The coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari), is a major insect pest of coffee crops worldwide. As part of a program of studies aimed at efficient and sustainable pest control, a study was conducted to determine the mating status of adult females in the broader context of studying pest dispersal behavior. To that end, it was deemed important to determine the morphology of the H. hampei female reproductive tract. This study focused on direct observation of the spermatheca of unmated, and colonizing adult females obtained from natural field populations with a high probability of having mated, and the description of all organs of the reproductive tract using established standard staining and microscopy techniques. Spermathecae were extracted from the samples and sorted according to their origin (unmated or colonizing females). The morphology of sperm present in the female spermathecae was compared with that of sperm taken directly from male testes. Two staining techniques using Giemsa and chlorazol black allowed spermatheca and sperm to be distinguished from other tissues. Under these conditions, a more precise description of the spermatheca was achieved, including the spermathecal duct and spermathecal muscles, spermathecal gland, and, for the first time, sperm when present. These techniques permitted the accurate and rapid determination of the presence or absence of sperm in the spermathecae of H. hampei females, thereby establishing their mating status.

The termite family Stylotermitidae consists of a single extant genus, Stylotermes, present only in eastern Asia. Stylotermes has distinctively trimerous tarsi and is considered an intermediate between the Rhinotermitidae and Kalotermitidae families. The present study reports the first discovery of the Stylotermitidae family in Taiwan. On the basis of a comparison between the Taiwanese samples and the original descriptions of all the other 44 Stylotermes species, a new species collected from eastern Taiwan is described as Stylotermes halumicus sp. nov. This study is the first to report the gene sequence and detailed morphological descriptions of the winged imago, soldier, and worker of a single Stylotermes sp. Furthermore, a preliminary review of the Stylotermes taxonomy is provided.

The West Indian sweetpotato weevil Euscepes postfasciatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is one of the major pests of sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. (Convolvulaceae). A sterile insect technique (SIT) program for eradicating this weevil is underway in Okinawa Prefecture. Although mated females of E. postfasciatus temporarily become unreceptive to subsequent mating, the physiological mechanism underlying this has not been clarified, despite its practical importance. To elucidate this mechanism, we investigated the effects of male-derived substances on the inhibition of mating receptivity of virgin females by injecting the substances into their abdomens. The length of time from injection to mating in virgin females was significantly longer in females injected with accessory gland B solution than in those injected with control solution. For those injected with the contents of seminal vesicles, or accessory glands A and C, there were no significant differences compared to the control. In this study, we showed that mated females have a long refractory period (about 14 d) because males of E. postfasciatus inhibit female remating by using seminal fluid substances. We discuss the optimal timing of the release of sterilized insects in SIT eradication programs, to exploit the mating system of E. postfasciatus.

The various parts of the mouth in the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari), have been visualized and identified using scanning electron microscopy. The labial and maxillary palpi are three jointed and connected by a membrane that allows for telescoping. The maxillary palpi contain two types of sensilla (basiconic and campaniform) within an apical cuticular depression in the third segment of the palpus. The sides of the third segment of the maxillary palpus exhibits rod-shaped depressions, known as sensilla digitiformia. Several cuticular elements were detected in the mandibles, including Al, C, Ca, Cl, Mg, Na, O, P, and Zn. Zinc, a heavy metal, was only detected in the incisors and could provide abrasion resistance.

Yucca moths (Tegeticula spp.) are the exclusive pollinators of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia s. l.). The moths actively pollinate the Joshua tree flowers and lay their eggs in the style. Recent studies have revealed that the plants commonly known as Joshua trees include two distinct, sister-species of plant: Yucca brevifolia Engelm. and Yucca jaegeriana McKelvey, each pollinated by two sister-species of yucca moth Tegeticula synthetica Riley and Tegeticula antithetica Pellmyr, respectively. A number of studies have argued that the moths have coevolved with their hosts, producing a pattern of phenotype matching between moth ovipositor length and floral style length. However, the only known descriptions of yucca moth pollination and oviposition behavior on Joshua trees are observations of T. synthetica made in 1893. The behavior of T. antithetica has never been observed before. We produced the first video recordings of the behavior of T. antithetica, and measured the points of oviposition and egg placement within the floral style. We found a number of differences between the behaviors of T. antithetica and T. synthetica, which appear to be a consequence of differences in floral morphology between Y. jaegeriana and Y. brevifolia. We also found that variation in floral style length strongly influences the placement of eggs within the flower, which may explain patterns of phenotype matching described previously. However, unlike in other yucca moths, we find that the mode of oviposition is unlikely to wound the floral ovules, and thus that oviposition by T. antithetica is unlikely to prompt floral abscission.

