A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate adult sugarcane root weevil (Diaprepes abbreviatus (L.)) residence (location), feeding damage, and oviposition choice on 4 sugarcane varieties and 5 weed species found in Florida sugarcane. Sugarcane varieties were CP 89 - 2143, CP 88 - 1762, CP 80 - 1743, and CP 78 - 1628. Weed species were common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.), spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus L.), common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.), sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby), and coffee senna (Senna occidentalis (L.) Link). Adult residence was highest on coffee senna followed by spiny amaranth, sicklepod, and common purslane. Few adults were observed on sugarcane varieties and common lambsquarters. Adults caused feeding damage on all weed species. Coffee senna, spiny amaranth, and sicklepod had the highest feeding damage whereas common lambsquarters had the least damage. Little feeding damage was observed on sugarcane varieties. Oviposition of D. abbreviatus was observed on all sugarcane varieties and weed species with exception of common lambsquarters and sicklepod. Significantly more egg masses were found on sugarcane varieties compared with weed species. Weed surveys conducted in 3 locations in Florida sugarcane showed common lambsquarters, spiny amaranth, common purslane, and sicklepod as common broadleaf weeds in sugarcane fields. These results show that several weed species found in Florida sugarcane are suitable as food sources and oviposition sites for D. abbreviatus. However, sugarcane is generally more preferred for oviposition by D. abbreviatus. Preventing or removing weed hosts of D. abbreviatus from sugarcane fields will be an important defense against the weevil.

Stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are suspected to change their intraplant vertical distribution in response to changes in environmental conditions. As a result, this could influence sweep-net sampling efficiency in a soybean canopy. We examined the effects of both ambient and within-soybean canopy temperature and relative humidity on stink bug vertical distribution in 2 0.38m row spaced commercial soybean fields with full canopies in Virginia, one in 2010 and one in 2011. Temperature and relative humidity were monitored in the upper and lower plant canopy. The within-canopy vertical distribution of a minimum of 20 stink bugs was documented at each of 4 different observation times: observations were replicated on different days 14 times in the morning, 14 around noon, 15 during the midafternoon, and 5 observations were replicated in the early evening. Chinavia hilaris Say was the primary species observed with 88% of the total in 2010 and 59% in 2011; the remainder was primarily Euschistus servus Say. No significant relationship was observed between the environmental parameters measured or time of day on the vertical distribution of stink bugs in the canopy. Regardless of environmental conditions, an average of 15 - 20% of stink bugs was located below the typical 38cm zone of a sweep net sampling. Efficiency of sweep net sampling for stink bugs in soybean did not appear to be significantly affected by changes in temperature, relative humidity, or time of day, and sweep netting the upper canopy accessed approximately 80% of the total population.

Ear tags containing 8% abamectin and 20% piperonyl butoxide were applied to pastured cattle to evaluate efficacy against southern cattle ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Canestrini), during a 40-wk field study. Temperature fluctuations had an important impact on effectiveness of the tags. The first 19 wks, during spring and early summer (March-June) temperatures were optimum for tick survival, producing high tick numbers on treated animals (9 - 63 ticks) which were not different from untreated animals. During this time tags provided ≤ 53.7% control. By contrast, during the summer through midfall (July-October), high temperatures caused dramatic natural declines in the tick population, but tick numbers on treated animals were always lower (0 - 3 ticks) than untreated animals (4 - 16 ticks). Control during this period was 72 - 100%, indicating tags had a negative impact on tick survival beyond the natural attrition caused by high temperatures. During the last 9 wks (midOctober to midDecember), temperatures were again highly conducive to tick survival and tick numbers on untreated animals rebounded to previous levels (7 - 56 ticks), whereas treated animals produced significantly fewer ticks (1 - 9 ticks), resulting in 73 - 98% control. Results demonstrated that timing of ear tag application was critical to the expected efficacy. Tags applied in spring through early summer would likely provide low level control, whereas tags applied in summer through early fall would likely provide high level control. Additionally, tag application in summer through fall months would likely prevent the enormous buildup of ticks that would otherwise occur the following spring with no tag treatment.

A new species of streblid (Diptera: Streblidae) bat fly in the genus Nycterophilia is described from collections made from Antillean fruit-eating bats, Brachyphylla cavernarum Gray, trapped on St. Kitts in the Caribbean. We describe morphological features that separate this new species from other Nycterophiliinae including Phalconomus puliciformis Wenzel, Nycterophilia coxata Ferris, Nycterophilia fairchildi Wenzel, Nycterophilia mormoopsis Wenzel, Nycterophilia natali Wenzel, and Nycterophilia parnelli Wenzel.

Megacopta cribraria (F) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plataspidae) was first discovered in North America in 9 counties in northeastern Georgia (USA) in October 2009. By the end of 2012, surveys conducted in Georgia and neighboring states confirmed that the insect had spread into 383 additional counties in the southeastern U.S., including the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. It was reported from 33 species of plants representing 15 taxonomic families in these surveys, with 17 of those from the family Fabaceae (legumes). Kudzu (Pueraria montana Lour. [Merr.] variety lobata [Willd.] Maesen & S. Almeida) was the most frequently reported host. All life stages of the insect were observed only on kudzu and soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) which, to date, are the only confirmed reproductive host plants of M. cribraria in its expanded North American range.

