South Georgia represents an area of intensive agricultural production where cultivated crops serve as hosts of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), throughout the year. In addition to cultivated hosts, there are numerous weed species present in the agricultural landscape that are undoubtedly responsible for supporting B. tabaci population development. This study provided information on the most abundant weed hosts of B. tabaci from this region. We evaluated 31 different weed species, of which 16 weed species are reproductive hosts with varying degrees of preference. Suitable weed hosts included cypressvine morningglory (Ipomoea quamoclit L.), nodding spurge (Euphorbia nutans Lag.), prickly sida (Sida spinosa L.), sharppod morningglory (Ipomoea cordatotriloba Dennst.), smallflower morningglory (Jacquemontia tamnifolia L.), tall vervain (Verbena bonariensis L.), and wild poinsettia (Euphorbia heterophylla L.). These species are highly abundant and therefore likely influence B. tabaci populations in the landscape. Other species including bristly starbur (Acanthospermum hispidum DC) and redweed (Melochia corchorifolia L.) were highly preferred by B. tabaci but not nearly as abundant in the landscape. Furthermore, we identified 10 very common weed species that were poor reproductive hosts including wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum L.), Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Watson), common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.), Florida pusley (Richardia scabra L.), and henbit (Lamium amplexicaule L.).

The demand for silk increases as its economic value rises. Silk production by the silkworm, Bombyx mori L., is linked to the quality of the silkworm diet, leading to efforts to nutritionally enrich the mulberry (Morus alba L.) diet of silkworm larvae. Previous studies have established that spermidine, a polyamine, enhances larval growth in B. mori, subsequently increasing silk production. However, its role in improving the nutritional quality of the silkworm diet is not known. In this study, we evaluated the effects of spermidine-treated diet on the nutritional indices, polyamine levels, and antioxidant potential in fifth-instar larvae. We also assessed the effect of consumption of the spermidine-treated diet on the larval gut microbiome, which impacts digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Larvae consuming the spermidine-treated diet showed a significant increase in the efficiency of conversion of ingested food and digested food, intracellular polyamine levels (especially the conjugated and free fraction), antioxidant potential and cell viability, and both diversity and number of bacterial communities. These findings suggest that feeding mulberry leaves fortified with spermidine enhances nutritional efficiency in the B. mori larvae and may represent a method of increasing silk production by B. mori.

The use of artificial diets for rearing natural enemies is an expensive technique with negative implications in the development of parasitoids. The aim of this study was to determine the effects on the development of the parasitoid Chelonus insularis Cresson (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) using as the host Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larvae reared on castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) leaves. Twenty-five egg masses of S. frugiperda were exposed to adult parasitoids of C. insularis. One hundred twenty-three larvae were fed with castor bean leaves and 309 larvae with maize. Survival of S. frugiperda larvae and emergence of healthy adults of C. insularis were recorded. Durations of the developmental stages, weight per parasitoid, length of the radial cell, and total length of the forewing also were recorded. No significant differences were determined between the two host plants with respect to survival of S. frugiperda larvae or the emergence of healthy adults of C. insularis. Durations of the developmental stages of the parasitoid were longer on castor bean leaves than on maize. The length of the radial cell and the total length of the forewing were greater on parasitoids that emerged from castor bean-reared larvae than those reared on maize for both females and males. The weight per parasitoid did not differ. Chelonus insularis can be maintained in S. frugiperda larvae reared on castor and maize leaves but, based on these results, the use of castor bean leaves favors the size of the parasitoid.

In August 2019, Georgians were provided the opportunity to participate in a pollinator census, called the Great Georgia Pollinator Census ( https://GGaPC.org). This initiative evolved from two pilot projects conducted in 2017 and 2018. Citizen scientists counted insects and placed them into one of eight insect categories: (1) carpenter bee, Xylocopa sp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae); (2) bumble bee, Bombus sp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae); (3) honey bee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae); (4) small bee (Hymenoptera); (5) wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae); (6) fly (Diptera); (7) butterfly or moth (Lepidoptera); or (8) other insects. This project was a yearlong effort that included assisting Georgians in creating sustainable pollinator habitat and increasing participant knowledge of insects and insect-mediated ecosystem services. A sustainable education effort involved the use of a website, newsletters, social media, University of Georgia Extension personnel, and project partners. Over 4,500 participants recorded over 151,000 insect counts in 135 Georgia counties, including 134 schools. Data analysis indicated a significant difference between pollinator counts in rural and urban areas (e.g., carpenter bees were more abundant in urban than in rural areas). Analysis also showed a significant influence of the local presence of honey bee hives on relative proportion of other pollinators as represented in the survey counts.

