Angarosphecidae, Archaeoscoliinae, some Diapriidae) are present and sometimes abundant in the early Eocene. Living relatives of some taxa are now present in different climate regimes or on different continents.

We examined the insecticidal activity of linalool and thymol, against diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), and whether they would synergise the activity of spinosad against this pest. Both linalool and thymol were toxic to diamondback moth larvae by topical and oral exposure, but orders of magnitude less so than spinosad. We found that low concentrations of linalool weakly synergised spinosad, increasing its toxicity more than twofold. An interaction between spinosad, and acetone meant it was not possible to identify any potential synergisms between thymol and spinosad. Our results demonstrate limited potential for thymol and linalool to act as biopesticides or synergists for managing diamondback moth.

Biological control plays an important role in many integrated pest management programmes, but can be disrupted by other control strategies, including chemical and cultural controls. In commercial cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton; Ericaceae) production, a spring flood can replace an insecticide application, providing an opportunity to study the compatibility of the flood (a cultural control) with biological control. We suspect that chemical controls will tend to reduce the number of natural enemies, while the flood, through removal of detritus and detritivores, may cause generalist predators to prey-switch to consume proportionally more pest individuals. We measured the abundance of herbivores (Lepidoptera), detritivores, Arachnida, and parasitoids (Hymenoptera) every week for six weeks in Wisconsin (United States of America) cranberry beds following either an insecticide spray or a cultural control flood. We found that detritivore populations rapidly declined in both flood and spray treatments; conversely, carnivore populations (spiders and parasitoids) were more abundant in the flooded beds than in sprayed beds. Populations of key cranberry pests were similar between flooded and sprayed beds. Our results showed that early-season flooding preserved more natural enemies than an insecticide application. This increase in natural enemy abundance after the flood may allow for greater continuity in herbivore suppression, potentially providing a basis for long-term cranberry pest management.

The alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica (Gyllenhal); Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a destructive pest of alfalfa (Medicago sativa Linnaeus; Fabaceae) worldwide. The biological control parasitoid, Microctonus aethiopoides Loan (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), was successfully introduced, and considered highly effective, in the eastern and mid-western United States of America. Redistribution efforts carried out throughout the 1980s reported initial establishment in the northern Great Plains, however follow-up studies to assess long-term persistence and efficacy are lacking. We resurveyed the counties in which M. aethiopoides had been initially recovered following redistribution in Montana (Flathead and Petroleum counties), Wyoming (Platte County), and South Dakota (Brookings County), to gauge whether this species has become permanently established and, if so, assess levels of parasitism in the field. We collected adult weevils from five fields in each county, and reared them in the laboratory to assess parasitism. Despite rearing more than 1000 weevils, no parasitoids were recovered from any of the locations sampled in our study, suggesting a widespread failure of M. aethiopoides to persist in the region. Thus, M. aethiopoides does not currently appear to be an important biological control agent of alfalfa weevil in the northern Great Plains. More intensive surveys will be required to assess the extent of the distributional limits of this species throughout the region.