Life Histories of the Seed Bugs, Kleidocerys punctatus and Kleidocerys virescens

The life cycles of the seed bugs, Kleidocerys punctatus Distant and Kleidocerys virescens F. (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae: Ischnorhynchinae), are reported for the first time. Description of all immature stages and adults are included. Adults and nymphs of K. punctatus are associated with several species of Alnus (Betulaceae), while those of K. virescens are associated with Nicotiana glauca Graham, Nicotiana tabacum L. (Solanaceae), and Buddleia crotonoides A. Gray and Buddleia sp. (Loganiaceae). Adults and nymphs feed mainly on the seeds, inside the dry fruit, but they also take plant juices from other reproductive and vegetative structures. Illustrations of the eggs, all nymphal instars, and the adults, as well as notes on their biology and their distribution in Mexico, are included

Morphospecies and Taxonomic Species Comparison for Hymenoptera

The use of morphospecies as surrogates for taxonomic species has been proposed as an alternative to overcome the identification difficulties associated with many invertebrate studies, such as biodiversity surveys. Hymenoptera specimens were collected by beating and pitfall traps, and were separated into morphospecies by a non-specialist with no prior training, and later identified by an expert taxonomist. The number of Hymenoptera morphospecies and taxonomic species was 37 and 42, respectively, representing an underestimation error of 12%. Different families presented varying levels of difficulty, and although the species estimation provided by the use of morphospecies initially appeared to have a relatively minor error rate, this was actually an artefact. Splitting and lumping errors balanced each other out, wrongly suggesting that morphospecies were reasonable surrogates for taxonomic species in the Hymenoptera. The use of morphospecies should be adopted only for selected target groups, which have been assessed as reliable surrogates for taxonomic species beforehand, and some prior training to the non-specialist is likely to be of primary importance

Life Cycle of the Water Scorpion, Laccotrephes japonensis, in Japanese Rice Fields and a Pond

A Laccotrephes japonensis (Nepidae: Heteroptera) population was studied based upon mark and recapture censuses in order to elucidate the seasonal pattern of habitat utilization in a rice paddy system including an irrigation pond between April and October, in 2006 and 2007. The seasonal pattern of nymphs and adults did not differ markedly between the rice fields and the pond. Survival rates of L. japonensis of all stages did not differ between the rice fields and the pond in 2006, but were lower in 2007 in both habitats. In 2007, however, the survival rate of L. japonensis nymphs in the pond was higher than in the rice fields. In rice fields, 36.3% of the overwintering adults were recaptured the following year. On the other hand, the recapture rate after overwintering in the pond was only 6.4%. Migration from the pond to the paddies and vice versa was observed. In summary, the rice fields and the pond may reinforce each other as reproductive and overwintering sites of L. japonensis, especially during unfavorable years

Dengue fever epidemic potential as projected by general circulation models of global climate change.

Climate factors influence the transmission of dengue fever, the world's most widespread vector-borne virus. We examined the potential added risk posed by global climate change on dengue transmission using computer-based simulation analysis to link temperature output from three climate general circulation models (GCMs) to a dengue vectorial capacity equation. Our outcome measure, epidemic potential, is the reciprocal of the critical mosquito density threshold of the vectorial capacity equation. An increase in epidemic potential indicates that a smaller number of mosquitoes can maintain a state of endemicity of disease where dengue virus is introduced. Baseline climate data for comparison are from 1931 to 1980. Among the three GCMs, the average projected temperature elevation was 1.16 degrees C, expected by the year 2050. All three GCMs projected a temperature-related increase in potential seasonal transmission in five selected cities, as well as an increase in global epidemic potential, with the largest area change occurring in temperate regions. For regions already at risk, the aggregate epidemic potential across the three scenarios rose on average between 31 and 47% (range, 24-74%). If climate change occurs, as many climatologists believe, this will increase the epidemic potential of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, given viral introduction and susceptible human populations. Our risk assessment suggests that increased incidence may first occur in regions bordering endemic zones in latitude or altitude. Endemic locations may be at higher risk from hemorrhagic dengue if transmission intensity increases

