Femoral combs—a secondary sexual character in British Oscinellinae (Diptera: Chloropidae)

A specialised but variable group of setae on the middle femur of males of Chloropidae is described and its taxonomic importance discussed. This femoral comb has been found in 15 out of 24 genera of Oscinellinae, but was not found in 15 genera of Chloropinae.     

A revision of the grass flies from E.A. Eversmann’s collection with description of a new species of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlorops</Emphasis> Meigen (Diptera,Chloropidae)

E.A. Eversmann’s collection of grass-flies (Chloropidae) deposited at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, is revised. The total of 22 species are recorded from Kazan (10 species of the subfamily Oscinellinae, 12 species of the subfamily Chloropinae), and 4 species, from Orenburg and Orenburg Province. Almost all the species, except for the agricultural pests, are recorded for the respective regions for the first time. A new species, Chlorops eversmanni sp. n., is described from Kazan.     

Grassflies (Diptera, Chloropidae) in the middle Lena valley (Central Yakutia)

Sixty-one species of grassflies (Diptera, Chloropidae) have been found in the meadows in the middle Lena valley, Central Yakutia. Differences between the grassfly taxocenoses of different parts of the valley depend on specific features of a particular plant community. The dominant and subdominant chloropid species are distinguished. The differences of the riparian fauna from the complexes inhabiting the alases in Yakutia are shown. Six species of grassflies are recorded for Yakutia for the first time, all of them belonging to the subfamily Oscinellinae: Polyodaspis ruficornis Macquart, Tricimba cincta Meigen, Aphanotrigonum trilineatum Meigen, Trachysiphonella scutellata v. Roser, Rhopalopterum anthracinum Meigen, and Rh. fasciolum Meigen     

Pigmy moths (Lepidoptera, Nepticulidae) from the Middle Volga Basin

Fifty-seven species of the family Nepticulidae were found in the Middle Volga Basin. The family includes four genera: Bohemannia Stainton, 1859 (1 species), Ectoedemia Busck, 1907 (15), Stigmella Schrank, 1802 (38), and Trifurcula Zeller, 1848 (3 species). The mines made by pigmy moth larvae are very specific in the study area. Larvae of the largest genus, Stigmella, make typical serpentine leaf mines. Larvae of the genera Bohemannia and Ectoedemia make blotchy mines; some larvae develop in fruits and tree bark. Most species of the genera Bohemannia, Ectoedemia, and Stigmella were recorded by their mines. At the larval stage, representatives of Trifurcula feed on stems of legumes. The pupae develop in the soil. Most species in the family Nepticulidae are leaf miners, mainly associated with Rosaceae (34.7%), Salicaceae (15.8%), Fagaceae (12.3%), and Betulaceae (12.3%). All the species investigated do not act as pests of forage plants in the area studied.     

Parasites of grass flies (Diptera, Chloropidae) from the order hymenoptera in the Holarctic region

Hymenopterous parasitoids of grass flies of the family Chloropidae from the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions are reviewed. These parasitoids belong to four superfamilies and 16 families of Hymenoptera and were reared from 39 species of Chloropidae in the Palaearctic (less than 6% of the fauna) and only from 10 species in the Nearctic Region. The majority of parasitoids are oligo-or polyphagous species. To a certain degree, the parasitoids are specialized on one of the three host groups: (1) species developing in shoots of cereal and meadow grasses; (2) forest species developing in cones of coniferous trees; and (3) species associated with the common reed, Phragmites australis. In the Palaearctic Region, the majority of parasitoids (91 species) were reared from Oscinella frit L. s. 1.; a significantly smaller number of these parasites is known from this host in the Nearctic Region, nearly half of the parasitoids being common for both regions. The next large group of parasitoids is associated with gall-inducing species of the genus Lipara Meigen (59 species) developing in the common reed. By contrast with two other groups of parasitoids, this one includes many species of the family Ichneumonidae. It should be noted that taxonomic diversity at the third trophic level is markedly greater than at the second level.     

