The Japanese horned beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis and the Japanese stag beetles Lucanus maculifemoratus maculifemoratus and Prosopocoilus inclinatus inclinatus generally occur syntopically and aggregate on oak tree surfaces that exude sap. Securement of these sap sites might be directly linked to male reproductive success. Among the three species, it is likely that males of T. d. septentrionalis are dominant in occupation of feeding sites because of their larger body size. However, there is no clear evidence of this superiority. Moreover, if T. d. septentrionalis is dominant, the mechanism by which the two stag beetle species secure the feeding sites remains unclear. In the present study, I used body mass to compare the body size among males of T. d. septentrionalis, L. m. maculifemoratus and P. i. inclinatus. Further, to clarify the interspecific relationship between the horned beetle and the two stag beetles, I investigated the seasonality of emergence pattern of males at the feeding sites in the field. Comparison of body mass and observation of fighting behavior revealed that males of T. d. septentrionalis have an apparent superiority over males of the two stag beetle species. The seasonal emergence patterns of the two stag beetle species at the feeding sites showed bimodal distributions, and avoided the peak of emergence in T. d. septentrionalis. My results suggest that the two stag beetle species exhibit mate-securing tactics by emerging at the feeding sites early and late during the breeding season, in order to avoid encountering T. d. septentrionalis.

The occurrence of herbivores in nature is limited by biotic and abiotic factors which affect their development and survival. Udranomia spitzi is an endemic butterfly in the Brazilian savanna (cerrado) that feeds on young leaves of two sympatric plants, Ouratea hexasperma and O. spectabilis. It is not known which factors affect the occurrence of larvae on their hosts. Therefore, in this study we: (i) evaluated the oviposition preference of U. spitzi; (ii) evaluated the larval performance in both Ouratea species; (iii) investigated plant phenology; (iv) investigated climate (temperature and rainfall); and (v) investigated plant architecture (measured as plant height) on the abundance of skippers. Results showed that U. spitzi immatures (eggs and larvae) were far more abundant (n = 41, 96.7%) on O. spectabilis, whereas on O. hexasperma, the number of larvae was negligible (n = 1). In the laboratory, U. spitzi performed better on O. spectabilis than on O. hexasperma. The occurrence of larvae was not related to host phenology or environmental variations, but rather to plant height, since 92.7% (n = 38) of larvae were found on small O. spectabilis trees. A previous study showed that U. spitzi was not influenced by biotic factors (aggressive ants) and this study showed that plant structure plays a major role in skipper choice. The preference of U. spitzi for O. spectabilis is discussed.

While Habenaria (Orchidaceae) is a species-rich genus and the orchid diversification is considered to be tightly related to its diverse pollination system, floral visitors of few Habenaria spp. have been studied. Here, we investigated the diurnal floral visitors of Habenaria sagittifera. While Orthoptera have not been considered a regular floral visitor, we observed that juvenile katydid Ducetia japonica (Tettigoniidae) regularly visited and consumed the pollinia and anther caps of H. sagittifera. The relationship between Habenaria and Ducetia would not be a tight mutualism. However, the regular visitation and pollinia consumption may showcase the evolutionary route to Orthoptera–orchid pollination mutualism.

To elucidate the effects of light on thermoperiodic regulation of adult eclosion rhythm in the onion fly, Delia antiqua, the responses to two thermoperiods, 29°C (12 h):21°C (12 h) and 25.5°C (12 h):24.5°C (12 h), with different amplitude and same average temperature, were examined in continuous darkness (DD) and continuous light (LL). Irrespective of the temperature step between warm phase (W) and cool phase (C), temperature cycles effectively entrained the adult eclosion rhythm in both DD and LL. Eclosion peaks, however, varied with light conditions and temperature step between W and C. It advanced by approximately 2–3 h in DD than in LL and at smaller temperature step. Background light conditions and temperature step also affect the amplitude of eclosion rhythm. It became lower in LL than in DD and at smaller temperature steps. On transfer to constant temperature (25°C), eclosion rhythm was elicited earliest in the pupae at 8°C temperature step in DD and latest in those at 1°C temperature step in LL. Pupae at 1°C temperature step in DD and at 8°C temperature step in LL demonstrated intermediate responses, but the eclosion rhythm was elicited 1 day earlier in the former than in the latter. This might be ascribed to the interaction between background light and temperature step under thermoperiodic conditions. The results suggest that continuous light and a smaller temperature step weaken the coupling strength between eclosion rhythm and thermoperiod, but the light effect is stronger than the temperature step effect.

The heritability of life-history traits is of particular importance for insects that are very dependent on host conditions. Severe defoliation caused by the spruce budworm negatively impacts its food source, which in turn imposes environmental constraints on the insect. The heritability of those traits can help elucidate this species' evolutionary process. Heritability also helps identify which traits exhibit significant additive variance and can be key to understanding natural selection effects. Individuals were reared under laboratory conditions over three generations on an artificial diet. Heritability was estimated by parent–offspring regression. Fertility and fecundity demonstrated significant heritability followed by larval development, while pupal mass showed minimal heritable variation. These results suggest an important percent of additive variance in life-history traits. This study contributes to our understanding of the relationship of this forest pest to its environmental conditions. This study also reveals an important genetic architectural structure of life-history traits in the spruce budworm.