Coptotermes (Blattodea: Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) is an economically important genus. There are many problematic taxa within the genus because of small differences between different species and large variations within the same species with respect to morphology. Coptotermes species, especially those in China, are in need of careful monographic revisions. In this paper, type specimens of 14 Coptotermes species were reexamined. Their relationship was preliminarily studied with statistical methods. The phylogenetic relationships among the 21 species that are recorded in China were investigated based on soldier morphological characters. The cladistic analysis inferred that Chinese Coptotermes species are divided into two main clades and there were some species closely related to C. formosanus Shiraki and C. gestroi (Wasmann), respectively. Based on a comparison of measurement data of the closely related species C. cochlearus Xia and He and C. gestroi in the cladogram, we propose that C. cochlearus is a new synonym of C. gestroi. In the situation where it is difficult to obtain more molecular data of Chinese Coptotermes species, the present work serves as a basis for further revisionary work on Coptotermes.

Jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Rosales: Moraceae), was only recently introduced into Mexico, and the state of Nayarit has become its main source of production. Information on its management, development, and production in Mexico is scarce. In this study, we identified four species of scale insects on jackfruit belonging to the families Coccidae (one species), Diaspididae (two species), and Pseudococcidae (one species) from Coccomorpha. We found one species of a parasitic wasp (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) and two ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) associated with the mango shield scale, Milviscutulus mangiferae (Green) (Coccidae). Three species of aphelinid parasitoids and one coccinellid species (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were found attacking the lesser snow scale, Pinnaspis strachani (Cooley) (Diaspididae). The lesser snow scale and the mango shield scale were the most frequent scales insect species encountered in jackfruit orchards in Nayarit. Therefore, attention should be paid to the populations of these two scale insects, as well as to the type of interaction between ants and the mango shield scale, to design more efficient management of these pests.

Plant-mediated indirect interactions (PMIIs) between phytopathogenic fungi and herbivorous insects on shared host plants occur in nature. Knowledge of PMIIs is critical in plant molecular breeding and integrated pest management. We studied the response and chemical mechanism of beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner), adults to rose plants, Rosa chinensis Jacquin, infected with rose powdery mildew, Podosphaera pannosa (Wallr.: Fr.) de Bary. Using gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) coupled with electroantennogram (EAG), we found that beet armyworm antennae responded to 8, 11, and 3 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from noninfected roses, mildew-infected roses, and mildew alone, respectively. The EAG analyses showed 11 chemicals (e.g., limonene [1], 2-ethyl-1-hexanol [2], linalool [3], nonanal [4], (E)-β-caryophyllene [5], 1-dodecanol [7], nhexadecane [9], 1-hexadecanol [11], methyl palmitate [12], 1-octadecanol [14], and n-butyl hexadecanoate [15]) elicited electrophysiological responses of beet armyworm antennae with significant dose-response relationships (P < 0.05). The EAG responses to the three chemicals (3, 11, and 15) were greater than that to the reference chemical [i.e., (E)-2-hexenal] at 0.5, 5.0, and 50.0 mg/ml. Olfactory and ovipositional behavior assays indicated that three chemicals (2, 3, and 5) significantly attracted beet armyworm females and four chemicals (7, 11, 14, and 15) strongly repelled females. Chemicals 2, 3, and 5 from healthy roses appear to be responsible for the attraction of beet armyworm moths to healthy roses, whereas chemicals 7, 11, 14, and 15 from mildew-infected roses play key roles in inhibiting attraction of moths. VOCs from mildew alone did not attract or repel beet armyworm moths.