House Fly (Musca domestica L.) Attraction to Insect Honeydew

House flies are of major concern as vectors of food-borne pathogens to food crops. House flies are common pests on cattle feedlots and dairies, where they develop in and feed on animal waste. By contacting animal waste, house flies can acquire human pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp., in addition to other bacteria, viruses, or parasites that may infect humans and animals. The subsequent dispersal of house flies from animal facilities to nearby agricultural fields containing food crops may lead to pre-harvest food contamination with these pathogens. We hypothesized that odors from honeydew, the sugary excreta produced by sucking insects feeding on crops, or molds and fungi growing on honeydew, may attract house flies, thereby increasing the risk of food crop contamination. House fly attraction to honeydew-contaminated plant material was evaluated using a laboratory bioassay. House flies were attracted to the following plant-pest-honeydew combinations: citrus mealybug on squash fruit, pea aphid on faba bean plants, whitefly on navel orange and grapefruit leaves, and combined citrus mealybug and cottony cushion scale on mandarin orange leaves. House flies were not attracted to field-collected samples of lerp psyllids on eucalyptus plants or aphids on crepe myrtle leaves. Fungi associated with field-collected honeydews were isolated and identified for further study as possible emitters of volatiles attractive to house flies. Two fungal species, Aureobasidium pullulans and Cladosporium cladosporioides, were repeatedly isolated from field-collected honeydew samples. Both fungal species were grown in potato dextrose enrichment broth and house fly attraction to volatiles from these fungal cultures was evaluated. House flies were attracted to odors from A. pullulans cultures but not to those of C. cladosporioides. Identification of specific honeydew odors that are attractive to house flies could be valuable for the development of improved house fly baits for management of this pest species.     

A contribution to the fauna and ecology of leaf beetles (Coleoptera,Chrysomelidae) in the Republic of Mordovia

An annotated list of leaf-beetle species is given. It includes 76 species of 33 genera of 9 subfamilies, with Cryptocephalinae and Chrysomelinae predominating (42%). The insects were collected in different ecosystems of Mordovia, of them, 11 being pests of crops and forests, especially Phyllotreta vittula, Oulema melanopus, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Chrysomela populi, Ch. tremula, Plagiodera versicolora, and Agelastica alni. Ecological and biotopical characteristics of the species are given: distribution ranges, preferred biotopes and host plants, periods of activity, flight, and egg-laying, thermal and humidity preferenda. Most species appeared to be mesophilous (71%), xerophilous ones constitute 13.2%, hydrophilous 10.6%, hygrophilous ones are not numerous (5.3%). Of all the species, 78% are heliophilous, and 22%, umbrophilous.     

Afrotropical sand fly-host plant relationships in a leishmaniasis endemic area,Kenya

The bioecology of phlebotomine sand flies is intimately linked to the utilization of environmental resources including plant feeding. However, plant feeding behavior of sand flies remains largely understudied for Afrotropical species. Here, using a combination of biochemical, molecular, and chemical approaches, we decipher specific plant-feeding associations in field-collected sand flies from a dry ecology endemic for leishmaniasis in Kenya. Cold-anthrone test indicative of recent plant feeding showed that fructose positivity rates were similar in both sand fly sexes and between those sampled indoors and outdoors. Analysis of derived sequences of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit gene (rbcL) from fructose-positive specimens implicated mainly Acacia plants in the family Fabaceae (73%) as those readily foraged on by both sexes of Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia. Chemical analysis by high performance liquid chromatography detected fructose as the most common sugar in sand flies and leaves of selected plant species in the Fabaceae family. Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) of the headspace volatile profiles of selected Fabaceae plants identified benzyl alcohol, (Z)-linalool oxide, (E)-β-ocimene, p-cymene, p-cresol, and m-cresol, as discriminating compounds between the plant volatiles. These results indicate selective sand fly plant feeding and suggest that the discriminating volatile organic compounds could be exploited in attractive toxic sugar- and odor- bait technologies control strategies.     

Grass Flies (Diptera,Chloropidae) of Crimean Peninsula

The fauna of grass flies (Diptera: Chloropidae) of the Crimean Peninsula is reviewed for the first time. The study is based on examination of the collection of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg), which includes the material collected in Crimea by the authors, the collections of the Zoological Museum of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University and V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University (Simferopol). The annotated list includes 92 species in 34 genera and three subfamilies. Most of the species (61) are recorded from Crimea for the first time. Six species, Chlorops horridus Becker, Ch. puncticornis Loew, Dicraeus (Oedesiella) beschovskii Nartshuk, Lasiosina chandleri Ismay, Meromyza meigeni Nartshuk and Oscinimorpha longirostris (Loew) are recorded for the first time from Russia and Eastern Europe. The characters for distinguishing Oscinimorpha arcuata Duda from O. longirostris (Loew), i.e., the structure of head and the male genitalia, are provided. The boreo-montane species Oscinella vastator (Curtis) and Meromyza curvinervis (Zetterstedt) are found on the Chatyrdag Mountain and Yaila (mostly forestless plateau in the Crimean Mountains). Species with southern European, Mediterranean and Macaronesian-Mediterranean ranges were recorded mostly on the South Coast of Crimea. The Crimean fauna of Chloropidae is compared with the faunas of Sardinia and Turkey.     

