Sulawesi Island has a high density of endemic animal species, including insects in the order Trichoptera. We describe the males of four new species of Cheumatopsyche (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) from North Sulawesi (Provinsi Sulawesi Utara), and provide a checklist of the Cheumatopsyche species from the Indonesian archipelago. Describing the aquatic insect fauna is an important step toward establishing biomonitoring protocols in Indonesia, which is experiencing rapid development and water pollution problems.

Four Chinese species of Aischrocrania Hendel, 1927 are reviewed including one newly described: A. aldrichi Hendel, A. brevimedia Wang, A. parabrevimedia sp. nov. and A. quadrimaculata (Shiraki). Detailed descriptions, illustrations and distributions for each Chinese species are given and a key to all species of this genus is provided.

Japonitata clavata Wu & Yang 1998 is synonymized with Paraplotes clavicornis Gressitt & Kimoto 1963. Japonitata rugatipennis Chen & Jiang 1986 and J. semifulva Jiang 1989 are redescribed and transferred from Japonitata Strand, 1935 to Paraplotes Laboissière 1933.

Two new species, Liroetis unicolor sp. nov. and L. violaceipennis sp. nov. from China are described and illustrations of the adult habitus and the male aedeagus are provided.

Arthropod species diversity was compared between two human corpses confined to a small geographic area during the winter and summer of 2004 in Santa Clara County, California. One of the primary flies collected from the corpse in the summer (Compsomyiops callipes) as well as two silphid species (Nicrophorus nigritus and Necrophilus hydrophiloides) in the winter appear to be new collection records on human remains. Different arthropod species were collected from both corpses and, in general, arthropods were more numerous on the corpse found in the summer. These differences can most likely be attributed to seasonal variation. This comparison demonstrates how seasonality impacts arthropod succession, often an important indicator of postmortem interval.

Aleuroplatus coronata (Quaintance 1900) and A. gelatinosus (Cockerell 1898) are native, sympatric whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) that develop on live oaks, Quercus spp. (Fagaceae) in California. This study provides characters to separate them in all postembryonic stages. The phenology of these whiteflies was studied in Riverside County, California on one tree each of Quercus agrifolia Née and Q. engelmannii Greene. Their phenology was almost identical. Both species are univoltine. Adult emergence and oviposition are synchronized with the flush of new foliage in late March and April; however, egg hatch does not occur until late May or early June, and nymphal development occurs primarily after leaf maturation and hardening. Both species attain the final (fourth) nymphal instar by late summer and remain in this stage until adult emergence the following Spring. Both species were abundant on Q. agrifolia, but on the adjacent Q. engelmannii tree, only A. coronata was abundant. On Q. agrifolia, eggs of both species were laid on both the new flush and on the previous year's foliage, whereas on Q. engelmannii, oviposition was almost exclusively on the new flush. This corresponds to the longevity of the foliage; leaves of Q. agrifolia apparently survive two years, allowing development of a second generation of whiteflies, whereas leaves of Q. engelmannii last little over one year, and thus would be unsuitable for a second generation. The sympatric distribution, shared hosts and almost identical phenology give these whitefly species a very high degree of niche overlap. A. coronata usually dominates numerically over A. gelatinosus, but this varies among trees and among seasons.

Species of the velvet ant genus Dasymutilla exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism and many are known from only one sex. Several sets of species from the southwestern U.S. have been suspected of being conspecific based on similar geographic ranges. Here we present DNA sequence data to show that D. candida Mickel is a junior synonym of D. thetis (Blake), D. errabunda Mickel is a junior synonym of D. heliophila (Cockerell), D. caneo (Blake) is a junior synonym of D. monticola (Cresson), D. dugesii (Cockerell and Casad) is a junior synonym of D. foxi (Cockerell), and D. reclusa (Mickel) is a junior synonym of D. birkmani (Melander). Based on genetic and morphological similarity, we also find that D. paenulata Mickel is a junior synonym of D. monticola. Based on a pair taken in copula, D. bollii (Fox) is a junior synonym of D. creon (Blake). Complete diagrams and descriptions of the male genitalia are given for the first time for each species.