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The social aphid Pseudoregma bambucicola can produce morphologically and behaviorally specialized sterile soldiers and reproductively normal nymphs, and represents a good model system for studying social evolution. The cover photo shows a colony of this species on bamboo, in which several parthenogenetic viviparous mothers are producing offspring. Remarkable reproductive plasticity in parthenogenetic mothers and a novel strategy of regulating caste ratio via maternal reproductive differentiation were found in this social hemipteran (see pages 582-586). Photo provided by Xiaolei Huang.     

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The whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is an important agricultural pest in tropical and subtropical zones. Whiteflies cause extensive damage to tomato, cotton and cassava particularly through direct feeding and transmission of plant viruses. Heat shock proteins (HSP) are essential molecular chaperones and play important roles in the stress responses of insects. To better understand the function of HSP proteins in whiteflies, a comprehensive genomic approaches and RNAi technology were applied (see pages 44–57). Photo provided by Xiao‐Wei Wang and Li‐Xin Qian.     

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The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a major pest native to the Americas that has recently invaded the Old World. A whole-genome sequencing (WGS) approach was used to identify mutations associated with resistance to insecticides and Bt proteins in 150 individuals of S. frugiperda collected from China, Malawi, Uganda and Brazil. This approach revealed three amino acid substitutions (A201S, G227A and F290V) of the acetylcholinesterase-1 (ace-1) in the four geographical populations of S. frugiperda, which are known to be associated with organophosphate resistance. A novel Cry1F resistance allele in the ABCC2 gene was identified from the Brazilian population but absent in the invasive populations (see pages 627-638). Photo provided by Prof. Run-Zhi Zhang.     

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The Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), is an infamous invasive species worldwide that aggressively attacks potato and Solanaceae crops. It was first found in China in 1993 and has since spread in northwestern areas in Xinjiang. Generally, CPB adults can fly actively to find new hosts within short distance or spread long distance helped by strong wind as well as by transportations. The image shows an adult CPB being ready for flying. Genetic diversity in Xinjiang populations was at low level and retained during its invasion. See pages 643–654. Image by Ying‐chao Li.     

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Cover: North American Papilio glauscus females nectaring upon bull thistles. The dark (mimetic) wing pattern in females is regulated by both a Z (=X) linked enabler and a W (=Y) linked dark melanism factor which introgress independently across an interspecific hybrid zone with the sister species P. canadensis further north. Across this changing thermal landscape, recombinant homoploid hybrids reflect differential geographic movement for several additional Z‐linked, as well as important autosomal, traits. See page 121. Image: J.M. Scriber     

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Like most aphid species, the Vetch aphid, Megoura viciae, produces honeydew while feeding on broad bean, Vicia faba. After being rejected on the host plant surface, honeydew releases a kairomonal blend of volatile molecules that guide aphid predators, including the Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, toward aphid colonies (Credits F.J. Verheggen, see pages 498–506).     

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Cover: The leaf beetle Gastrophysa viridula clinging to the surface of its host plant, the dock leaf (Rumex). The beetle uses both its claws and hairy adhesive pads to climb on a variety of surface profiles. Its ability to attach to rough and smooth substrates was investigated by James Bullock and Walter Federle who found that attachment performance varies as the roughness scale increase or decreases relative to the tip size of the beetle's adhesive hairs. See pages 298‐304. Photo credit: Thomas Endlein.     

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Host alternation has significant consequences for the diversification and success of the superfamily of aphids. We explored the underlying molecular mechanism through a large‐scale gene expression analysis on the mealy aphid Hyalopterus persikonus, a worldwide pest to stone fruits, collected from its winter and summer host plants. More than four times as many unigenes of the mealy aphid were significantly upregulated on summer host. Putative salivary gland expressed genes and genes encoding secretory proteins were given special attentions (see pages 431–442). Photo provided by Le Kang.     

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Artificial sentinel prey can be useful to measure and compare predation pressure in various habits. Green‐coloured plasticine caterpillars are readily attacked by up to 14 groups of predatory organisms, and can be identified by their attack marks. Predators include various arthropods, birds, and mammals. Information collected by using sentinel prey is summarised in the review article by Lövei and Ferrante (see pages 528‐542). The cover photo shows the carabid Carabus cancellatus attacking an artificial caterpillar. Photo by C.B. Eötvös.     

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The common cutworm, Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is one of the most destructive phytophagous pests of crops. Body coloration affects how animals interact with the environment, and pigmentation also influences behavior and immunity. To explore the mechanisms that drive pigmentation, the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system was applied to target the ebony gene in the non‐model insect S. litura. The mutants showed the typically deep coloration during the pupal and adult stage. This study clearly demonstrates the function of ebony in the body coloration and also provides a potentially useful marker gene for functional studies in S. litura as well as other lepidopteran pests (see pages 1011–1019). Photo provided by Hong‐Lun Bi.     

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A burying beetle mother (Nicrophorus vespilloides) interacts with and feeds its offspring in the mouse carcass she has prepared. In the brain, there is variation in the differential expression of the eight orthologs of octopamine across different social and reproductive contexts. In this issue, Cunningham et al. show that the different orthologs of octopamine also vary in differential expression in different tissues?. see pages 495‐502, photo by Allen J. Moore?     

