We sampled bees of the tribe Euglossini in three close areas within a small region of São Paulo state that includes three different phytophysiognomies of the Atlantic Forest biome. Even though Euglossini bees are known for flying great distances, there were clear differences in the composition of bee communities, including differences in abundance and richness of species at specific points within the same biome. The area characterized by tropical rainforest was the richest in bee fauna of this group, followed by the mixed rainforest area, whereas no specimens of Euglossini were found in nearby high-altitude fields. The differences in composition and abundance of orchid bees in geographically close areas reveal the importance of the conservation of distinct habitat patches within a biome for bee conservation.

Wolbachia pipientis represents one of the most pervasive bacterial infections in the world, with estimates of over one million arthropods species infected. Parthenogenesis-inducing (PI) Wolbachia in various haplodiploid species effectively feminizes male offspring through a process called gamete duplication and converts the reproductive mode of infected females from arrhenotoky (fertilized eggs undergo female development, unfertilized eggs undergo male development) to thelytoky (fertilized and unfertilized eggs undergo female development). The fitness consequences associated with PI Wolbachia infection are of particular interest to ecologists and evolutionary biologists given the extreme effect that infection has on the reproductive mode of infected individuals. We use a model PI Wolbachia infected species, Trichogramma kaykai Pinto (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), to investigate the effects of infection status and mating status on T. kaykai fitness. Three genotypically distinct isofemale cultures were used to test whether fitness (number of offspring reaching pupal stage, number of female offspring, and pupal survival) differed among infected unmated, infected mated, and antibiotically curedmated females. Significant survival costs were observed for mated Wolbachia-infected females, and fecundity costs were observed for mated and unmatedWolbachia-infected females, with significant variation for these costs across host genotypes.

The beetle (Insecta: Coleoptera) fauna associated with the underground burrow systems of the plains pocket gopher, Geomys bursarius (Shaw) (Mammalia: Rodentia: Geomyidae), is reported from one of Indiana's primary conservation zones, Kankakee Sands, for the first time. Pitfall traps baited with pig dung were placed into active burrow systems and routinely checked from February 2014 to January 2015. A total of 26 species of Coleoptera were found in the burrow systems. We summarize phenological data for the most commonly collected species. Also, a complete checklist of burrow-inhabiting beetles is provided.

Sirex noctilio F. is a woodwasp that develops within stressed and dying pine trees, Pinus spp. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa but has spread to other continents and has become a pest of pine plantations in the Southern Hemisphere. In nature, adults live for <2 wk, during which time males form leks. We investigated environmental and biological conditions related to mating of these woodwasps. We hypothesized that temperature, light, and size ratio of the sexes (male:female) influence mating receptivity. A total of 71 12-min mating trials, with 10males and 1 female in each trial, were conducted in outdoor cages. As a precursor to mating, a male would approach a female from behind and touch her with his antennae and, if the female was receptive, mating proceeded. Sirex noctilio mated more often at higher temperatures, but the size ratio of sexes and degree of cloud cover did not influence female receptivity tomating. Females that mated oftenmated multiple times (2.6 ± 0.2, mean ± SE; range 1–7), and numbers ofmatings increased with increasing temperature and was greatest during the last 4-min of the 12-min trials.

Several male beetles that fight with rival males show dimorphic weapons. Majormales have large weapons and fight aggressively with rival males. Minor males have small or no weapons and often adopt an alternative reproductive tactic without fighting. Suitable body shapes are likely to differ depending on the tactic. Thus, the set of body parts that are compatible with distinct weaponsmay be different inmajor and minor males according to their battle tactics. Many studies have reported correlations between weapons and some morphological traits, but few studies have shown the difference in the correlation patterns between major and minor males. Here, we show that in a male dimorphic stag beetle, Prosopocoilus inclinatus (Motschlsky), several morph-specific traits are correlated with weapon size. Mandible size correlates positively with eye size in major males only but correlates positively with the length of forelegs and negatively with abdomen weight in minor males only. These results suggest that the correlated trait sets are different between themorphs because each morph adopts different battle tactics andmating strategies.

