Dinocampus coccinellae is a parasitoid wasp usually parasitizing ladybird beetles of the tribe Coccinellini. A field survey conducted between March and November 2016 revealed three hosts of this parasitoid in the Srinagar district of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir: two members of the Coccinellini (Oenopia conglobata and Coccinella undecimpunctata) and one of the Chilocorini (Priscibrumus uropygialis). Proportion of the latter (atypical) host that were parasitized was 0.09 and intermediate between that recorded for C. undecimpunctata (0.06) and O. conglobata (0.14). A series of laboratory experiments revealed that while a member of Coccinellini (O. conglobata) was more often attacked by D. coccinellae than a member of Chilocorini (P. uropygialis), the proportions of each species from which parasitoids emerged did not differ significantly. There were no significant differences between D. coccinellae females bred from O. conglobata and P. uropygialis, with respect to selection of the two host species and their suitability for the development of the parasitoid. However, members of the Chilocorini other than P. uropygialis (Chilocorus infernalis and Simmondsius pakistanensis) were rarely attacked by D. coccinellae and parasitoid larvae did not emerge from any of those attacked. The results of our experiments indicate that in Kashmir Himalayas D. coccinellae is adapted to parasitize hosts belonging to both Coccinellini and Chilocorini., Amir Maqbool, Imtiaz Ahmed, Piotr Kiełtyk, Piotr Ceryngier., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Large, ball rolling dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are competitively dominant and can strongly influence community succession in dung pads. Ball production by Scarabaeus sacer Linnaeus was recorded in the Kizilirmak Delta on the Black Sea coast of Turkey by using artificial dung pads from 125 g to 2,000 g. Utilisation of pads across the 16-fold range of pad sizes demonstrated behavioural variation that may reduce intraspecies competition. Ball production was highly concentrated, with 66 balls (61%) produced from 8 pads of the 3 largest pad sizes, which may be related to chemical attraction between males and females. Ball size increased with increasing pad size (P < 0.05) but the number of balls produced per 100 g of dung decreased with increasing pad size (P < 0.01). Pad size for maximum ball production and ball size were 1,371 g and 1,260 g, respectively. The highest and lowest percentage of dung used for ball production was 43% of 125 g pads and 13% of 2,000 g pads, respectively. Ball production and time of day were significantly related (P < 0.01); S. sacer was almost exclusively nocturnal, with 59% of all balls produced between 21.00 and 22.00. This optimum period for ball production early in the night may be a compromise between reduced risk of predation and the increased energy costs of ball production as the temperature falls., Gregory T. Sullivan, Sebahat K. Ozman-Sullivan, Jean-Pierre Lumaret, Myron P. Zalucki, Greg Baxter., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Rove beetles (Staphylinidae) are used to explore the forces that shaped the terrestrial fauna on Læsø, a young ca. 3000 year old Danish oceanic island located in the Kattegat strait between mainland Denmark and Sweden. We compile a detailed list of species of rove beetles for Læsø (328 species) and the surrounding Danish and Swedish regions (altogether 1075 species), which includes a standardized inventory of their body sizes, and the habitat and microhabitat preference of each species. The composition of the fauna on Læsø and adjacent mainland regions points to North-Eastern Jutland as the main source of the rove beetles on Læsø. Although large beetles are more active and likely to disperse than small beetles, there is no bias towards large species on the island indicating that the sea separating Læsø from the mainland has not been a barrier for rove beetle dispersal. The statistical analysis of the habitat and microhabitat preferences of the species of the entire system studied has shown that Læsø, compared to the mainland areas, is distinctly more dominated by ecological generalists, especially by species adapted to ephemeral, temporary humid microhabitats. Presumably, the mosaic of mostly dry open habitats available on Læsø filters for species, that are able to populate these suboptimal habitats via patches of humid but ephemeral microhabitats. A comprehensive eco-faunistic dataset for the Staphylinidae compiled for this study is the first modern account of the rove beetle fauna on the Danish island of Læsø., Aslak K. Hansen, Mathias J. Justesen, Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas, David B. Byriel, Jan Pedersen, Alexey Solodovnikov., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We investigated the predatory potential and food preference of different life stages of Coccinella septempunctata L. for a nutritious aphid (mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi) and toxic aphid (cabbage aphid, Brevicoryne brassicae). We provided all the life stages of C. septempunctata with either L. erysimi or B. brassicae and found that the second, third and fourth instar larvae and adult females of this predator consumed daily greater numbers of L. erysimi. However, the first instar larvae and adult males consumed similar numbers of both of these aphids. In choice condition, each larva, adult males and females were each provided separately with a mixed aphid diet in three proportions (i.e. low: high, equal: equal and high: low densities of L. erysimi: B. brassicae). We hypothesized that life stages of C. septempunctata will prefer L. erysimi regardless of its proportions. Laboratory experiments supported this hypothesis only at the adult level in terms of high values of β and C preference indices. However, it rejects this hypothesis at the larval level, as larvae preferred B. brassicae when provided with certain combinations and showed no preference in a few combinations. We infer that mixtures of nutritious and toxic aphids may enable this ladybird to overcome any probable nutritional deficiency and/or reduce the toxicity of a toxic diet, especially for the larvae. Results of the treatment in which a high proportion of B. brassicae were consumed along with fewer L. erysimi indicates that a mixed diet could be better for the development of immature stages of C. septempunctata., Mushtaq A. Guroo, Ahmad Pervez, Kuldeep Srivastava, Rakesh K. Gupta., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The Asian long-horned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, is a serious destructive pest of forests throughout China as it attacks a wide range of host plants. The effect of host trees on the cold hardiness of A. glabripennis larvae could be the basis for predicting the performance of this forest pest on different common hosts.To evaluate the effect of different species of host plant on the cold hardiness of overwintering larvae of A. glabripennis, we measured the supercooling point (SCP), fresh mass, protein content and concentrations of low molecular weight substances in overwintering larvae collected from three different host species (i.e., Populus opera, Populus tomentosa and Salix matsudana). Mean SCPs and protein contents of larvae from these three hosts differed significantly. The SCPs and protein contents of the larvae collected from P. opera and P. tomentosa were significantly higher than those collected from S. matsudana. The concentrations of glycerol, glucose and trehalose in overwintering larvae collected from these host species also differed significantly, but there were no significant differences in the concentrations of sorbitol and inositol. The larvae that were collected from S. matsudana had the highest concentrations of glycerol and trehalose and those from P. opera the lowest contents of glycerol, whereas those from P. tomentosa had the lowest concentrations of trehalose but the highest concentrations of glucose. Because of the significant differences in the quantities of these biochemical substances in their bodies, the cold hardiness of overwintering larvae of A. glabripennis was significantly dependent on the tree they fed on. These effects on the cold hardiness of the overwintering larvae might affect the selection of a host tree and therefore the spread of this beetle. and Yuqian Feng, Reaxit Tursun, Zhichun Xu, Fang Ouyang, Shixiang Zong.
The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, is a pest of stored products. It is also regarded as a model species for studying development, genetics, biology, physiology and biochemistry. Recently, it has become a model for use in RNA interference experiments. 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) is involved in insect metamorphosis and its role in organ development in T. castaneum are based on hormonal treatment in conjunction with RNAi. However, information on the biological, morphological and physiological effects of 20E on T. castaneum is still limited. This study reveals the responses of T. castaneum larvae to injections with various doses of 20E (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 ng / insect). The results show that larvae injected with 20E reached the prepupal, pupal and adult stages earlier than the control group. Different degrees of morphological change were observed in nine traits, including the appearance of pupal prothetelic organs in the larvae. Moreover, an injection of a high dose of 20E reduced the body weights of the resulting insects at each stage, as well as the length and width of elytra. The enzymatic activity of α-amylase in the resulting adults also decreased significantly. This indicates that injection of 20E caused precocious metamorphosis in T. castaneum by inducing changes in morphology and α-amylase activity, and the optimal concentrations that induce such phenomena were in the range of 100-200 ng / insect. Further investigations are needed to examine the roles of 20E in the regulation of α-amylase in T. castaneum., Nujira Tatun, Phiraya Kumdi, Jatuporn Tungjitwitayakul, Sho Sakurai., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky), is a major pest of stored grain kernels. Irradiation is an established technique for controlling insects in stored grain and is a major stress factor affecting these insects. Since heat shock protein (hsp) genes respond to this stress, we proposed that hsps may be associated with irradiated stress tolerance in S. zeamais. The responses of the maize weevil to exposure to ultraviolet-C (UV-C) and microwave irradiation were assessed at four developmental stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The results revealed that exposure to UV-C (254 nm, < 8 h) did not affect the survival of the maize weevils; however, Szhsp70, Szhsc70 and Szhsp90 mRNA levels significantly increased during the first 1 h of UV-C exposure. The median lethal time (LT50) of exposure to microwave irradiation indicated that the adult stage was more tolerant of microwave irradiation than the other developmental stages. Microwave irradiation enhanced the expression of the three hsps, but the intensity of up-regulation differed among the three genes, with Szhsp70 the most highly up-regulated. Our experiments revealed that UV-C and microwave irradiation influenced the expression profile of hsp genes in S. zeamais. At the tissue level, the gene responses to UV-C and microwave irradiation varied greatly in different tissues., Jatuporn Tungjitwitayakul, Nujira Tatun, Boongeua Vajarasathira, Sho Sakurai., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Traps baited with plant volatiles and/or bark beetle pheromones have been used to survey for exotic and potentially invasive bark and wood-boring beetles in North America since the mid-1990s. Recent discoveries of sex and aggregation pheromones in the Cerambycidae offer means of improving detection rates of longhorn beetles, but little is known of their effects on detection of bark and ambrosia beetles in the subfamily Scolytinae. Our objectives were to determine the efficacy of host volatile trap lures for survey and detection of Scolytinae species and whether that efficacy was affected by the addition of longhorn beetle pheromones. More than 12,000 specimens and 36 species of Scolytinae were collected in two field trapping bioassays conducted in the Russian Far East in 2009 and 2010. The lure combination of spruce blend (a blend of racemic α-pinene, (-) β-pinene, (+)-3-carene, (+)-limonene, and α-terpinolene) and ethanol significantly increased detection rates and mean catches of Hylastes brunneus Erichson, Hylastes obscurus Chapuis, Ips typographus (L.), and Dryocoetes striatus Eggers compared with unbaited traps. The addition of the longhorn beetle pheromones, E-fuscumol, or E-fuscumol acetate, to traps baited with spruce blend and ethanol, slightly reduced mean catches of D. striatus but otherwise did not affect catch of any Scolytine species. Baiting traps with ethanol significantly increased mean catches of Anisandrus apicalis (Blandford), Anisandrus dispar (Fabr.), Anisandrus maiche (Kurenzov), Xyleborinus attenuatus (Blandford), Xyleborinus saxesenii (Ratzeburg), Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford), Scolytoplatypus tycon Blandford, and Trypodendron lineatum (Olivier). By themselves, the longhorn beetle pheromones, racemic hydroxyhexan-2-one and racemic hydroxyoctan-2-one, were not attractive to any Scolytine species. However, when added to ethanol-baited traps, hydroxyhexan-2-one lures significantly increased mean catch of S. tycon, hydroxyoctan-2-one lures significantly reduced mean catches of A. maiche and X. attenuatus, and lures of either hydroxyketone significantly reduced mean catch of T. lineatum. The lure treatments that detected the greatest number of species per sampling effort were spruce blend plus ethanol in 2009 (16 Scolytinae species and 13 species of Cerambycidae combined in an eight-trap sample) and hydroxyhexan-2-one plus ethanol in 2010 (20 Scolytinae species and 7 species of Cerambycidae combined in an eight-trap sample). Species accumulation curves did not reach an asymptote for any lure treatment, indicating that many species would go undetected in samples of 8-9 traps per site., Jon D. Sweeney, Peter Silk, Vasily Grebennikov, Michail Mandelshtam., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Coccinellids are effective predators and a key component of the predator guild in rice ecosystems. In order to enhance their efficacy, a study was undertaken to assess the seasonal movement of coccinellids into rice fields and the role of the surrounding flora on their colonization. The seasonal abundance of coccinellids and their prey was recorded on the rice crop and the surrounding flora at fortnightly intervals from 2012 to 2015. Coccinellid prey range was assessed using PAGE electrophoresis. The herbivorous insects associated with weeds were Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis craccivora (Koch), Cicadulina bipunctata (Melichar), Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), Sitobion sp., Thaia oryzivora Ghauri and Zygina maculifrons Matsumura. Of the species of coccinellids recorded in rice fields, Harmonia octomaculata (Fabricius), Micraspis discolor (F.), Propylea dissecta (Mulsant), Coccinella transversalis Fabricius, Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius), Scymnus nubilus Mulsant and Brumoides suturalis (Fabricius) were also recorded on weeds. The esterase profiles indicated that the leafhoppers and aphids on the weeds were the prey of the coccinellids before they colonized the rice fields. The coccinellids recorded on the weeds showed bands corresponding to the insects present on the weeds. Beetles collected from rice fields had different bands, some of which corresponded to the green leafhopper (GLH) Nephotettix virescens Distant, the brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens Stal and white backed planthopper (WBPH) Sogatella furcifera Hovarth infesting rice. In addition, some bands corresponded to hoppers and aphids that were present on the surrounding flora. The results indicate the importance of surrounding flora in the conservation and colonization of rice fields by coccinellids., Chitra Shanker, Lydia Chintagunta, Sampathkumar Muthusamy, Sunil Vailla, Amudhan Srinivasan, Gururaj Katti., and Obsahuje bibliografii