In the course of cytogenetic studies on Alegoria castelnaui Fleutiaux & Sallé 1889 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Tenebrioninae: Ulomini) from Guadeloupe, a number of adult specimens were dissected. A larva was found in the abdomens of almost all of the females. The karyotype, 20,XX / 20,Xyp, and the presence of heterochromatin at multiple chromosomal locations, of the larvae and adults were similar, which excludes parasitism and indicates viviparous reproduction. The adverse habitat of the adults, i.e., putrid and fermenting pseudo-stems of banana trees rather than geo-climatic conditions, may explain the occurrence of viviparity in this species. This is the first example of (ovo-)viviparity in the Ulomini tribe and among New World Tenebrionidae. A. castelnaui is regularly collected on banana trees infested with the weevil Cosmopolites sordidus Germar, 1824, a major pest of banana trees around the word. The coexistence of these two species on banana trees may be coincidental but another Ulomini species, Eutochia pulla Erichson 1843, is described as an egg predator of C. sordidus in Africa and therefore, A. castelnaui could also be a predator of this pest.
Sampling of insect communities is very challenging and for reliable interpretation of results the effects of different sampling protocols and data processing on the results need to be fully understood. We compared three different commonly used methods for sampling forest beetles, freely hanging flight-intercept (window) traps (FWT), flight-intercept traps attached to trunks (TWT) and pitfall traps placed in the ground (PFT), in Scots pine dominated boreal forests in eastern Finland. Using altogether 960 traps, forming 576 sub-samples, at 24 study sites, 59760 beetles belonging to 814 species were collected over a period of a month. All of the material was identified to species, with the exception of a few species pairs, to obtain representative data for analyses. Four partly overlapping groups were used in the analyses: (1) all, (2) saproxylic, (3) rare and (4) red-listed species. In terms of the number of species collected TWTs were the most effective for all species groups and the rarer species the species group composed of (groups 1-2-3-4) the larger were the differences between the trap types. In particular, the TWTs caught most red-listed species. However, when sample sizes were standardized FWTs and TWTs caught similar number of species of all species groups. PFTs caught fewer species of all species groups, whether the sample sizes were standardized or not. In boreal forests they seem to be unsuitable for sampling saproxylic, rare and red-listed species. However, the PFTs clearly sampled different parts of species assemblages than the window traps and can be considered as a supplementary method. The abundance distribution of saproxylic species was truncated lognormal in TWT and pooled material, whereas unclassified material failed to reveal lognormal distribution in all the trap types and pooled material. The results show that even in boreal forests sample sizes of at least thousands, preferably tens of thousands of individuals, collected by a high number of traps are needed for community level studies. Relevant ecological classification of material is also very important for reliable comparisons. Differences in the performance of trap types should be considered when designing a study, and in particular when evaluating the results.
One new genus and nine new species of Staphylinidae are described from Baltic amber, namely Palaeosepedophilus gen.n. and the species P. succinicus sp.n., Lathrobium balticum sp.n., Lathrobium succini sp.n., Lathrobium ambricum sp.n., Lathrobium jantaricum sp.n., Sepedophilus balticus sp.n., Dictyon antiquus sp.n., Phymatura electrica sp.n., Aleochara baltica sp.n. Their affinity with related species is discussed.
A new species group and five new species of mites of the genus Pavania Lombardini, 1949 belonging to the family Dolichocybidae (Acari: Heterostigmata) are described from Iran. Pavania gymnopleuri Hajiqanbar & Khaustov sp. n., P. sabzevarensis Hajiqanbar & Khaustov sp. n. and P. onthophagi Hajiqanbar & Khaustov sp. n., represent a new gymnopleuri species group. Two new species are also described in the fusiformis group: P. kamalii Hajiqanbar & Khaustov sp. n. and P. elongata Hajiqanbar & Khaustov sp. n. All new species are associated with scarabaeid and carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Carabidae). This is the first record of the family Dolichocybidae from Iran. The leg setation and geographic distribution of all genera of this family are discussed and keys to genera and species of the genus Pavania are provided.
A new subgenus Leasphaericus (of Sphaericus) with two new species, S. (L.) flavipennis and S. (L.) diversevillosus, are described from North West Cape and Barrow Island, in Western Australia. With the exception of one anthropophilous and paracosmopolitan species, the genus Sphaericus had been recorded only from the southern Palaearctic area. The discovery of Australian autochthonous Sphaericus suggests that this genus may be more diversified in other areas, namely in Africa.
The Metriorrhynchus fauna of the Philippines is revised. All known species are redescribed and seven new species are added: M. isarogensis sp. n., M. menieri sp. n., M. mindanaoensis sp. n., M. newbataanensis sp. n., M. ochii sp. n., M. palawanensis sp. n., and M. takedai sp. n. Additionally, M. yoshioi sp. n. is described from Sulawesi. Xylobanus longissimus Pic, 1922 is transferred to Metriorrhynchus, and Metriorrhynchus pallidus (Dalman in Schoenherr, 1818) is transferred to Leptotrichalus Kleine, 1925. The dispersal routes and speciation of Metriorrhynchus from the Philippines, Sulawesi and the Oriental Region were studied using mtDNA markers. One dispersal event is supposed for establishing of the Greater Sunda Islands fauna and another one for the Philippine fauna. Both faunas underwent speciation in the respective areas and all species show high degree of endemism. The Metriorrhynchus in Palawan is of Philippine origin in contrast with the tectonic history of Palawan and its connection with Borneo during the last glacial maximum.