Fruit‐ and seed‐feeding habit of the crane fly Libnotes puella (Diptera: Limoniidae) in Ryukyu Islands,Japan

Although most crane fly larvae consume decaying plant materials and their associated microorganisms, all Libnotes species investigated so far are known to be xylophilous insects. Here we report the novel herbivorous feeding ecology of Libnotes puella. We found that L. puella larvae consumed the fruits or seeds of three unrelated plants, Mitrastemon yamamotoi (Mitrastemonaceae), Balanophora tobiracola (Balanophoraceae) and Barringtonia racemosa (Lecythidaceae). The larvae live within dense tubes formed by their feces fastened by their mucous excretions at the final stage, and they pupate within such tubes. This is the first detailed documentation of the fruit‐ and seed‐feeding habit of crane flies.     

The impact of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on tomato plant resistance against Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) in greenhouse conditions

The symbiotic relationship between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) improves plant growth and increases its resistance to pests and diseases. Mycorrhizal fungi are among the specialized fungi associated with the rhizosphere and are completely dependent on plant organic carbon. In this research tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. was used as the host plant to evaluate the interaction effects between inoculation of tomato plant with AMF and feeding of tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick). In addition, plant growth parameters and growth rate of insect were assessed. The mycorrhizal treatment included a mixture of four fungal species (Funneliformis mosseae, Rhizophagus intraradices, R. irregularis and Glomus iranicus). The results of the experiment showed that tomato plant roots were well colonized (66.29%) by AMF and there was a significant mutual relationship between the insects feeding on the plants and the fungi. Feeding by the insects on plants inoculated with the fungus increased percentage of colonization by AMF in plants infested with the insect as compared to the control plants. The results also indicated that growth parameters and phosphorus content of the plants inoculated with fungi significantly increased compared to the control group. Moreover, significantly lower growth rate and consumption index observed in the T. absoluta larvae were fed on the leaves of plants treated with AMF compared to leaves of plants not inoculated with AMF.     

Irradiation effect on the structure of bacterial communities associated with the oriental fruit fly,Bactrocera dorsalis

The role of symbiotic microbes in insects, especially the beneficial character of this interaction for insects, has received much attention in recent years as it has been related to important aspects of the host insects' biology such as development, reproduction, survival, and fitness. Among insect hosts, tephritid fruit flies are well known to form beneficial associations with their symbionts. To control these destructive agricultural pests, environmentally friendly approaches, like the sterile insect technique as a component of integrated pest management strategies, remain most effective. In this study, changes in the bacterial profile of mass‐reared oriental fruit flies, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), were examined in both larval and adult stages and also after irradiation by employing a 16S rRNA gene‐based Illumina sequencing approach. Proteobacteria was the prevalent bacterial phylum in non‐irradiated adults and larvae. Alphaproteobacteria was the most abundant class in larvae but almost absent in adults, which was dominated by Gammaproteobacteria. Firmicutes were present in both developmental stages but at lower relative abundance. At genus level, Acetobacter prevailed in the larval stage and members of the Enterobacteriaceae family in adults. Irradiated samples exhibited higher diversity and richness indices compared to the non‐irradiated oriental fruit flies, whereas no significant changes were observed between the two developmental stages of the non‐irradiated samples. Lactobacillus, members of the Orbacecae family, and Morganella were detected but to a lesser degree upon irradiation, whereas the relative abundance of Lactococcus and Orbus increased. The bacterial profile of larvae appeared to be different compared to that of adult B. dorsalis flies. The subsequent application of irradiation at the pupal stage led to the development of different microbiota between treated and untreated samples, affecting diversity and operational taxonomic unit composition. Irradiated samples of oriental fruit flies were characterized by higher species diversity and richness.     

中国花蚤科(鞘翅目)系统学研究进展

花蚤科Mordellidae隶属昆虫纲Insecta鞘翅目Coleoptera,是一类小型甲虫。花蚤为世界性分布,全世界已知115属2308种。花蚤成虫多栖息于花中,是植物传花授粉的重要媒介;其幼虫多取食植物茎秆,是常见的农业害虫。因此,对其开展系统学研究,进行准确的种类鉴定对于农林业生产具有重要意义。目前世界范围内已开展的花蚤科研究均为区域性工作,相对其它动物地理区而言,东洋区尚有大量的种类有待发现和描述,同时也缺少全面的区系研究和系统的分类修订工作。另外,花蚤科是鞘翅目昆虫系统树上的关键节点之一,对其进行深入的形态、分子研究,重建其系统发育以修订完善鞘翅目高级阶元分类系统,也将对中国鞘翅目系统分类研究提供参考,对农林害虫防治工作提供借鉴。     

Habitat Associations of the Larvae of the Genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sphegina</Emphasis> Meigen, 1822 (Diptera,Syrphidae) with Xylobiont Insects

The paper presents the first data on the life histories of the larvae of five species of the genus Sphegina Meigen, 1822 (Diptera, Syrphidae) and their habitat associations with other xylobiont larvae of ambrosia insects: xylomycetophagous bark beetles (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae), flies of the families Axymyiidae and Syrphidae (Diptera), and other insects. The biotopes of Sphegina larvae are divided into two types: the main biotope where larval development takes place and the additional biotope where pupation occurs.     