Sampling Scarab Beetles in Tropical Forests: The Effect of Light Source and Night Sampling Periods

Light traps have been used widely to sample insect abundance and diversity, but their performance for sampling scarab beetles in tropical forests based on light source type and sampling hours throughout the night has not been evaluated. The efficiency of mercury-vapour lamps, cool white light and ultraviolet light sources in attracting Dynastinae, Melolonthinae and Rutelinae scarab beetles, and the most adequate period of the night to carry out the sampling was tested in different forest areas of Costa Rica. Our results showed that light source wavelengths and hours of sampling influenced scarab beetle catches. No significant differences were observed in trap performance between the ultraviolet light and mercury-vapour traps, whereas these two methods caught significantly more species richness and abundance than cool white light traps. Species composition also varied between methods. Large differences appear between catches in the sampling period, with the first five hours of the night being more effective than the last five hours. Because of their high efficiency and logistic advantages, we recommend ultraviolet light traps deployed during the first hours of the night as the best sampling method for biodiversity studies of those scarab beetles in tropical forests

Ecological management of cereal stemborers in African smallholder agriculture through behavioural manipulation

1. Africa faces serious challenges in feeding its rapidly growing human population owing to the poor productivity of maize and sorghum, the most important staple crops formillions of smallholder farmers in the continent,with yields being among the lowest in the world. 2. A complex of lepidopterous stemborers attack cereals in Africa. However, their effective control is difficult, largely as a result of the cryptic and nocturnal habits of moths, and protection provided by host stem for immature pest stages.Moreover, current control measures are uneconomical and impractical for resource-poor farmers. 3. An ecological approach, based on companion planting, known as ‘push–pull’, provides effective management of these pests, and involves combined use of inter- and trap cropping systems where stemborers are attracted and trapped on trap plants with added economic value (‘pull’), and are driven away from the cereal crop by antagonistic intercrops (‘push’). 4. Novel defence strategies inducible by stemborer oviposition have recently been discovered, leading to the attraction of egg and larval parasitoids, in locally adapted maize lines but not in elite hybrids. We also established that landscape complexity did not improve the ecosystem service of biological control, but rather provided a disservice by acting as a ‘source’ of stemborer pests colonising the crop. 5. Here we review and provide new data on the direct and indirect effects of the push–pull approach on stemborers and their natural enemies, including the mechanisms involved, and highlight opportunities for exploiting intrinsic plant defences and natural ecosystem services in pest management in smallholder farming systems in Africa

The role of glacier mice in the invertebrate colonisation of glacial surfaces: the moss balls of the Falljökull, Iceland

Glacier surfaces have a surprisingly complex ecology. Cryoconite holes contain diverse invertebrate communities while other invertebrates, such as Collembola often graze on algae and windblown dead organic on the glacier surface. Glacier mice (ovoid unattached moss balls) occur on some glaciers worldwide. Studies of these glacier mice have concentrated on their occurrence and mode of formation. There are no reports of the invertebrate communities. But, such glacier mice may provide a suitable favourable habitat and refuge for a variety of invertebrate groups to colonise the glacier surface. Here we describe the invertebrate fauna of the glacier mice (moss balls) of the Falljökull, Iceland. The glacier mice were composed of Racomitrium sp. and varied in size from 8.0 to 10.0 cm in length. All glacier mice studied contained invertebrates. Two species of Collembola were present. Pseudisotoma sensibilis (Tullberg, 1876) was numerically dominant with between 12 and 73 individuals per glacier mouse while Desoria olivacea (Tullberg, 1871) occurred but in far lower numbers. Tardigrada and Nematoda had mean densities of approximately 200 and 1,000 respectively. No Acari, Arachnida or Enchytraeidae were observed which may be related to the difficulty these groups have in colonizing the glacier mice. We suggest that glacier mice provide an unusual environmentally ameliorated microhabitat for an invertebrate community dwelling on a glacial surface. The glacier mice thereby enable an invertebrate fauna to colonise an otherwise largely inhospitable location with implications for carbon flow in the system