The species of the genus Microtrichalus Pic, 1921 represented in the Philippines are revised. Six species are placed in the genus; in addition to M. basipennis (Pic, 1926), two species are described as new (M. retractus sp. n. and M. salvani sp. n., both from Mindanao), and three species are transferred from the genus Trichalus Waterhouse, 1877: M. bakeri (Kleine, 1929) comb. n., M. costilis (Kleine, 1926) comb. n. and M. communis (Waterhouse, 1879) comb. n. A key to the six Philippine Microtrichalus species and illustrations of their important diagnostic characters are provided. Trichalus nigricauda Bourgeois, 1886 and T. longicollis Bourgeois, 1883 are transferred to the genus Leptotrichalus Kleine, 1925. Leptotrichalus mindorosus Pic, 1925 is proposed to be a junior subjective synonym of Leptotrichalus longicollis (Bourgeois, 1883).
Many species of carabid beetles are important pre- and post-dispersal seed feeders of herbaceous plants. Here we summarise data from dissections, field observations, rearing and "cafeteria" experiments on 55 granivorous and 188 omnivorous species that occur in Italy. We tested the hypothesis that seed feeding carabids are restricted to taxa with pronounced morphological adaptations for manipulating and crushing seeds in both the larval and adult stages. The feeding guilds of carabids were rearranged into the following groups: (i) strict predators with long mandibles and predaceous larvae, often depending also on non-prey food; (ii) omnivorous species with stout mandibles and larvae of a seed-eating morphotype; (iii) granivorous species, feeding only on seeds with larvae sometimes of the scarabeoid c-form type. The seed feeding carabids in the Italian fauna belong to the tribe Zabrini (Amara and Zabrus genera) and to all the Harpalinae (sub)tribes, from Anisodactylini to Ditomina. The time of reproduction seems to be associated with habitat preference; wetland or dry open land, rather than true granivorous versus omnivorous habits, but in stenophagous seed feeders, a phenological coincidence with particular plants is sometimes recorded., Federica Talarico, Anita Giglio, Roberto Pizzolotto, Pietro Brandmayr., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Semi-natural habitats are key components of rural landscapes because they shelter a significant number of overwintering arthropods that are beneficial to agriculture. However, woodlots are semi-natural habitats with high patch-level heterogeneity and this aspect has been poorly studied. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of woodlot heterogeneity on overwintering ground beetles. Woodlot heterogeneity was characterized in terms of distance from the woodlot boundary and date of the most recent logging operation. We used emergence traps to quantify the population density of ground beetles that overwintered in the different parts of the woodlot. In woodlot edges the densities and species richness of ground beetles were significantly higher than in the rest of the woodlot. Ground beetles that are active in crop fields overwintered in the edges but not in the inner zone of the woodlot. Species assemblages of ground beetles overwintering in the edges were highly diverse. The date of the most recent logging operation did not explain the distribution of ground beetles that overwintered in the woodlot. Our results show that woodlots, and in particular their edges, are used as a winter shelter by ground beetles that spend part of their life in crops, which potentially favours biological control in adjacent crop fields. and Anthony Roume, Annie Ouin, Laurent Raison, Marc Deconchat.
Endo-polygalacturonases (PGs) are hydrolytic enzymes involved in the degradation of pectin, one of the major components of plant cell wall. While PGs from fungi, bacteria and plants have been extensively studied, PGs from insects are much less known, although they are likely to play an important role in insect-plant interactions. Presence of PGs has been reported for both piercing-sucking and chewing insect species, and possibly more commonly in mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae). A screening of some common mirid species and other insects, belonging to different orders and families, was conducted using agarose diffusion assays run at different pHs. All the mirid species tested [Lygus rugulipennis Popp., L. pratensis (L.), Orthops kalmi (L.), Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze) and Closterotomus norwegicus (Gmelin)] showed PG activity, mainly at pH 7-8, whereas no activity was recorded for the other insect species, except Sitophilus sp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). PG activity in females of L. pratensis was significantly higher than in males, whereas there were no differences between the sexes in the other species. In all these species, PGs were present both in the salivary glands and the gut, with a higher activity in the salivary glands, confirming the role of these enzymes in the feeding behaviour of mirid bugs. Inhibition of mirid PGs by polygalacturonase-inhibiting proteins (PGIPs) from different plant sources was analysed at pH 7. PGIPs are extracellular plant proteins known for their ability to inhibit fungal PGs and restrict fungal colonization. Two PGIPs from Phaseolus vulgaris (PvPGIP3 and PvPGIP4) inhibited PGs of all the mirid bugs tested. This information may be helpful for the development of innovative insect-resistant plant varieties, for use in low-impact IPM.