Discrepancies in reports on the presence of spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), in the western region of the USA, and morphological variations of the species brought into question whether the species existed west of the Rocky Mountains. In this study, morphological variations in color and size were observed between two geographically isolated populations from Missouri and California. Differences were determined in color, weight, and size measurements. However, all crosses and backcrosses produced viable progeny of both genders and the crosses were maintained as inbred lines for 16 generations. These results indicated the two populations are closely related.

Pseudacteon tricuspis Borgmeier was released in two Oklahoma counties in 1999 and Pseudacteon curvatus Borgmeier was released in four counties from 2004–2007 as potential biological control agents for the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. A follow-up survey in 2008 determined that P. curvatus was established in two counties, but P. tricuspis was not. We evaluated a set of six trap/bait combinations in seven southeastern Oklahoma counties that are quarantined for red imported fire ants (one set per county). Traps were in place for 24 hours each week for 11 weeks to determine the presence and seasonal occurrence of Pseudacteon spp. and evaluate efficacy of the trap type for collecting them. Pseudacteon curvatus was collected in five of seven counties, but no P. tricuspis was captured. Fifty-nine flies were captured during the sampling period, and 45% of the flies were captured in McCurtain County. There were no significant differences (P = 0.76) in numbers of flies captured by the Pestick (25 flies) versus the fly-paper (34 flies) traps. There were no significant differences (P = 0.77) in the number of flies captured among the hot dog, peanut butter, and peperoni (25, 17, and 17 flies, respectively). Dispersal of Pseudacteon into other Oklahoma counties needs to be documented as red imported fire ant expands its range. The modified Puckett trap baited with hot dog (cost approximately $0.05 per trap) would provide an affordable, easy way to track such expansion.

Larvae of Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) are effective predators for controlling insect pests of various crops. Increased awareness of the nutritional substrate that promotes their development will help in management of this predator for biological control of pests. Developmental time, reproduction, and survival rate of C. carnea feeding on seven diets were recorded: eggs of Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Plutella xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), and Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae); larvae of T. ni and P. xylostella; and aphids Brevicoryne brassicae (L.) and Rhopalosiphum padi (L.) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). The intrinsic rate of growth (r_m), net reproductive rate (R₀), and finite rate of augmentation (λ) were greater when the lacewing larvae were fed B. brassicae (r_m = 0.198, R₀ = 1171, λ = 1.21) and R. padi (r_m = 0.198, R₀ = 1181, λ = 1.21) aphids; generation time (T) was greater when they ate eggs of T. ni (T = 38.7 days) and less when fed eggs of P. xylostella (T = 35.3 days). This research will contribute to knowledge of growth of C. carnea and to integrated management of pests of crops.

Maize, Zea mays L., is the most important crop in Mexico. The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, and larger grain borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn), cause significant loss to stored maize. The insects are controlled by insecticides that are toxic to humans and pollute the environment. An alternative to control insect damage is essential oil from plants. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of oregano (Lippia palmeri S. Watson) oil at different concentrations on repellence, emergence, and mortality of maize weevil and larger grain borer. All maize weevils died at 48 hours, while most (92%) larger grain borer died at 72 hours with 1,000 µl/liter of oregano oil. Emergence of treated insects was significantly (p < 0.05) less than the check. The repellency index at 24 hours for larger grain borer was 0.15 at a concentration of 20 µl/liter of oregano oil. The repellency index for maize weevil was zero, indicating total repellence at 24 hours. Components of the oil were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to be thymol (58.9%) and p-cymene (21.8%). Oregano oil concentration and time were important in controlling both insect species.

The aim of this study was to evaluate pathogenicity and effect of four isolated native and a strain of Isaria fumosorosea on beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua (Hübner), and corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Bioassays in a laboratory used neonate larvae of beet armyworm and corn earworm reared on artificial diet, which were inoculated by spraying or immersing with suspensions of 1 × 10⁸ ml^-1 conidia of I. fumosorosea, and subsequently incubated at 26°C, 65 ± 5% relative humidity, and 14:10 light: dark hours. Isolated HIB-30 killed the most immersed corn earworms, but fewest beet armyworms. HIB-30 most disrupted metamorphosis, 40%, by immersing beet armyworms, while HIB-29 and Pfr-612 least interrupted metamorphosis (8%), by spraying and immersing, respectively.