Identifying cryptic species is a challenging but critical task for conservation biology because such identifications improve the resolution of taxonomic inventories and increase our ability to precisely assess the biodiversity of environments as well as the conservation status of rare species. To understand the temporal and spatial distribution of the cryptic species contained in the Drosophila willistoni subgroup, we re-examined all of the individuals of this subgroup identified in a previous work that analyzed drosophilids associated with a forest patch in the Brazilian Cerrado from December 2007 to November 2008. Each collection consisted of banana-baited traps distributed in three vertical strata of the forest (0-, 4-, and 8-m heights) at three horizontal positions (edge, transition between edge and river, and river area). Our results revealed that the specimens originally identified as D. willistoni consisted of three cryptic species: D. willistoni (n = 1,344), D. paulistorum (n = 1,001), and D. tropicalis (one male). Most D. willistoni and D. paulistorum specimens were collected during the rainy season on the ground of the edge forest patch. However, D. paulistorum was more temporally and spatially restricted than D. willistoni. Our findings confirm that these three cryptic species of the subgroup D. willistoni differ not only in abundance but also in ecological tolerance. This study contributes to the improved understanding of the Brazilian savanna communities, whose high levels of species richness and endemism are well documented for plants but poorly known for insects.

A species richness hotspot of ant-mimicking (or myrmecomorphic) spiders of the subfamily Castianeirinae Reiskind, 1969, is reported from the premontane Chiquitano forest at the Bolivian orocline. In a transect of 350 m in a forest fragment of ~10 ha, 148 individuals of five genera and 10 species were collected, including the first country records for the genera Mazax O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898, Myrmecotypus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894, and Sphecotypus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1895. The observations from this study represent an increase of the known fauna of Bolivian Castianeirinae from two to five genera and from three to at least 12 species. The generic and species richness is comparable with the fauna of mega-diverse moist forests in other Neotropical countries and may result from overlapping distributional ranges of faunal elements from several ecoregions. The discovery of this hotspot in an easily accessible and small area provides an excellent opportunity to gain further insight into the factors determining the evolutionary ecology and ant mimicry in Castianeirinae communities.

In insects, glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are multifunctional enzymes playing an important role in metabolizing a wide range of endogenous and exogenous compounds, including plant secondary compounds, insecticides, and odorant molecules. In this study, we identified 14 GSTs from codling moth Cydia pomonella (L.), which is a worldwide internal pest of tree fruit. The cytosolic GSTs contain the conserved glutathione (GSH)binding domain and substrate-binding domain. The microsomal GSTs are transmembrane proteins containing a conserved motif consisting of 16 amino acids. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) revealed that 10 CpomGSTs were expressed in the antennae. Among them, a novel signal peptide containing GST (CpomGSTd2) was restrictedly expressed in the antennae and the expression levels were significantly higher in male than in female. Phylogenetic analysis shows that CpomGSTd2 shares close relationships with olfactory GSTs of other insects. We prepared the recombinant CpomGSTd2 and determined its GST catalytic property using 1-chloro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) and reduced GSH as substrates. This protein exhibited high GST catalytic activity within the temperature ranged from 25 to 50 ° C and the optimal pH was 7.0. Our results suggest that antenna is important site for GST-mediated biotransformation and CpomGSTd2 may play a role in the odorant degradation for chemosensory perception.

Herein is recognized a distinctive anatomical feature associated with spiracular openings of the tracheal system of mature bee larvae. This feature, named the flexure, connects each of the 20 spiracular atria to the rest of a larva's tracheal systems. It is characterized by its greater flexibility compared with other elements in the tracheal systems. It obviously is an important link in the respiratory system of the larva, but here it is suggested that it may have a biomechanical locomotive function of expediting the forward movement of the exterior surface of the larva by mechanically decoupling the massive internal alimentary tract and fat-body from the larva's exterior covering. Further, that flexures collapse during larval diapause strongly suggests that they are involved with water conservation during long periods when mature bee larvae are inactive.

Light and temperature are the major environmental signals for insect circadian rhythms, and it is widely believed that magnetoreceptor (MagR) and cryptochromes (CRYs) participate in orientation behavior of organisms navigating or migrating long distances. Potential mechanisms for the coupling of circadian rhythm and magnetic detection have been discussed but are not known for the serious agricultural pest Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel). In this study, one novel MagR gene, designated Ai-MagR, was cloned from A. ipsilon by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and RACE-PCR strategies. It encodes a protein that has 131 amino acids and one conserved iron–sulfur cluster-binding domain. In a phylogenetic analysis, Ai-MagR was closely related to its orthologs in the noctuid family. The results of quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that Ai-crys and Ai-MagR were present in all tested organs and life stages of the moths and that the daily levels of the three genes fluctuated. In 16 h light and 8 h dark, expression of Ai-crys and Ai-MagR followed a circadian rhythm throughout the day, and constant light or dark disturbed this rhythm. At 25 ± 1 ° C, expression of Ai-crys and Ai-MagR also had a circadian rhythm through the day, which was disrupted by cold or high temperature conditions. Based on the results, the two CRYs and MagR may play different roles during the migration of A. ipsilon. Overall, these findings have significant importance for further study of the functions of Ai-crys and Ai-MagR genes and potential control of the black cutworm.