Baryscapus dioryctriae Yang & Song sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a gregarious pupal and larval endo-parasitoid of Dioryctria pryeri Ragonot and Dioryctria abietella Denis & Schiffermüller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is described and illustrated. The hosts are serious pests of the cones, seeds, and twigs of Pinus koraiensis Sieb. & Zucc., a predominant forest tree species in the northeastern China. The parasitoid has potential as a biocontrol agent for the pests, as an average parasitism rate of 19.5% has been observed and 87.7 parasitoid adults (range 41–138) emerge from a single host. Detailed photographs of the key characters of the female and male of the new species are provided. Type specimens were deposited in Insect Museum, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, and the Insect Collection of Jilin Provincial Academy of Forestry, Changchun, Jilin Province, China, as well as China National Insect Collection at Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.

The rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is one of the most serious pests of rice in the United States and East Asia. Several symbiotic bacteria have been isolated from the gut of this weevil, but none of them have been evaluated for the potential to be paratransgenesis candidates for biological control. We transformed three bacterial strains, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus, and Enterobacter sp. isolated from the weevil, with a DsRed-labeled plasmid. We then investigated their fate in the host gut. To assess their biological impacts on the host, we measured adult consumption, survival, egg production, and hatch rate after weevils were inoculated with the transformed bacteria. Our results showed that each of the three bacteria could be successfully transformed. The intestinal bacterial densities were low 2 d after inoculation. However, their populations increased dramatically the following day, regardless whether the adults were fed or starved, and reached their peak abundance 4 d after inoculation. Each strain colonized the adult gut for at least 9–15 d, accumulating mostly in the hindgut. No apparent effects by the transformed strains were observed on weevil performance. In conclusion, due to the ability to colonize the host gut and to ease of culturing, these bacteria might be promising paratransgenesis candidates. They can be engineered and re-introduced into the gut of adult rice water weevils potentially producing effector molecules capable of impairing weevil development and survival.

Previous empirical models for describing the temperature-dependent development rates for insects include the Briére, Lactin, Beta, and Ratkowsky models. Another nonlinear regression model, not previously considered in population entomology, is the Lobry–Rosso–Flandrois model, the shape of which is very close to that of the Ratkowsky model in the suboptimal temperature range, but which has the added advantage that all four of its parameters have biological meaning. A consequence of this is that initial parameter estimates, needed for solving the nonlinear regression equations, are very easy to obtain. In addition, the model has excellent statistical properties, with the estimators of the parameters being “close-to-linear,” which means that the least squares estimators are close to being unbiased, normally distributed, minimum variance estimators. The model describes the pooled development rates very well throughout the entire biokinetic temperature range and deserves to become the empirical model of general use in this area.

A Chinese biotype of Lilioceris cheni Gressitt and Kimoto (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is being mass reared and released in Florida for biological control of the invasive air potato vine, Dioscorea bulbifera L. (Dioscoreales). Another biotype from Nepal is under investigation for determining whether its release would benefit the ongoing biological control program. We compared temperature-dependent development, fecundity, life table parameters, and consumption of the two biotypes in the laboratory. Both biotypes completed development at 20–30 °C, although survival of Chinese beetles was higher at 20 °C and 27.5 °C, and survival of Nepalese beetles was higher at 30 °C. In addition, Nepalese beetles developed at a faster rate at 20 °C, and consumed air potato foliage at a higher rate at 25 °C. The most important difference between the biotypes, with regard to biological control purposes, was the shorter generation time of Nepalese beetles, which resulted in a higher intrinsic rate of population increase, despite much higher fecundity of Chinese beetles. The higher intrinsic rate of increase of the Nepalese beetles may allow a more rapid population increase in the field, and thus, greater damage to air potato plants. However, differences in other life history traits, such as overwintering ability, diapause, and cold tolerance, will also influence field performance.

The neotropical parasitoid Conura annulifera (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) is known to parasitize bird-parasitic flies in the genus Philornis (Diptera: Muscidae) including P. downsi (Dodge and Aitken), a species that has invaded the Galápagos islands and is negatively impacting populations of Darwin's finches. We report here some aspects of the life history, field ecology, and host specificity of C. annulifera. We collected puparia of four Philornis species in 13 bird nests during 2015 and 2016 in western mainland Ecuador and found that C. annulifera and three other parasitoid species emerged from those puparia. This is the first record of C. annulifera in Ecuador. Rearing records and dissections of parasitized puparia revealed that C. annulifera is a solitary pupal ectoparasitoid, placing its eggs in the gap between host pupa and puparium. Laboratory studies of host specificity involving P. downsi and pupae from five other dipteran, three lepidopteran, and one hymenopteran species found that C. annulifera only produced progeny when presented with P. downsi pupae. Pupae of P. downsi that had been exposed to C. annulifera also failed to emerge more often than expected by chance compared with no-parasitoid controls, suggesting that the parasitoids can cause developmental mortality through means other than successful parasitism. These studies constitute the first steps in evaluating C. annulifera as a potential biological control agent of P. downsi in the Galápagos Islands.

