Females of the white grub beetle, Dasylepida ishigakiensis, release both (R)- and (S)-2-butanol as sex pheromones, but the males are only attracted to (R)-2-butanol. In laboratory-reared females, the proportion of the (R)-isomer decreased significantly as their calling opportunities increased and as they aged. We examined whether such qualitative changes also occur in field populations. We collected virgin females from the field and then trapped and analysed the volatiles emitted during their first and second callings. The ratio of (R)- to (S)-2-butanol (R/S) was 78:22 at the first calling, but shifted to 39:61 at the second calling. While investigating the composition of the female pheromones, the question arose as to whether the male preferences change in response to the shift in female pheromone composition. To answer this question, we observed the behaviour of young and old males in response to various R/S ratios as lures in the laboratory and in the field. In the flight tunnel assay of laboratory-reared individuals, young males touched female models with a 9:1 R/S ratio lure less than those with pure (R)-2-butanol; however, older males touched the two groups with equivalent frequency. In the field trap test, older males were much more attracted to (R)-2-butanol-scented lures. When we tested using lures with the same amount of (R)-2-butanol but added different amounts of the (S)-isomer, we found that increased levels of (S)-2-butanol resulted in lower attractiveness to males. (S)-2-butanol was confirmed to have an inhibitive activity in the attractiveness of (R)-2-butanol.

In the course of a search for parasites of Cercopidae in Central America, made on behalf of the Government of Trinidad in 1916 and 1917, I came across a froghopper of the genus Clastoptera destroying the flowers of cacao in various localities in Panama and just over the border in Costa Rica.

Abgrallaspis pictor is described as new from specimens collected on Cymbidium sp.in a nursery in England. It damages the plants by causing leaf-spotting. The orchid plants were collected in North India in 1968.

A collection of Indian Tachinid flies was received some time ago through the kindness of Dr. A. D. Imms. An examination has shown that most of the specimens are new, and these are described forthwith. In the use of genera a conservative course has been adopted, and the new species have been placed for the time being at least in genera already in use.

The type specimens have been deposited for the present in the National Collection of Insects maintained by the Entomological Branch of the Department of Agriculture at Ottawa.

There has been much confusion in the taxonomy of the species of Dysdercus in the Caribbean area, and this contribution is an attempt to straighten out the nomenclature and synonymy for future workers on these important pests, until such time as a complete revision of the Neotropical Dysdercus can be attempted.

Food-baited dishes were used to monitor the impact of ground-sprayed DDT (4% WP @ approx. 200 g/ha) and deltamethrin (0.05% SC @ 2.6 g/ha) for tsetse fly (Glossina spp.) control, on epigeal ants in mopane woodland in north-western Zimbabwe. Twenty species of ants were recorded at dishes baited with various types of food. Pheidole spp. and Monomorium opacum Forel (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) were predominant, both in the number of baits attended and in the number of workers present at individual baits. Season apparently had a greater effect on the composition and activity of the ground foraging ant assemblage than did either pesticide. There was a decline in the rate at which baits were found and in species richness of the ant assemblage as the dry season progressed and several species also showed changes in their ability to locate baits. There was no major pesticide induced disruption of the species richness or food finding ability of the diurnal ground foraging ant assemblage sampled. However, foraging success by Platythyrea cribrinodis (Gerstaecker) (Formicidae: Ponerinae) was reduced immediately after spraying with deltamethrin. Subtle effects of either insecticide on rarer species cannot be discounted from the results of this study.

The adults of the weevil, Euthyrrhinus meditabundus, Fabr., were frequently taken in the forest country to the south of Darwin, Northern Territory, and on several occasions they were bred from the branches of two species of indigenous trees and from custard apples, Poincianas and two unidentified species of introduced ornamental trees growing in the Darwin Botanic Gardens. As a rule the infestation of these trees was not heavy, although Poincianas occasionally showed considerable injury. Mango trees, which were frequently badly damaged and sometimes destroyed by termites (Mastotermes darwinensis), appeared to be immune from attack by Euthyrrhinus, even when growing in close proximity to infested trees of other kinds.

The family of the Trypetidæ is of great economic importance, for among its numerous genera are to be found many pests of the orchard and farm. The flies of this family are rarely brought to the notice of Europeans in West Africa, for there farming operations are entirely in the hands of the native population and the amount of damage done by these insects is perhaps insufficiently appreciated by Europeans; but from observations made in my own gardens, during a long West African experience, I believe the loss caused by their attacks must be considerable. The flies which are responsible for the damage observed belong to two genera—Ceratitis, MacLeay, and Dacus, Fabricius.

The two weevils associated with the living stems of the banana plant in Uganda are Cosmopolites sordidus (Germ.) and Temnoschoita nigroplagiata (Qued.); the damage caused by the former has been known for many years but the latter, which usually breeds in rotting stems, has only recently been shown to attack living ones. T. nigroplagiata occurs in every banana-growing area in the territory and is particularly abundant in some parts of western Uganda where C. sordidus, which is otherwise widespread, is rare or absent. Other species of Temnoschoita associated with the banana plant that occur in Uganda but that are rare, are T. basipennis Duv., bred from larvae in rotting pseudostems, and T. erudita, Duv., known only from the adult.

The full-grown larva of T. nigroplagiata is described in detail and characters are given for separating the larva and pupa of this species from those of C. sordidus.

The map of South America shows Peru as a rather long, narrow country, broadening at the north, and presumably tropical in climate judging by its position just south of the Equator, but with high mountains close to the coast. But it does not show the cold ocean current coming from the south—the Humboldt Current—or ar least we are not accustomed to noticing such presumably minor features, even though in the case of Peru, this is equal in importance with the mountains in determining the climate of the country and every factor that the climate may affect.

The egg parasitoid Cleruchoides noackae Lin & Huber, 2007 (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) is originated from Australia and the main biological control agent of Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpenter & Dellapé, 2006 (Hemiptera: Thaumastocoridae) on Eucalyptus L'Hér (Myrtaceae). Companies that grow Eucalyptus are in need of a mass rearing protocol to increase the number of individuals produced and improve the quality of this parasitoid. The aim of this study was to define a protocol for mass rearing C. noackae in T. peregrinus eggs, based in the evaluations of the key biological attributes of this parasitoid in the parental and F1 generations, after the cold storage of the parasitised host eggs. Two methods were tested as C. noackae rearing protocols. In the first, parasitised eggs of T. peregrinus by C. noackae were cold stored for 7 days after being left in a climatic chamber at 24 ± 2°C, 60 ± 10% RH and a photoperiod of 12:12 (light:dark) h (standard environmental conditions) for 3, 6, 9 or 12 days. In the second, T. peregrinus eggs parasitised by C. noackae were maintained in a climatic chamber under standard environmental conditions for 6 days, after which these eggs were cold-stored for 0 (control), 7, 14 or 21 days. Parasitism (%), and the development period (parasitism to adult) and female proportion (%) of C. noackae were evaluated. Based on the results (parental generation: parasitism, around 45%; F1 generation: parasitism, around 55%; development period, around 16 days; female proportion, around 60%), eggs should be stored at 5°C on the sixth day after parasitism by C. noackae and maintained at this temperature for 7 days. The cold storage of T. peregrinus eggs, after parasitism, can be included in the mass rearing protocols of the parasitoid C. noackae.

A recent study on ladybird, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius) demonstrates that males perform post-copulatory mate guarding in the form of prolonged mating durations. We investigated whether food resource fluctuation affects pre- and post-copulatory behaviour of M. sexmaculatus. It has not been studied before in ladybirds. For this, adults were subjected to prey resource fluctuations sequentially at three levels: post-emergence (Poe; 10 days), pre-mating (Prm; 24 h) and post-mating (Pom; 5 days; only female). The food resource conditions at each level could be any one of scarce, optimal or abundant. Pre-copulatory and post-copulatory behaviour, and reproductive output were assessed. Post-emergence and pre-mating nutrient conditions significantly influenced the pre-copulatory behaviour. Males reared on scarce post-emergence conditions were found to require significantly higher number of mating attempts to establish mating unlike males in the other two food conditions. Under scarce post-emergence and pre-mating conditions, time to commencement of mating and latent period were high but opposite result was obtained for mate-guarding duration. Fecundity and per cent egg viability were more influenced by post-mating conditions, with scarce conditions stopping oviposition regardless of pre-mating and post-emergence conditions. Present results indicate that pre- and post-copulatory behaviour of ladybird is plastic in nature in response to food resource fluctuations.

Myzus persicae (Sulzer) is an important agricultural pest worldwide causing major economic losses due to its ability to transmit over 100 viruses including Potato virus Y (PVY). Myzus persicae shows considerable variation with respect to performance on its host plants. The objective of this study was to use a survival experiment, behavioural observations, including observations of probing and feeding behaviour obtained using the electrical penetration graph (EPG) technique, and a PVY acquisition experiment to determine whether or not potato was still the more suitable host for M. persicae originating on potato and reared on a novel host, table beet, for over 15 years. In a survival experiment, the pre-reproductive period was significantly longer while adult survival and whole longevity were significantly lower for M. persicae reared on beet fed beet leaves compared to M. persicae reared on potato fed potato leaves. The number of progenies produced and fecundity were both significantly reduced (90 and 85%, respectively) for M. persicae reared on beet fed beet leaves. Ethological observations and EPG assessment of M. persicae behaviour reared on beet placed on beet leaves showed significantly impaired behavioural responses compared to M. persicae reared on potato placed on potato leaves. The rate of PVY acquisition was the same for M. persicae reared on beet and on potato. These results indicate that after 15 years on table beet, M. persicae still performs better on its original host, potato, and appears to be a specialized potato-adapted genotype.

Arthropod species diversity enhances ecosystem productivity and sustainability by increasing pollination and biological control services. Although, it is declining rapidly due to conventional agricultural intensification, organic agriculture with reduced reliance on agronomic inputs can regenerate ecosystems' resilience and restore them. Here, we report whether hexapod communities differ on both types of farming systems in small-scale field plot experiments, wherein Maize variety AG-589 was grown organically and conventionally in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Livestock manure was applied in organic fields, whereas nitrogen and phosphorous were used as synthetic fertilizers in conventional fields. Hexapods were sampled three weeks after sowing once a week from the middle rows of subplots from both organically and conventionally grown maize. Twelve species of herbivores and four species of predators were recorded. Hexapod abundance overall and that of herbivores only was higher in conventionally cultivated maize, while predator abundance was higher in organic maize. Herbivores species diversity and evenness were significantly higher in conventional maize. Predator species diversity and evenness were significantly higher in organic maize fields. We noted predator abundance, diversity, and evenness as strong predictors to lower herbivore populations. These findings suggest that organic farming conserves natural enemies’ biodiversity and regulates herbivores with increased provision of suitable habitats and prey resources for natural enemies, leading to enhanced relative abundance in their specialized niches. Thus, organic agriculture can potentially mediate better ecosystem services.