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The interactions between the lacewing Ceraeochrysa claveri (Navás) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) larva and the coconut mealybug Nipaecoccus nipae (Maskell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) were recorded. The third-instar lacewing larva constructed a dorsal packet using mealybug wax from both male pupal cases and the bodies of adult females. Surprisingly, live nymphs were also frequently placed into the dorsal packet. Prey mealybugs were discarded and not incorporated into the packet after consumption. When disturbed, adult female mealybugs reflex bled from their dorsal ostioles, contacting the mouthparts of the lacewing. The lacewing quickly retreated to clean the mouthparts on the substrate, providing further evidence that ostiolar fluids act as a defense mechanism for mealybugs. Despite repeatedly contacting the ostiolar fluid, the lacewing pupated and eclosed successfully. Macro video footage of dorsal packet construction and ostiolar reflex bleeding is included. This is the first report of C. claveri preying on N. nipae, the first evidence of C. claveri using mealybug wax to construct the dorsal packet, and the first account of reflex bleeding via the dorsal ostioles to deter predators in N. nipae.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CCEE7B47-B6E9-4D36-8860-A7F4DE5E717B
Paratelenomus saccharalis (Dodd) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) parasitizing Brachyplatys subaeneus (Westwood) eggs is reported for the first time for Panama. Brachyplatys subaeneus is an invasive species from Asia and is regarded as an important agricultural pest in the Americas.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CD3639E3-2A17-44D8-B73C-CA71C779BCCA
Korean encyrtids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) associated with scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha)
(2019)
Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) are sap-sucking plant parasites and economically important pests on agricultural and horticultural crops. Scale insects are often difficult to control since their body is protected by a wax cover. Parasitic wasps that live and develop in scale insects are important natural enemies and effective biological control agents of pest scale insects. Chalcid wasps of the family Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) comprise the largest group of parasitoids of scale insects, followed by the family Aphelinidae. Here, an updated list of all thirty-six species of encyrtids in twenty-three genera that have been identified or reported from South Korea is provided, along with a dichotomous taxonomic key to separate them.
A remarkable new species of Poecilocloeus (Orthoptera: Acrididae: Proctolabinae) found damaging coffee plantations in the Western Andes of Colombia is described and named P. coffeaphilus n. sp. This new species is part of a distinct and colorful group of Proctolabinae grasshoppers, with most species found at low altitudes in the rainforest of the Amazon basin. In contrast, the new species is found at elevations of 1600 to 1800 m in the canopy of dense cloud forests, in the southwestern part of the department of Antioquia (Western Cordillera, Colombian Andes). Information about the natural history, behavior, natural enemies and control strategies in coffee plantations is given for this new species of masked grasshopper. A key to the Neotropical species of the fruticolus species group is presented.
This study reviews the species of the tribe Smicronychini Seidlitz, 1891 found in southern Africa. In total, 18 species are recognized in this region, 12 of them being described as new (Sharpia madibai sp. nov., Afrosmicronyx cycnii sp. nov., A. louwi sp. nov., A. marshalli sp. nov., A. nebulosipennis sp. nov., Smicronyx pseudocoecus sp. nov., S. australis sp. nov., S. drakensbergensis sp. nov., S. gracilipes sp. nov., S. paucisquamis sp. nov., S. san sp. nov., S. similis sp. nov.). The following genera and species are newly reported from this area: Afrosmicronyx Hustache, 1935; Sharpia Tournier, 1873; Smicronyx pauperculus Wollaston, 1864; S. albosquamosus Wollaston, 1854 and S. namibicus Haran, 2018. New host plant taxa and plant associations for the tribe are reported among the families Gentianaceae Juss., Orobanchaceae Vent. and Convolvulaceae Juss. A key to species and images of the habitus of adults and male genitalia are provided.
Biological control of weeds in Vanuatu began in 1935, with the introduction of the tingid Teleonemia scrupulosa to control Lantana camara. To date, nine biological control agents have been intentionally introduced to control eight weed species. Seven of these agents have established on their respective hosts while an eighth, Zygogramma bicolorata, an agent for Parthenium hysterophorus has only recently been released and establishment is unlikely. The fate of a ninth agent, Heteropsylla spinulosa, released for the control of Mimosa diplotricha is unclear. Six other biological control agents, including Epiblema strenuana which was first detected in 2014 on P. hysterophorus on Efate have spread into the country unintentionally. Control of the target weeds range from inadequate to very good. By far the most successful agent has been Calligrapha pantherina which was introduced to control Sida acuta and Sida rhombifolia. The beetle was released on 14 islands and managed to spread to at least another 10 islands where it has effectively controlled both Sida spp. Control of the two water weeds, Eichhornia crassipes by Neochetina bruchi and N. eichhorniae and Pistia stratiotes by Neohydronomus affinis, has also been fairly good in most areas. Two agents, T. scrupulosa and Uroplata girardi, were released on L. camara, and four other agents have been found on the weed, but L. camara is still not under adequate control. The rust Puccinia spegazzinii was first released on Mikania micrantha in 2012 and successfully established. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is having an impact on M. micrantha, but detailed monitoring is required to determine its overall impact. Future prospects for weed biological control in Vanuatu are positive, with the expected greater spread of recently released agents and the introduction of new agents for P. hysterophorus, L. camara, Dolichandra unguis-cati and Spathodea campanulata.
In recent years, populations of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), have increased in rural citrus orchards and urban backyard gardens. In order to fi nd biological control options for D. citri, a search for natural enemies was conducted in the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. The collections were carried out in citrus orchards in rural areas and house gardens and street trees in urban areas.
Natural enemies were collected from D. citri found on Citrus spp. and Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack (Rutaceae). A total of 16 species of natural enemies of D. citri distributed in six families in fi ve orders are reported from Colombia.
Herein we provide an updated list of 95 species of arthropod (arachnids and insects) natural enemies of D. citri distributed in nine orders and 23 families recorded worldwide.
The Colombian fluted scale (CFS), Crypticerya multicicatrices Kondo & Unruh (Hemiptera: Monophlebidae) is a polyphagous scale insect which affects about 100 species of plants. Between 2010–2013, the species was reported as an invasive pest on the islands of San Andres and Old Providence, Colombian territory in the Caribbean sea.
Currently, populations of the CFS also have increased in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca State, mainland Colombia, affecting different host plants, especially leguminous trees such as Caesalpinia peltophoroides Benth., Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth., P. saman (Jacq.) Benth. (Fabaceae) and mango, Mangifera indica L. (Anacardiaceae). With the aim of searching for natural enemies to control the CFS, field studies were conducted in the city of Cali between February 2013 and October 2014. As a result of this study, two species of lady beetles were found feeding on CFS, i.e., Anovia punica Gordon and Rodolia cardinalis (Mulsant) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). This is the first record of R. cardinalis preying on CFS.
Cirsium arvense is one of the worst weeds in agriculture. As herbicides are not very effective and not accepted by organic farming and special habitats, possible biocontrol agents have been investigated since many decades. In particular plant pathogens of C. arvense have received considerable interest and have been promoted as “mycoherbicides” or “bioherbicides”. A total of 10 fungi and one bacterium have been proposed and tested as biocontrol agents against C. arvense. A variety of experiments analysed the noxious influence of spores or other parts of living fungi or bacteria on plants while others used fungal or bacterial products, usually toxins. Also combinations of spores with herbicides and combinations of several pathogens were tested. All approaches turned out to be inappropriate with regard to target plant specificity, effectiveness and application possibilities. As yet, none of the tested species or substances has achieved marketability, despite two patents on the use of Septoria cirsii and Phomopsis cirsii. We conclude that the potential of pathogens for biocontrol of C. arvense has largely been overestimated.
Agrobiont spider species are well adapted to arable systems, which have fairly uniform vegetation structure and pest assemblages over continent-wide areas. We wanted to study, whether agrobiont spider subassemblages and the life history of the most prominent agrobiont, Pardosa agrestis, show any regional variation within Hungary, where only modest climatic differences exist between the NW and SE parts of the country. We studied agrobiont species of spider assemblages in 27 alfalfa and 21 cereal fields with suction sampling and pitfalls. The similarity structure of these agrobiont sub-assemblages (Sørensen distance measure) was congruent with the geographic distance matrices (Eucledian distance), as tested by Mantel tests. However, if we considered sub-assemblages consisting of the non-agrobiont species, this congruency was always higher. Thus, agrobionts responded only moderately to geographical variation if we compare them to non-agrobiont species. We studied the generation numbers and the occurrence of the first adult individuals in P. agrestis; the most common agrobiont spider in Hungary. This comparison involved comparing fields along a NW – SE gradient during 6 sampling years in pairwise comparisons, where in each year a northern and a southern population was compared with a minimum distance of 126 km in between. In generation numbers there was no difference; we found two generations across Hungary. In contrast, the first occurrence of adult individuals was on average 15 days earlier in both generations in the more southern populations. Thus, it can be concluded that agrobionts show a fairly stable and relatively low magnitude response over country-sized geographical ranges.