Thrips (Thysanoptera) are opportunistic insects that exhibit a wide range of life histories. Most species are either fungivorous or phytophagous, while a few are predators. In coffee agroecosystems, the presence of these insects is noticeable, especially when coffee is flowering. The identity of thrips and the role they might be playing on coffee flowers is unknown. We conducted a survey of thrips in 30 commercial coffee plantations of Chiapas, Mexico, with the aim to investigate the species composition of thrips associated with coffee flowers and to determine whether they were carrying coffee pollen on their bodies. Thrips were collected at random in ~1 ha. Coffee branches were shaken against a plastic tray to separate insects from flowers. A total of 42 thrips species in 24 genera and five families were identified. The most common species were Karnyothrips merrilli Watson, Haplothrips gowdeyi (Franklin), Frankliniella difficilis Hood, Frankliniella gardeniae Moulton, Frankliniella insularis (Franklin), Frankliniella invasor Sakimura, Frankliniella parvula Hood, and Frankliniella varipes Moulton. Of these species, Karnyothrips merrilli is considered a predator of thrips and other small arthropods, while the other species are phytophagous. We assumed these thrips might be living on other plants and shift to coffee due to the abundance of pollen and nectar during the flowering season. Using microscopy, we examined the bodies of thrips caught in sticky traps. We found coffee pollen on the bodies of seven thrips species, and discuss the possibility of these thrips serving as coffee pollinators.

Study of genetic structure of Ommatissus lybicus de Bergevin revealed significant variation among the allopatric populations of this pest. High biological and behavioral variation suggest either that this is a highly variable pest species or a complex with a mix of cryptic species. The degree of reproductive isolation was tested by crossing experiments on four allopatric Iranian populations. These experiments were performed at 27 ± 2 ° C, 65 ± 5% RH, and a photoperiod of 14:10 (L: D) h. In addition, to examine the possible role of Wolbachia in accelerating speciation through reproductive isolation, a PCR-based Wolbachia detection and frequency assay was used. Intercross mating studies with four divergent populations demonstrated fecundity in all of the no-choice mating trials, while in some replicates of the interpopulation crossing treatments (Abu Musa × Tezerj and Bam × Tezerj), no adult insects were produced. These populations experienced repeated exposure to heavy pesticide applications, which may accelerate genetic divergence. Wolbachia was detected in specimens from two O. lybicus populations (Bushehr and Jahrom) with 100% infection rate. Results of no-choice mating trials supported reproductive isolation among O. lybicus populations, which may lead to rapid evolution and speciation. A comprehensive and ecofriendly management program with emphasis on judicious use of pesticides for O. lybicus management is recommended to reduce genetic diversification in this species.

The occurrence of the exotic “granulate ambrosia beetle” Xylosandrus crassiusculus (Motschulsky) in Argentina and Uruguay is reported for the first time, documenting expansion in South America. Morphological characters are provided to allow distinction of this species from other similar ambrosia beetles. Molecular identification was also done on the basis of the 5′region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene, obtained from a specimen from Argentina and compared with available “barcode” sequences in public databases. Phylogenetic analyses, via maximum likelihood and parsimony, were performed using COI sequences from 17 terminals, including 14 sequences of X. crassiusculus from different continents plus other Xylosandrus and Cnestus species as outgroups. Results from the sequence analyses confirm the identity of X. crassiusculus. The specimen from Argentina and the two sampled from United States showed no differences in their COI sequences. Further studies are needed, on the genetic variation through the native and introduced ranges of the granulate ambrosia beetle, to ascertain the source/s of origin of this biological invasion in the Americas. The present paper reports the expansion of this exotic species in South America into Argentina and Uruguay.