Uraba lugens (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) in New Zealand: pheromone trapping for delimitation and phenology

A synthetic sex pheromone trapping survey of the leaf skeletonizer Uraba lugens Walker (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) demonstrated the unexpectedly widespread distribution of the insect across > 40,000 ha of urban Auckland, New Zealand. A survey of eucalyptus trees planted in parks and other public areas showed a significant spatial correlation between trap catch and breeding populations, validating the trap survey results. Traps in trees showing damage had four-fold higher catches than traps placed in undamaged or nonhost trees, and < 1% of damaged trees with traps failed to catch adult moths. Damage by larval feeding was correlated with male trap catch in the previous generation, offering good prospects for a pest management decision support system, provided that an economic threshold is developed. Catches increased by 3.4-fold in the same georeferenced trapping grid between November and December 2003 and between March and April 2004 across two generations, over the summer. A vertical transect showed that catches increased with height up to the top trap at 13 m (60% of mean tree height). Options for managing the insect will need to overcome the high rate of increase, the rate of spread, and the vertical distribution of the insect on tall eucalyptus trees.     

Identification of olfactory receptor neurons in Uraba lugens (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) and its implications for host range

Phytophagous insects detect volatile compounds produced by host and non-host plants, using species-specific sets of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). To investigate the relationship between the range of host plants and the profile of ORNs, single sensillum recordings were carried out to identify ORNs and corresponding active compounds in female Uraba lugens (Lepidoptera: Nolidae), an oligophagous eucalypt feeder. Based on the response profiles to 39 plant volatile compounds, 13 classes of sensilla containing 40 classes of ORNs were identified in female U. lugens. More than 95% (163 out of 171) of these sensilla contained 16 classes of ORNs with narrow response spectra, and 62.6% (107 out of 171) 18 classes of ORNs with broad response spectra. Among the specialized ORNs, seven classes of ORNs exhibited high specificity to 1,8-cineole, (±)-citronellal, myrcene, (±)-linalool and (E)-β-caryophyllene, major volatiles produced by eucalypts, while nine other classes of ORNs showed highly specialized responses to green leaf volatiles, germacrene D, (E)-β-farnesene and geranyl acetate that are not produced by most eucalypts. We hypothesize that female U. lugens can recognize their host plants by detecting key host volatile compounds, using a set of ORNs tuned to host volatiles, and discriminate them from non-host plants using another set of ORNs specialized for non-host volatiles. The ORNs with broad response spectra may enhance the discrimination between host and non-host plants by adding moderately selective sensitivity. Based on our finding, it is suggested that phytophagous insects use the combinational input from both host-specific and non-host specific ORNs for locating their host plants, and the electrophysiological characterization of ORN profiles would be useful in predicting the range of host plants in phytophagous insects.     

Dispersal behavior of the parasitic wasp Cotesia urabae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): A recently introduced biocontrol agent for the control of Uraba lugens (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) in New Zealand

Estimates of the dispersal range of a recently introduced biocontrol agent in its new environment are vital to understanding its relative searching capacity, and to foresee the maximum area that could be covered in a release event. In New Zealand, the solitary endoparasitoid Cotesia urabae Austin and Allen (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was first released in January 2011 as a biological control agent for the gum leaf skeletoniser, Uraba lugens Walker (Lepidoptera: Nolidae). The objective of this study was to utilize an experimental approach to quantify the dispersal behavior of one generation of C. urabae. In our experiment, which used sentinel larvae as target hosts, parasitoids dispersed up to 20 m away from the release point but parasitism was highest within 5 m of the release site. A high level of parasitism was observed at the release tree (87.6%) which suggests that most of the females released may have stayed there. According to the dispersal model developed from the data collected, Cotesia would be able to disperse up to 53 m in one release event. In addition, significant differences were found between the different directions tested for dispersal, showing a clear downwind effect on dispersal suggesting that wind has a direct effect on the dispersal behavior of C. urabae in the field.     

A new species of Gadirtha Walker (Nolidae,Eligminae): a proposed biological control agent of Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) (Euphorbiaceae) in the United States

Gadirtha fusca sp. n., is described from Guangxi Province, China. Gadirtha fusca differs in forewing color and pattern, male and female genitalia, and in larval pattern from all other species of Gadirtha. Gadirtha fusca has been evaluated as a potential biological control agent for Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small, Euphorbiaceae) in the southeastern United States. Adult, male and female genitalia, larva, and pupa are described, illustrated, and compared with Gadirtha impingens Walker.     

中国纹尺蛾属一新纪录种(鳞翅目:尺蛾科)

本文报道产自云南的尺蛾科一中国新纪录种,即福纹尺蛾Epobeidia fumosa(Warren, 1893),并附有该种的成虫和雄性外生殖器图片。标本保存于华南农业大学昆虫学系昆虫标本室。     

中国蛾蜡蝉科一新记录属并记一新种(半翅目:蛾蜡蝉科:涩蛾蜡蝉族)

报道了中国新记录属长蛾蜡蝉属Gomeda Distant,1906,该属隶属于蛾蜡蝉科Flatidae、涩蛾蜡蝉族Selizini,综述了该属的分类研究历史,并记述1新种——素长蛾蜡蝉Gomeda unicolorata,sp.nov.,提供了新种的形态和雌性外生殖器特征图,编制了本属分种检索表。新种模式标本保存在中国科学院动物研究所。     

中国稻弄蝶属Parnara分类与一新记录种(鳞翅目:弄蝶总科:弄蝶科)

记述中国稻弄蝶属Parnara Moore,18814种,其中圆突稻弄蝶Parnara apostata（Snellen,1866）为1新记录种。制作了分种检索表,进行了新记录种的成虫形态描述,提供了特征图。     

Pyemotes tritici (Acari: Pyemotidae), a potential biological control agent of Anagasta kuehniella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

The feasibility of utilizing Pyemotes tritici as a biological control agent against the Mediterranean flour moth, Anagasta kuehniella was investigated. The results from experiments designed to assess the effect of P. tritici on cohorts of A. kuehniella of different ages were not significant. They suggested that moth larvae were most severely affected if physogastric P. tritici females were introduced 10 days after moth eggs were added to the experimental arena. In part II, the impact of various densities of P. tritici on flour moths indicated that complete destruction of cohorts of 400 A. kuehniella larvae was achieved by adding about 80 female P. tritici 10 days after the eggs were laid or 6 days after the larvae hatched. Half the above density of pyemotid mites gave inconsistent, but at times complete control.     

Key to the New Zealand species of Psyllaephagus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) with descriptions of three new species and a new record of the psyllid hyperparasitoid Coccidoctonus psyllae Riek (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

Abstract  This paper records seven species of wasps in the genus Psyllaephagus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) from New Zealand. All of these species are primary parasitoids of psylloids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea). Two are species previously described from New Zealand: P. acaciae Noyes and P. pilosus Noyes. Two are described Australian species which have established recently: P. bliteus Riek and P. gemitus Riek. Three new species are described here, from New Zealand: P. breviramus sp. nov., P. cornwallensis sp. nov. and P. richardhenryi sp. nov. All species are probably Australian in origin. A key to all seven Psyllaephagus species known from New Zealand is provided. An earlier first record of the Australian psyllid hyperparasitoid Coccidoctonus psyllae Riek (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), previously first recorded from New Zealand in 2006, is noted.     

First report of Garella musculana (Erschov, 1874) (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) in Italy with insights into its identity

The Asian walnut moth, Garella musculana (Erschov, 1874) (Lepidoptera: Nolidae), is a major pest of walnut. Native to Central Asia, it was found to be invasive in 2008 in Sevastopol (Crimea) and nowadays widespread in Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia. Here, we account for the finding of G. musculana in NE Italy (Veneto region) in 2021, where adults were found in a light lamp, representing the first record of the Asian walnut moth for this country and Western Europe. Adult specimens were identified morphologically on both external characters and genitalia features. G. musculana larvae and damage were also observed on a plantation of Juglans regia L. (Fagales: Juglandaceae) located in Veneto in October 2021. A COI-barcoding analysis was performed to attain a molecular characterization of our specimens and probate our morphological identification. However, because no sequence of G. musculana was present in major gene databases and the similarity of our sequences with those attributed to Garella ruficirra (Hampson, 1905) (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) made clear that these taxa deserved further scrutiny regarding their specific distinction. Some subtle differences in the male terminalia could be found between them and their vast geographic distributions, but the strong similarity in most features calls for further morphological and genetical insights on a broad set of samples to assess whether they represent two closely related, substantially parapatric species, or a unique, geographically varying entity. Solving this issue may turn out crucial in the identification and proper management of walnut moths of the genus Garella.     

Diapause in the leaf beetle Diorhabda elongata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a biological control agent for tamarisk (Tamarix spp.)

The tamarisk leaf beetle, Diorhabda elongata Brullé deserticola Chen, was collected in northwestern China and has been released in the western United States to control tamarisk (Tamarix spp.). Characteristics of diapause and reproductive development in D. elongata were examined to improve management as a biocontrol agent. Under long days, 16:8 (L:D) h, males began to emit aggregation pheromone within 2-3 d of adult emergence, mating occurred, and females oviposited within 7 d of adult emergence. Under short days, 12:12 (L:D) h, males did not emit pheromone, mating did not occur, and both males and females entered reproductive diapause marked by inconspicuous gonads and hypertrophied fat body. Ovaries of diapausing females lacked vitellogenic oocytes, and the ovarioles were clear and narrow, whereas reproductive females had enlarged ovaries with two to three yellow oocytes per ovariole. Diapausing males had thin, transparent accessory glands and ejaculatory ducts, whereas reproductive males had thick white accessory glands and white opaque ejaculatory ducts. Sensitivity to diapause-inducing photoperiods extended into the adult stage. Reproductive females ceased oviposition, resorbed oocytes, and entered diapause when switched from long to short days. Diapause-destined insects ceased feeding and entered the leaf litter 10-20 d after adult emergence, whereas reproductive insects remained on the plants and fed for at least 30 d. Reproductive insects exhibited dispersal behaviors, such as attempted flights, whereas diapause-destined insects did not show dispersal behaviors. Information gained from these studies will be used to better manage populations in the field and to improve rearing and storage in the laboratory.     

A prospective model for the phenology of Microctonus hyperodae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a potential biological control agent of argentine stem weevil in New Zealand

A predictive phenological model is described for the parasitoid Microctonus hyperodae, introduced to New Zealand as a potential biological control agent against Argentine stem weevil Listronotus bonariensis. The model is based on development/temperature relationships obtained from experiments on the parasitoid in quarantine prior to its release, allowing early predictions of its phenology in different parts of the target pest's New Zealand range. In particular the model was used to predict the number of parasitoid generations each year, the degree of temporal synchrony between parasitoid adults and the susceptible adult pest stage, the order of parasitism and reproduction in the pest's life cycle as a possible basis for a simplified, discrete host/parasitoid population model, and the likely significance of ecotypic differences in development and diapause characteristics of the parasitoid. These applications demonstrate the potential for simple models to help in climate matching of classical biological control agents and estimation of their interaction with pest dynamics, using data obtainable prior to their introduction and release. In addition the model proved useful as a decision aid during the release programme, by indicating the likely effects of unusual weather and the need or otherwise for further parasitoid releases.     

General biology of Ostrinia palustralis memnialis (Walker), a potential biological control agent of Rumex spp. in Korea

Ostrinia palustralis memnialis is an oligophagous insect that feeds on the species of the genus Rumex. Continuous rearing of O. palustralis memnialis was carried out from 2004 to 2005, and its general biology was studied. The preliminary host specificity test showed a promising result for O. palustralis memnialis as a potential biological control agent for Rumex spp.     

中国异皮夜蛾属一新种记述（鳞翅目：夜蛾科：瘤蛾亚科）

在整理采自云南省的蛾类标本时,发现中国瘤蛾亚科异皮夜蛾属Etanna Walker1新种:云南异皮夜蛾Etanna yunnanensis sp.nov.。对异皮夜蛾属作了简单介绍,编制了该属中国已知种类检索表,对新种的外部形态和雌性生殖器特征做了详细描述,模式标本保存在东北林业大学昆虫标本室。     

Genus Thubana Walker of the Malaysian Borneo (Lepidoptera,Lecithoceridae), with Descriptions of Seven New Species

The genus Thubana Walker, 1864 of the Malaysian Borneo is revised. Nine species are recognized including seven new species. The new species are: T. kumatai sp. nov., T. kubahensis sp. nov., T. kinabaluensis sp. nov., T. ochracea sp. nov., T. quadrata sp. nov., T. prolata sp. nov., and T. spinata sp. nov. With regard to the previously known species, photos of adults and the male or female genitalia are given, with some taxonomie notes. A key to the Thubana species of the Malaysian Borneo is provided.