The roach genus Archimesoblatta Vršanský (Mesoblattinidae), known from the Cretaceous of Asia but otherwise absent from Jurassic deposits, is recorded from the Middle Jurassic of India. Archimesoblatta shiva, new species, is described and figured from a forewing tegmen preserved in the Middle Jurassic Kota Formation of the State of Andhra Pradesh, India. The species is distinguished from its congeners, including a key to the species of Archimesoblatta, and brief comments made on the Jurassic roach fauna.

A description of the last larval instar (based on the exuvium) of Trogoderma megatomoides Reitter, 1881 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) is presented. New morphological characters of T. megatomoides larvae such as general morphology of antenna, epipharynx, mandibula, maxilla, ligula with labial palpi, hastisetae, legs, terga and condition of antecostal suture are documented and discussed. General morphological differences among mature larvae of the following Trogoderma species are compared and summarized: T. anthrenoides (Sharp, 1902), T. glabrum (Herbst, 1783), T. grassmani Beal, 1954, T. inclusum LeConte, 1854, T. ornatum (Say, 1825), T. simplex Jayne, 1882, T. sternale sternale Jayne, 1882, T. megatomoides Reitter, 1881, T. variabile Ballion, 1878.

The status of wild bees, the major group of pollinators in most biomes, has gained recognition as an important ecological and economic issue. Insufficient baseline data and taxonomic expertise for this understudied group has hindered efforts to assess the conservation status of the majority of wild bee species. To more objectively address their current conservation status, we drew upon museum collections and the expertise of melittologists (biologists studying non-Apis bees) to compile a complete list of bee species for eastern North America, discriminating those which have and have not been detected during the past 20 years. The vast majority (95% of about 770 eastern North American bee species) have been found again, at least once since 1990. The remaining 37 species were rarely collected before 1990 as well. Some may truly be at risk (or lost). Others are undoubtedly data deficient due to inadequate knowledge of their biology or hosts, or the geographic regions and local habitats where they occur. Distributional and ecological patterns among these missing species are discussed. Most were recorded in the region only from peripheral areas or areas known to be undersampled by recent collectors, such as the southeastern United States. Others are characterized by specialized life histories or they cannot be identified routinely in the absence of taxonomic revisions. Clearly, most eastern North American bee species have persisted until recent times, with no evidence of widespread recent extinctions. An absence of well-documented global extinctions of bee species does not warrant complacency regarding pollinator conservation, as our qualitative method does not lend itself to documenting range contractions, range fragmentation, or declines in abundance and species richness in local bee communities.

In this paper I report first records for the invasive species, Polistes dominula (Christ), in Wyoming and western South Dakota, U.S.A. In addition, the early nesting success of this invasive species and the nest parameters in two native paper wasps, Polistes fuscatus (F.) and Mischocyttarus flavitarsis (de Saussure), are analyzed through a survey of nests, nesting locations, nest size and relative levels of parasitism in the northern Black Hills area and surrounding plains. Polistes dominula occurred predominantly in towns and at elevations below 4000 ft. Some collecting sites had high P. dominula population numbers, with heavy use of available nesting sites, water sources and other resources. This wasp attached its nests to horizontal, sloping and vertical surfaces and nested in unusual and exposed locations not observed in the native species. The distribution and successful nesting of M. flavitarsis was not impacted at this early stage of introduction, because it nests predominantly in forested areas at higher elevations. Polistes fuscatus nest numbers were lower than in previous years at collection sites. Their nests were more likely to be in an area with one or both of the other two species, and appeared at higher elevations in 2011 than previously found. While not found in M. flavitarsis nests, evidence of the ichneumon parasitoid, Pachysomoides fulvus, was found in 46% of P. fuscatus nests and 6% of P. dominula nests.

A survey of bees (Apoidea) in the Black Belt Prairie of northern Mississippi was conducted from 1991 to 2001. Collecting methods included netting specimens from floral hosts and use of malaise traps. The survey resulted in collection of 6138 specimens, of which 3627 were identified to 118 species. Of the 2511 unidentified specimens, the vast majority (2362) were specimens of Lasioglossum Curtis (Halictidae) in groups that are unrevised. The survey resulted in 51 new state records, increasing the total known species of bees in Mississippi to 177. Five species of Andrenidae have disjunct distributions from the Great Plains and western states. A list of the bee species in the Black Belt Prairie is provided with annotations on collection times, floral hosts, and collection methods.

Those family-group names for snakeflies (Neuropterida: Raphidioptera) are catalogued. The type genus and combining stem are identified for 22 family-group names, including the new subtribes Mongoloraphidiina and Ohmellina. The higher classification of the order is briefly summarized.

The first record of a protogrylline orthopteran (Ensifera: Grylloidea: Protogryllidae) from the Middle Jurassic of India is provided. Protogryllus (Protogryllus) lakshmi, new species, was recovered from the Kota Formation in Andhra Pradesh and is compared with other species in the genus. General comments are provided on Protogryllidae and the diversity of the family is summarized.