Instructions for authors

The Israel Journal of Entomology is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original contributions in all areas of entomology and has a world-wide scope. Authors are entirely responsible for statements, whether fact or opinion. Manuscripts are considered on the understanding that they have not been submitted elsewhere for prior or simultaneous publication. Manuscripts are reviewed by at least two independent referees and approved by the Editorial Board before acceptance. Authors may suggest referees for consideration by the Editorial Board. Reviewers will remain anonymous unless they expressly request to be identified. Articles are first published online as soon as they are ready; a hard copy of the journal is printed annually and contains reprints of papers published in the preceding year

Yuri Popov — as we remember him

Dr. Yuri Popov, born 5 March 1936, passed away 16 November 2016. Upon graduation from the Entomology Department of Moscow State University, he joined the Arthropoda Lab of the Paleontological Institute, where he studied fossil and living true bugs and their kin and became a major expert in that area. He was a man of many talents and had lots of friends all over the world. The few flashbacks collected here are but a small tribute to his memory

Changes to the Fossil Record of Insects through Fifteen Years of Discovery

The first and last occurrences of hexapod families in the fossil record are compiled from publications up to end-2009. The major features of these data are compared with those of previous datasets (1993 and 1994). About a third of families (>400) are new to the fossil record since 1994, over half of the earlier, existing families have experienced changes in their known stratigraphic range and only about ten percent have unchanged ranges. Despite these significant additions to knowledge, the broad pattern of described richness through time remains similar, with described richness increasing steadily through geological history and a shift in dominant taxa, from Palaeoptera and Polyneoptera to Paraneoptera and Holometabola, after the Palaeozoic. However, after detrending, described richness is not well correlated with the earlier datasets, indicating significant changes in shorter-term patterns. There is reduced Palaeozoic richness, peaking at a different time, and a less pronounced Permian decline. A pronounced Triassic peak and decline is shown, and the plateau from the mid Early Cretaceous to the end of the period remains, albeit at substantially higher richness compared to earlier datasets. Origination and extinction rates are broadly similar to before, with a broad decline in both through time but episodic peaks, including end-Permian turnover. Origination more consistently exceeds extinction compared to previous datasets and exceptions are mainly in the Palaeozoic. These changes suggest that some inferences about causal mechanisms in insect macroevolution are likely to differ as well

Mixed hummingbird: Long-proboscid-fly pollination in 'ornithophilous' Embothrium coccineum (Proteaceae) along a rainfall gradient in Patagonia, Argentina

The pollination ecology of eight populations of the tree Embothrium coccineum was studied along a steep rainfall gradient in NW Patagonia, Argentina. The showy red flowers suggest an ornithophilous pollination syndrome and they have been reported to attract hummingbirds in Argentina and hummingbirds and passerines in Chile. At each population, flower visitors were recorded and floral rewards were analysed. We found a highly significant increase in nectar concentration towards the drier end of the gradient, but this change was not related to the turnover of species in the flower-visitor assemblage of E. coccineum. In addition to the hummingbird Sephanoides sephaniodes (Green-Backed Firecrown, Trochilidae) which is widespread throughout the temperate forest at this latitude, other species seem to be locally important as pollinators of E. coccineum in some sites in Argentina (e.g. two long-tongued tanglewing flies (Nemestrinidae) of the genus Trichophthalma). The long-dated occurrence of tanglewing flies in South America, relative to the more modern hummingbirds, suggests that ornithophily may be a derived character in E. coccineum, the ancestral condition being pollination by Nemestrinidae.Fil: Devoto, Mariano. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Botánica Agrícola; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Montaldo, Norberto Horacio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Botánica Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Medan, Diego. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Botánica Agrícola; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin