Redescription of Neoamphorophora ledi (Wahlgren, 1938) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Japan

Apterous viviparous females of Neoamphorophora ledi (Wahlgren, 1938) living on Rhododendron degronianum Carr. (Ericaceae) on Honshu island, Japan, are redescribed and the hitherto unknown alate viviparous females are here described. Rhododendron degronianum is a new host plant species for this aphid. This species is recorded for aphid fauna of Eastern Palearctic for the first time. Keys to species of Neoamphorophora based on apterous and alate viviparous females are given. A key to aphid genera with swollen siphunculi living on species of Rhododendron worldwide based on apterous viviparous females is also provided.     

Discovery of the female of Pyrocoelia prolongata in Taiwan (Coleoptera, Lampyridae)

The female of Pyrocoelia prolongata Jeng & Lai, a diurnal lampyrid species from Taiwan, is described for the first time. A single individual was found in a small, shady, dry streambed at the edge of a mixed forest at 2700 m elevation. The individual glowed in darkness and would move its abdomen up and down when disturbed and as a deterring behavior. A key to the females of the species of Pyrocoelia Gorham in Taiwan is provided. The morphology of photogenic organs of females and the function of bioluminescence of day-active species of Pyrocoelia are discussed.     

A new species of Aphis (Hemiptera: Aphididae) living on roots of Thymus mastichina (Lamiaceae) from Spain

Apterous females (fundatrices and fundatrigeniae), alatae females, oviparous females and males of Aphis mastichinae nov. sp. from Thymus mastichina (Lamiaceae) are described. It is the only known species of the genus Aphis which is radicicolous on Lamiaceae. It is mainly characterized by the short siphunculi, large and numerous abdominal marginal papillae and short setae. A key for the Aphis species living on Thymus species is given.     

A Cost of Sexual Attractiveness to High-Fitness Females

Adaptive mate choice by females is an important component of sexual selection in many species. The evolutionary consequences of male mate preferences, however, have received relatively little study, especially in the context of sexual conflict, where males often harm their mates. Here, we describe a new and counterintuitive cost of sexual selection in species with both male mate preference and sexual conflict via antagonistic male persistence: male mate choice for high-fecundity females leads to a diminished rate of adaptive evolution by reducing the advantage to females of expressing beneficial genetic variation. We then use a Drosophila melanogaster model system to experimentally test the key prediction of this theoretical cost: that antagonistic male persistence is directed toward, and harms, intrinsically higher-fitness females more than it does intrinsically lower-fitness females. This asymmetry in male persistence causes the tails of the population''s fitness distribution to regress towards the mean, thereby reducing the efficacy of natural selection. We conclude that adaptive male mate choice can lead to an important, yet unappreciated, cost of sex and sexual selection.     

The ecology and evolution of male reproductive behaviour in the bees and wasps

Males of aculeate Hymenoptera differ in the behavioural adaptations employed to locate and secure mates. The ecological and evolutionary bases of these differences are explored in this paper. Male bees and wasps search for females by patrolling widely within emergence-nesting areas or within patches of flowers attractive to conspecific females, or by waiting at landmarks, at specific emergence sites, or at nests. Nest dispersion, flower distribution, the type of female mating system and the nature of male-male competition appear to be key factors in determining the mate-locating behaviour of males. Of special interest in multiple-mating by females, which may be an evolutionary response to the costs of attempting to resist copulation in certain situations. When polyandry occurs, males are under selection pressure to be the last male to copulate with a female prior to oviposition if sperm precedence occurs. In species in which females mate just once, a selective premium is placed on being the first male to reach a virgin female. In either case, because receptive females are a limited resource, there is intense competition among males for access to the resource. The density of competitor males may play an important role in determining whether holding a relatively restricted territory is preferable to the strategy of patrolling widely at various sites which may have females. Territoriality is practiced by males of several species of aculeate Hymenoptera when the number of male competitors is relatively few in number and the distribution of emergence sites or foraging areas of females is clumped in space.     

Gender peculiarities of blood antioxidant enzyme activity of some Black Sea coastal fish species

The activity of key antioxidant blood enzymes is investigated in six common coastal fish species living near Sevastopol (Black Sea). No differences are found between females and males in most of the species. The application of these parameters in monitoring programs is discussed.     

