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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 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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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: 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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The question of the very early stages of grangerization is one of the keys to our understanding of the amazing behavioral plasticity that lies in the basis of locust phase polyphenism. The study by Guershon and Ayali presents a novel perspective on this question, suggesting that rather than emerging with a gregarious or solitarious, parentally derived and predetermined phase, all locust hatchlings have an independent default or innate behavioral state, which reflects tolerance if not attraction to conspecifics. The phase is very much determined later on by environmental conditions. (photo provided by Amir Ayali, see pages 649‐656).     

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The carnivorous spread‐winged damselflies (Lestidae) closely interact with plants only during their egg laying activity. The female chooses the long and narrow monocot plants, like Scirpus or Juncus, to insert its eggs into their tissues. Linear patterns of the egg‐clutches are species‐specific and behaviorally stereotyped characteristics among the lestids studied so far. Most likely, these peculiarities evolved in dragonflies when simultaneously or soon after appearance of monocot plant families in Cretaceous or Paleogene. (see pages 893‐902). Photo provided by Natalia Matushkina     

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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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Gregarious locust and solitary locust display significant differences in behavior, physiology, and morphology in response to the changes in population density. Here, we show that two phases also differ significantly in volatile composition and their emission dynamics along with the development and sexes. The body odors of the gregarious and solitary nymphs are mainly consisted of aromatic compounds, such as benzaldehyde, guaiacol, phenol, anisole, veratrole, and aliphatic acids (C2 and C6). PAN and 4‐vinylanisole are present in gregarious locust, but are absent in solitary locust. These two compounds were completely lost in gregarious nymphs during solitarization process, but were obtained by solitary nymphs during gregarization. The amounts of benzaldehyde, guaiacol, and phenol only unidirectionally decreased from solitary to crowded treatment (see pages 60–72). Picture provided by Jianing Wei.     

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The 28-spotted potato ladybeetle, Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is a major agricultural pest that primarily causes serious damage to solanaceous plants. The destructive potential of H. vigintioctopunctata is high at the larval stages. The cover photo shows that H. vigintioctopunctata third instar larva eating on the surface of eggplant leaf; it can be easily killed after ingestion of dsHvvATPase A or dsHvvATPase E (see pages xxx-xxx). Photo provided by Li-Yuan Liu.     

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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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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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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.