Pseudomonas syringae enhances herbivory by suppressing the reactive oxygen burst in Arabidopsis

Plant–herbivore interactions have evolved in the presence of plant-colonizing microbes. These microbes can have important third-party effects on herbivore ecology, as exemplified by drosophilid flies that evolved from ancestors feeding on plant-associated microbes. Leaf-mining flies in the genus Scaptomyza, which is nested within the paraphyletic genus Drosophila, show strong associations with bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas, including Pseudomonas syringae. Adult females are capable of vectoring these bacteria between plants and larvae show a preference for feeding on P. syringae-infected leaves. Here we show that Scaptomyza flava larvae can also vector P. syringae to and from feeding sites, and that they not only feed more, but also develop faster on plants previously infected with P. syringae. Our genetic and physiological data show that P. syringae enhances S. flava feeding on infected plants at least in part by suppressing anti-herbivore defenses mediated by reactive oxygen species.     

Diversity and host associations of dipteran insects exploiting fungal fruiting bodies in Hokuriku,central Japan

To clarify the diversity and host associations of dipteran insects exploiting fungal fruiting bodies, we collected fruiting bodies at 18 localities in Hokuriku region, central Japan, from 2012 to 2015 and examined them for the emergence of insects. In total, 14,107 dipteran individuals belonging to 20 families emerged from fungi of 8 orders, 25 families, 49 genera and 129 species. Approximately 79% of dipteran individuals belonged to three families, Phoridae, Muscidae and Drosophilidae. The faunal similarity at the family level was relatively high between central (warm‐temperate) and northern (cool‐temperate) areas of Japan. However, the species composition of Drosophilidae was much different between central and northern Japan. The difference in the species composition was discussed in relation to the climatic conditions and fungal flora. None of the species from Drosophilidae, Phoridae, Muscidae, Mycetophilidae, Lonchaeidae and Chloropidae were specialists (they exploited more than one species of fungi), but they showed differences their fungi preference. Adults of some families, especially Drosophilidae, were frequently collected from fruiting bodies, but those of other families were seldom collected, probably reflecting differences in adult feeding ecology.     

寄主植物叶片物理性状对潜叶昆虫的影响

潜叶昆虫广泛分布于鳞翅目、双翅目、鞘翅目和膜翅目中,其幼虫潜入叶片内部生活和取食,是一类用于研究植物-昆虫-天敌种间关系和协同进化的重要模式生物。有些潜叶昆虫是重要农林害虫。相比外食性昆虫,在叶内取食的潜叶昆虫幼虫更易受到叶片物理性状的直接影响。叶片的着生位置、朝向、大小、颜色和表皮毛等直接决定潜叶虫成虫的取食和产卵选择,从而影响幼虫的空间分布和寄主适应。叶片的某些物理性状也会直接影响幼虫的取食行为、生长发育和被寄生率。研究叶片物理性状的防御作用以及潜叶昆虫对这些防御的适应,有助于了解潜叶昆虫-寄主植物的协同进化。另一方面,外界环境和遗传育种都有可能改变植物叶片的物理特性,而对潜叶害虫产生抗性,从而实现潜叶害虫的可持续生态控制。     

Cooperative Blood-feeding and the Function and Implications of Feeding Aggregations in the Sand Fly,Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Given the importance that the evolution of cooperation bears in evolutionary biology and the social sciences, extensive theoretical work has focused on identifying conditions that promote cooperation among individuals. In insects, cooperative or altruistic interactions typically occur amongst social insects and are thus explained by kin selection. Here we provide evidence that in Lutzomia longipalpis, a small biting fly and an important vector of leishmaniasis in the New World, cooperative blood-feeding in groups of non-kin individuals results in a strong decrease in saliva expenditure. Feeding in groups also strongly affected the time taken to initiate a bloodmeal and its duration and ultimately resulted in greater fecundity. The benefits of feeding aggregations were particularly strong when flies fed on older hosts pre-exposed to sand fly bites, suggesting that flies feeding in groups may be better able to overcome their stronger immune response. These results demonstrate that, in L. longipalpis, feeding cooperatively maximizes the effects of salivary components injected into hosts to facilitate blood intake and to counteract the host immune defences. As a result, cooperating sand flies enjoy enormous fitness gains. This constitutes, to our knowledge, the first functional explanation for feeding aggregations in this species and potentially in other hematophagous insects and a rare example of cooperation amongst individuals of a non-social insects species. The evolution of cooperative group feeding in sand flies may have important implications for the epidemiology of leishmaniasis.