Chinese species of the genus Prochiloneurus Silvestri with description of a new species(Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

Four species of the genus Prochiloneurus Silvestri, belonging to the family Encyrtidae of Hymenoptera, are reported from China. Among them, P. stenopterus sp. nov., which is reared as the hyperparasitoid of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley(Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), an invasive mealybug to China, is reported as new to science. A key of the genus is provided for the recognition of the females of Chinese species. Notes on the parasitoid and hyperparasitoid of the mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis are provided.     

A new combination expands the range of the African araneid spider Singafrotypa (Araneae, Araneidae)

Study of the syntype of Larinioides subinermis, a species known from Ethiopia only, revealed that it actually belongs to Singafrotypa Benoit, 1962. We redescribe Singafrotypa subinermis (Caporiacco, 1940), comb. n., and provide a key to females of four species belonging to Singafrotypa. A distribution map for all species is provided.     

Hitherto unknown alate morphs of two species of Eumyzus Shinji (Homoptera: Aphididae) from India with a key to alate viviparous females

The hitherto unknown alate viviparous females of Eumyzus pruni Chakrabarti & Bhattacharya and Eumyzus hydrangi Chakrabarti & Bhattacharya from the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of northwest Himalaya are described and illustrated. A key is provided to all of the known alate viviparous females of Eumyzus species known from throughout the world.     

Key to the European species of Ovatomyzus Hille Ris Lambers (Aphididae: Hemiptera)

Abstract. A key is given to distinguish the European species of both apterous and alate viviparous females of the genus Ovatomyzus. The synonymy, host plant range and geographical distribution of each species are summarized. Phorodon calaminthae Macchiati is regarded as a synonym of P.chamaedrys Passerini. As far as is known, all the species are permanently parthenogenetic.     

Revision of the termite-parasitizing genus Dicranopteron (Diptera: Phoridae)

Dicranopteron Schmitz is removed from the Metopininae and three new species are described. All species are represented by females only and come from Odontolermes and Macrotermes nests in the Orient. A key:to species) is provided. One species was observed ovipositing in the abdomens of the young stages of O. takensis .     

Courtship Disruptions and Male Mating Strategies: Examples from Female-Defense Mating Systems

Males frequently interrupt the copulation attempts of other males, and these courtship disruptions may limit the extent to which a few males are able to monopolize mating access to females. Males actively defend sexually receptive females in many species in which females form dense aggregations during the breeding season. Across and within such species there is considerable variation in the mating tactics adopted by males, with males in some cases defending groups of females and in other cases sequentially consorting with individual females. Colonial blackbirds have been central to studying this mating system, and we develop a conceptual model for how courtship disruption may account for variation in male mating tactics in this group. Our model assumes that the frequency of disruptions increases with greater colony size. As a consequence, successful copulations are less likely to occur at large colonies than at small colonies, and males are expected to switch from defending multiple females at the colony to consorting individual females away from it. Results from two species of blackbird support the basic assumptions of this model. In one species, the Montezuma oropendola, disruptions occur rarely and males defend groups of females, whereas in the other species, the yellow-rumped cacique, disruptions are frequent and males defend single females. Moreover, consistent with a key prediction, within each species, males associated with small colonies remain at the colony and defend groups of females, whereas males spend little time defending groups of females at large colonies and rarely attempt copulations there. This model has the potential to explain variation in male mating strategies and female monopolization for other taxa in which females form breeding aggregations.     

Modifications of Trichogramma Behaviors During the Exploitation of Host Patches Induced by the Insecticide Chlorpyrifos

Parasitoid species are key species because they regulate numerous insect species, including pests. An efficient infestation of hosts is critical to the development of parasitoid populations. In this article, we investigate the effects of the widely used insecticide chlorpyrifos on the exploitation of a patch of host by a parasitoid, Trichogramma brassicae. We show that chlorpyrifos increased the efficiency of parasitoid females in the infestation of the first host egg by decreasing its super-parasitization. Except for the first egg, all infested eggs were infested only once by both control and treated females; therefore, the insecticide did not impede the detection of a host that had already been infested. We did find that the insecticide affected the mode of rejection of infested eggs. At the beginning of the exploitation of the patch, females exposed to the insecticide made more antennal rejections than controls but eventually made more ovipositor rejections. These results suggest that the insecticide initially stimulated the antennal perception of the infested host but finally led to the saturation of this perception. Parasitoids compensated for this loss of antennal perception via ovipositor perception of infested eggs. This switch of behavior corresponds to a decrease in efficiency, as it is much more time consuming; therefore, females exposed to the insecticide had to stay longer on the patch for an equal rate of exploitation relative to controls. The infestation of host eggs is a crucial behavior for parasitoids, enabling their reproduction and the development of their species. By decreasing the antennal recognition of infested eggs, chlorpyrifos continues to be detrimental even when parasitoids survive exposure.     

Description of Culicoides pseudoheliconiae sp.n. from Peruvian Amazon and revalidation of Culicoides contubernalis Ortiz & Leon (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

A new species of the Culicoides hylas species group, Culicoides pseudoheliconiae Felippe-Bauer is described and illustrated based on female specimens from Peruvian Amazon, and Culicoides contubernalis Ortiz & Leon from Ecuador is resurrected and redescribed as a valid species. A systematic key, table with numerical characters of females of species of the Culicoides hylas group are given.     

Variation in some British material of the Onychiurus armatus group (Collembola)

Abstract. Principal component and canonical variate analyses were used to investigate the variation in twenty characters in 298 females and 207 males of the Onychiums amatus group from twenty-five samples collected at fourteen sites in England and Wales. These demonstrate the presence of four morphologically distinct groups which are recognized as species. The species represent aimatus (Tullberg) ( =daviesi Bagnall, synn.; waterstoni Bagnall), humatus Gisin, aurantiacus (Ridley) ( =magnicomis Bagnall, synn.; flavidulus Bagnall; latus Gisin) and quadriocellatus Gisin. A key is provided for their recognition, although it is suggested that humatus may be an infra-specific form of armatus and quadriocellatus may be an infra-specific form of aurantiacus .     

Age-based life history of humpback red snapper,Lutjanus gibbus,in New Caledonia

This paper examines the life history of humpback red snapper Lutjanus gibbus, an important fishery species for coastal communities across the Indo-Pacific, in southern New Caledonia, where the species is lightly exploited. A total of 243 L. gibbus were sampled between January 2013 and December 2016 from occasional harvests of commercial fishers. Examination of sectioned otoliths revealed that opaque increment formation occurred annually between November and March, coinciding with the species' spawning season. Estimates of maximum age were similar between sexes, with observed ages of 38 and 36 years for females and males, respectively, extending the reported longevity of this species by at least 11 years. Growth differed significantly between sexes, with males reaching greater length at age and greater asymptotic length than females (38.88 v. 31.46 cm fork length (L_F). Total mortality for all samples was estimated as 0.13 and was slightly higher for males (0.16) than females (0.11). Estimates of natural and fishing mortality were low and slightly higher for males than females. Male L. gibbus were found to mature at slightly greater lengths and younger ages than females, with the length and age at which 50% of individuals attained maturity estimated to be 25.8 cm L_F and 3.9 years of age for females and 26.8 cm L_F and 3.4 years of age for males. The results provide key baseline information from which to assess the effect of fishing on the species for populations in New Caledonia and adjacent locations and, when viewed with those of other studies, highlight the importance of understanding spatial patterns in demography of harvested fish species across gradients of exploitation and environmental influences.     

Turkish bush-crickets of the genus Eupholidoptera (Decticinae)

Abstract. The Turkish Eupholidoptera species are reviewed and a key to them provided. Five new species are described alongwith the previously unnknown male of E.excisa (Karabaĝ), and females of E.tauricola (Ramme) and E. werneri Ramme. Following examination of specimens from Cyprus the previously unknown male of E.cypria Ramme is described. A new subspecies of E.cypria is described from southern Turkey. Diagnostic characters of all species are given. A check-list and a distribution map are provided for the Turkish species of Eupholidoptera.