Bacteria representing several genera were isolated from integument and alimentary tracts of live Asian longhorned beetle, Anaplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky), larvae and adults. Insects examined were from infested tree branches collected from sites in New York and Illinois. Staphylococcus sciuri (Kloos) was the most common isolate associated with adults, from 13 of 19 examined, whereas members of the Enterobacteriaceae dominated the isolations from larvae. Leclercia adecarboxylata (Leclerc), a putative pathogen of Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), was found in 12 of 37 larvae examined. Several opportunistic human pathogens, including S. xylosus (Schleifer and Kloos), S. intermedius (Hajek), S. hominis (Kloos and Schleifer), Pantoea agglomerans (Ewing and Fife), Serratia proteamaculans (Paine and Stansfield) and Klebsiella oxytoca (Flugge) also were isolated from both larvae and adults. One isolate, found in 1 adult and several larvae, was identified as Tsukamurella inchonensis (Yassin) also an opportunistic human pathogen and possibly of Korean origin.. We have no evidence that any of the microorganisms isolated are pathogenic for the Asian longhorned beetle.

The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., nucleopolyhedrovirus (LdMNPV) product Gypchek is a microbial pesticide produced by the USDA Forest Service. Gypchek is a mixture of LdMNPV genotypes produced in vivo. Commercial interests prefer to develop a stable, high-potency genotype that can be produced at low cost, preferably in vitro. We sprayed 2 LdMNPV strains and Gypchek at various doses, with and without the viral enhancer Blankophor BBH (Burlington Chemical Co., Burlington, NC), on oak foliage under field conditions to determine the relationship between application rate and larval mortality. We used strains previously isolated from Gypchek; strain 203 was produced in vivo and strain 122 was produced in vitro. When applied at a rate of 10¹² viral occlusion bodies (OB) per 379 L of water without enhancer, mortality was 26% with strain 122 and greater than 90% with both strain 203 and Gypchek. In addition, strain 203 killed larvae faster. At an application rate of 10¹¹ OB with enhancer, larval mortality was greater than 90% with all 3 viral preparations. Strain 122 produced in vitro at a lower cost than is currently possible for Gypchek production would allow compensation for its reduced virulence by the application of a higher dose. Alternatively, if applied with enhancer at a rate of 10¹¹ OB, there would be no significant differences in efficacy of 122 compared with Gypchek applied at that same rate.

Vincetoxicum pycnostelma Kitag. (Apocynaceae) is a perennial herb that grows in grassland habitats in East Asia and the western part of Amur. Urbanization, land development, abandonment of traditional management of grasslands, or any combination of these factors are rapidly reducing grassland habitats, and V. pycnostelma is now ranked as a “Near Threatened” species on the Red List of Japan. Identification and characterization of pollinators of this endangered species are important in its conservation. We observed and collected insect visitors to the flowers at night and in the morning in the populations of V. pycnostelma on the banks of the Kidzu River, Kyoto, Japan from June to August in 2011. Pollinators were characterized as those insects on which flower pollinaria were attached. Twenty-seven species (9 families; 3 orders) were observed visiting the flowers; individuals of 14 lepidopteran species (6 families) had pollinaria attached to their bodies and most visited the flowers at night. Adult lepidopterans with a proboscis length of 0.9 - 4.5 mm were the primary carriers of pollinaria. Examination of stigmatic chambers of randomly selected flowers showed that the percentage of flowers in which pollinaria was inserted was much higher than the percentage of fruit set observed. Reasons for the observed low fruit set may be self-incompatibility or resource limitation. These preliminary observations were conducted at only 1 site and were restricted to a short period of time; yet, these data could be useful for elucidation of effective pollinators of this species and, thus, its conservation.

St. Augustinegrass, Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze, is used as lawn grass throughout the southern United States for its wide adaptation to varying environmental conditions. The southern chinch bug, Blissus insularis Barber, is the plant's most damaging insect pest. Host plant resistance of St. Augustinegrass has been determined in numerous studies using various techniques. However, efficacy of these various procedures in determining St. Augustinegrass resistance to southern chinch bug has not been determined. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of time and methodologies in assesing St. Augustinegrass resistance to southern chinch bugs. Four varieties were tested for resistance using 4 methods (bag, jar, box, tube) and 5 time intervals to measure chinch bug mortality. Overall, survival was greater in whole-plant methods (box and tube) than excised stolon methods (bag and jar). The bag test gave the most erratic results of the 4 methods. The effect of time in determining resistance was also evident. In our tests, it was clear that shorter time intervals in measuring mortality may result in not measuring resistance in a variety. In summary, researchers should carefully consider method, time and temperature as important variables in determining St. Augustinegrass resistance to southern chinch bugs.