Entomopathogenic nematodes are potential control agents for insect pests in cryptic habitats and are found in many environments worldwide. Native entomopathogenic nematodes were collected from March to June 2012 in soil from agave (Agave angustifolia Haw) fields in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca to evaluate potential for control of agave weevil, Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The technique of insect-baiting with larvae of Galleria mellonella (L.) was used. Using sequencing internal transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal DNA and the 28s or subunit, Steinernema websteri Cutler & Stock and Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser) Wouts, Mracek, Gerdin & Bedding nematodes were identified. The entomopathogenicity of the nematodes was verified by Koch's postulates. The efficacy of the strains at concentrations of 100, 500, and 1,000 infective juveniles per milliliter was tested on S. acupunctatus larvae in Petri dishes. Both nematode species at concentrations of 500 and 1,000 infective juveniles per larva killed 85–100% of agave weevils. The lethal mean concentrations (LC₅₀) were 168 infective juveniles of S. websteri and 147 of S. carpocapsae, while the LC₉₀ values were 890 and 3,739 infective juveniles per larva, respectively. This study is the first report of a native S. websteri strain in Mexico, which is proposed as a potential biological control agent against S. acupunctatus.

Insects are a biotic resource used for human medicine, nutrition, and industry. Many are a potential source of compounds such as proteins, peptides, secondary metabolites, and polymers like silk, chitin, and chitosan for industry and biotechnology. The Mexican katydid, Pterophylla beltrani Bolivar & Bolivar, is an important insect pest that defoliates oaks (Quercus spp.) and other trees where it feeds and becomes abundant during summer in forests in Northeast Mexico. Several strategies based on extracts of compounds and sustainable metabolites for use as raw material have been proposed for its control and use. Antioxidant, chitin, and chitosan content of P. beltrani were analyzed. Extracted aqueous residue was evaluated for effect on fungal growth, and chitosan was evaluated to supplement the growth of entomopathogenic fungi. Aqueous extract from P. beltrani flour contained phenolic compounds (1.08 ± 0.049 GAE mg g^-1) that had little anti-fungal effect against three species of fungi, but did inhibit the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin. Yield of chitin was 11.8% and produced 58.8% chitosan, indicating the insect is a potential source of biochemical compounds. This could help support sustainable management of this pest.

The glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), is the primary insect vector of the xylem-limited plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa fastidiosa Wells (Xanthomonadales: Xanthomonadaceae), the bacterium that causes Pierce's disease of grape, Vitus sp. Because it is mobile and polyphagous, the glassy-winged sharpshooter is key to Pierce's disease outbreaks in California, Florida, and Texas. Adult age structure and X. fastidiosa foregut infectivity rates of glassy-winged sharpshooter from nine Texas vineyards in summer 2007 were assessed from archived samples. The ages of individuals were determined by measuring the red pigmentation of forewing intersections. Presence or absence of X. fastidiosa was determined in the foregut of pathogen-positive insects by quantitative PCR. Larger amounts of the associated pathogen in insects from two vineyards sampled in 2005 and 2006 were observed. No significant differences in average insect age among vineyards or collection dates were found in those years. However, significant differences in average pathogen load among multiple vineyards and collection dates were observed.

The potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Sulc), is the primary insect vector of the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum Leifting et al., the causal agent of zebra chip disease in solanaceous crops. Some phloem-feeding insects harbor bacterial communities determined by the food sources of the insects. Horizontal transmission of bacteria between individuals of the same species and insects of different species, with their host plants as reservoirs occurs in several plant insect systems. Ca. L. solanacearum is symbiotic in potato psyllid and can colonize plants before transmitted to its next insect host. Flower thrips, Frankliniella tritici (Fitch), that co-colonize plants have tested positive for Ca. L. solanacearum, although vector status is unknown. The bacterial community of thrips co-colonizing plants infected with Ca. L. solanacearum was analyzed and compared to that of potato psyllids on the same plants. Bacterial communities of samples were sequenced via the Illumina MiSeq platform and analyzed with macQIIME. Of the three thrips samples subjected to 16s bacterial community sequencing, the bacterium Ca. L. solanacearum comprised 6, 1, and 3% of their total bacterial community; of the three psyllid samples screened it comprised 1, 43, and 20% of the total bacterial community. This suggests that thrips can harbor the bacterium Ca. L. solanacearum.

The Guatemalan potato moth, Tecia solanivora (Povolny) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is the most important insect pest of potato, Solanum tuberosum L., worldwide. Larvae attack tubers and are difficult to control. The insect has been characterized by microsatellites and the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene. However, the studies used populations from S. tuberosum and no data are available for populations on other species of potatoes. We used mitochondrial gene markers cytochrome oxydase I and cytochrome b to analyze phylogeography of T. solanivora from S. tuberosum and S. phureja from Antioquia, Boyacá, Nariño, and Norte de Santander regions of Colombia, demonstrating the species was genetically structured and no genetic differentiation was found between the two hosts. The Tajima-Nei test showed the population from Boyacá where most potatoes are produced in Colombia was the only one with recent expansion. The divergence (expansion) time of T. solanivora populations from Boyacá occurred 180,000 years ago according to mismatch distribution analysis. Sequences of cytochrome b from Genbank from Canary Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Venezuela showed T. solanivora genetically structured as reported elsewhere. Populations under recent expansion are from Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela according to the Tajima-Nei test. Mismatch distribution analysis showed divergence in Guatemala occurred 1.5 million years ago, followed by Costa Rica at 1.38 million years, and Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia 388,000 years ago. Results coincided with reports of invasion patterns of the species from Central to South America after the species originated in Guatemala.

A survey of butterflies of Michoacán, Mexico, found 262 species in 131 genera, four subfamilies, and one family of Hesperioidea from 123 localities. Fortyfour species are reported as endemic to México. This is the first checklist of skippers for Michoacán, and 32% of the species recorded in the country are listed. The species are grouped according to distribution in biogeographical provinces and altitudinal ranges by using parsimony and similarity algorithms. The species are distributed by altitude, and this is corroborated by the analysis of the two algorithms.

Two new species of Boletina Staeger fungus gnats were discovered in western Michigan near the southern limit of the distribution of jack pine, Pinus banksiana Lambert. Neither species was observed during almost 10 years of trapping in a nearby swamp dominated by black ash (Fraxinus nigra Marshall) despite being so close to the drier evergreen locality (approximately 1 km) that one trapping spot could be seen from the other if vegetation were not in the way. This suggests habitat specificity for Boletina incisa Taber and Boletina rugosa Taber.

Stalk borers (Diatraea spp.) are important pests of maize, Zea mays L., in the Neotropical region. The objective of this research was to identify the Diatraea species and assess the injury they cause and their effect on yield of maize at Tabasco, Mexico. In total, 199 larvae and 54 pupae were found infesting 319 (62.4%) of 511 plants sampled. Species analyses showed 97.6% were Diatraea lineolata (Dyar) and 2.4% D. saccharalis (F). Despite the great amount of injury, no significant difference between yield and the number of nodes injured per plant was observed (R² = 0.014, P > 0.05). This is the first report of corn borers injuring maize in this area, and the findings suggest economic damage does not occur when stalk injury is <63% and maize matures before the borers complete development.

To detect the local parasitoids that attack the invasive pest spottedwinged Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, sentinel traps were placed from September 2014 to February 2015, at Colima, Mexico. Four generalist parasitoids (Leptopilina boulardi Barbotin, Carton & Kelner-Pillault, Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae Rondani, Spalangia simplex Perkins, and Trichopria drosophilae Perkins) were determined as biological control agents.