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It is often assumed that learning improves foraging, but its direct benefits are not often examined. We demonstrate the contribution of learning to the foraging success of desert ants when a trained colony successfully competes against a naïve one. The outcome also depends on the relative group size. Desert Cataglyphis ants search individually for food (mostly dead prey) without laying pheromone trails (see pages 241-250). The cover photo shows a Cataglyphis niger worker searching for food in its typical sandy habitat. Photo provided Arik Dorfman.     

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Persicaria perfoliata is an invasive prickly vine in North America. The differences in enemy composition between invasive and native range may lead to new plant–insect interaction. The results of common garden experiment indicated invasive plants possess high reproduction and physical defense, and low level of defense against the specialists, especially Rhinoncomimus latipes (the weevil in the image). The high reproductive capacity and lack of effective specialist herbivores in the invasive range are the potential reasons of its invasiveness. See pages 521–532. Photo taken by Xiao‐Qiao Li.     

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Aphids under the spotlight. At the 9th International Symposium on Aphids (9ISA; June 2–6, 2013, Beijing, China), scientists met to discuss recent developments in basic and applied aphid research. This special issue on 9ISA describes the current progress in aphid studies as presented at the Symposium. The cover picture represents the emergence of aphids as an insect models for ecological, evolutionary, and developmental studies. The fluorescent in situ hybridization image in the center shows that all asexual viviparous aphids are derived from the germ cells labeled with the conserved germline marker vasa (see pages 265–277). Image credit: Chen‐yo Chung, Xiao‐Lei Huang, Shih‐Hsin Chuang, Shipher Wu, and Chun‐che Chang.     

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RNA interference (RNAi) has been considered as a potential strategy for insect pest control especially for sucking insects, for example, planthoppers, aphids and psyllids. Metamorphosis is a unique developmental model of insects. Therefore, using RNAi technology, regulating the key genes during insect growth and development will not affect other organisms. This strategy probably realizes biological and ecological safety of insect pest control. Photo in cover shows a brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens molting. Photo provided by Prof. Xue‐Xia Miao.     

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The whitefly Bemisia tabaci contains many big bacteriocytes, which house the primary symbiont “Candidatus Portiera aleyrodidarum” and a variety of secondary symbionts (see pages 194–206). The primary symbiont provides essential amino acids to hosts and the secondary symbionts can affect the life parameters of B. tabaci including fecundity, development time and sex‐ratio. In addition, the secondary symbionts of B. tabaci have been reported to confer resistance to natural enemies, heat stress and insecticides. Photo in cover shows a nymph of the whitefly and the two kidney‐like organs are the assemblage of bacteriocytes. Image by Xiao‐Li Bing.     

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An adult flower fly (Syrphidae) rests on a flower of Erigeron annuus (Asteraceae) growing on a rice farm in eastern China. Plants of non‐crop species can be important in providing nectar and pollen to natural enemies of crop pests. Whilst the larvae of flower flies prey on pests such as aphids, the adults are non‐predacious and females need pollen in order to produce eggs. See pages 1–12. Photo by Ping‐Yang Zhu.     

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To answer the question of whether phylogenetic relatedness can act as a proxy for insect response to Bacillus thuringiensis, the susceptibility of eleven colonies of lepidoptera representing different families, genera, species and colonies was compared. While species within genera had similar responses, genera within families did not. Two laboratory colonies of one species differed, suggesting a colony divergence. We conclude that caution is needed in using surrogate species to assess Bacillus thuringiensis effects on non‐target insects. (see pages 803‐812). Imaged by E. P. J. Burgess, Plant & Food Research, New Zealand     

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The pea leafminer (Liriomyza huidobrensis) is a notorious pest of vegetables and ornamental plants worldwide. However, no sex pheromones are reported in this species and the knowledge about its courtship and mating is limited. Using laser‐vibrometry, we found that male and female leafminers exchange substrate‐borne vibration signals to communicate. Sexually mature male spontaneously emits calls (MCs, dominant frequency around 300 Hz) to initiate the duets. The female responds to MCs rapidly (FRs, dominant frequency about 78 Hz), which further trigger male replies (MRs, dominant frequency of 66 Hz) and search. The playback of these signals can successfully elicit reaction of the opposite sex. This study paves an avenue for the development of new strategy to trap the Liriomyza insect pests (see pages 510–522). Photo provided by Jin Ge.     

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Erebia nivalis (Lorkovic & De Lesse, 1954) is an endemic Alpine butterfly, which is restricted to the highest parts of the Eastern Alps and one small region in the Central Alps. To survive in this challenging high mountain environment, the species evolved different strategies, which might be a mixture of oppurtunism and specialised traits. The studied population showed a partial protandrous demography with the minority of males emerging prior to the females, but the majority being synchronized with them, and a comparatively high amount of long‐distance flights, especially for females (see pages 161–171). Photo by Vivan Dalstein and Fabienne Tull.