The Ryukyu island arc, originally a continental margin arc, separated from the Chinese continent by the rifting of the Okinawa trough, a process which began at 1.55 million years ago (Ma) and continues to the present. In addition, the Ryukyu arc was simultaneously divided into the northern Amami–Okinawa and southern Yaeyama islands by the Kerama rift valley, and consequently formed two isolated island units. The Kuroshio warm current began to flow into the Okinawa trough from the Yonaguni Strait, and flow out through the Tsushima and Tokara straits also at 1.55 Ma, and these seaways effectively acted as barriers between the Ryukyu islands and Taiwan, China and Japan. Through this geological process, vicariant speciation generated Ryukyu endemic animal species. We support this hypothesis by drawing linearized maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic trees of the species in four endemic insect groups (peacock butterfly, Chinese windmill butterfly, golden-ringed dragonfly, window firefly) using GenBank sequence data. We determined the precise branching ages for these phylogenetic trees, and show simultaneous speciation at 1.55 Ma for Amami–Okinawa and Yaeyama units. The Taiwan and Tsushima straits, barriers between Taiwan and China, and Japan and Korea, respectively, did not form sufficient barriers to migration during glacial low stands, and species were intermingled. A marine embayment may have posed as a migration barrier between northern and southern China in the Quaternary or a little earlier. From our study we also estimate the precise molecular evolution rate and justify the molecular clock.

A study was carried out in Kakamega forest, in the western region of Kenya, to evaluate the effectiveness of the stingless bee Hypotrigona gribodoi (Magretti, 1884) on the pollination of green pepper. Three treatments were applied and consisted of self-pollination, pollination by feral pollinators in the open field and pollination by H. gribodoi in a net cage. The differences in fruit yield and seed quality were compared among treatments. Flowers pollinated by H. gribodoi produced the heaviest fruits with the highest seed numbers followed by feral pollinators and lastly self-pollinated flowers. Moreover, seeds were significantly bigger in size in fruits resulting from flowers pollinated by H. gribodoi compared to fruits obtained from self-pollinated flowers or flowers pollinated by feral insects. We, therefore, conclude that H. gribodoi is an efficient pollinator of green pepper in the tropical region of East Africa.

This paper examines the life history of a generation of galls created by the aphid Quadrartus yoshinomiyai (Hormaphidinae: Nipponaphidini) on its primary host plant, Distylium racemosum. First-instar fundatrix nymphs of Q. yoshinomiyai initiated galls on stems of developing shoots in early April and incipient enclosed galls were found from later the same month. The galls lasted for up to 14 months, during which they grew to maturity, opened in early or mid-April of the following year and dried up by the end of June. First-instar fundatrix nymphs were found on winter buds, indicating that they hatched from eggs in autumn and overwintered as nymphs. These results suggest that Q. yoshinomiyai has a three-year life cycle.

In the context of conservation biology, we have searched for the most influential characteristics of urban parks on ecological diversity. In this study, therefore, we studied the ant community of 24 parks in two cities of Southern Spain (Cordoba and Seville). In total, 46 species were found. Abundant and widely distributed species were synanthropic ones, such as Lasius grandis, Pheidole pallidula or Tapinoma nigerrimum, and exotic species such as Cardiocondyla mauritanica. However some parks also harbored natural habitat-preferring species. Park size, shape and distance to city outskirts were the most important predictors of species richness and diversity. Likewise, park age influenced the composition of the ant fauna.

The adult behavior of an ambrosia gall midge Illiciomyia yukawai (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) that induces leaf galls on Illicium anisatum (Illiciaceae) was studied at the population level from 1977 to 1995 in Kagoshima, Japan. Most males emerged between 0:00 and 08:00 h and females between 05:00 and 11:00 h. Males swarmed around the host trees between 05:00 and 11:00 h. Mating occurred on the host leaves mainly between 06:00 and 08:00 h. Females then left the host trees for somewhere else, possibly to collect symbiont fungal conidia. From 08:00 to 16:00 h, females were observed ovipositing into the host shoots. The low development threshold temperature for overwintered larvae was 14°C, while the thermal constant for emergence differed with individuals. Thermal totals above 14°C up to the 50% emergence date varied yearly from 33.1 to 68.7 degree-days. The 50% emergence date varied from 9 to 18 May. The thermal totals significantly correlated with the 50% emergence date but did not correlate with the date when 50% of shoots became suitable for oviposition. Thus, the host-plant responded to thermal effects differently from the gall midge. Illiciomyia yukawai has been synchronizing well with the host-plant phenology but will suffer from asynchrony when global warming becomes more conspicuous.

A short-winged morph was recently discovered in the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria. It is different from the normal, long-winged morph not only in forewing length but also in hind femur length, displaying a dimorphism. To understand the significance of this dimorphism, other morphological characters were compared between the two morphs, and the time of differentiation of wing-pad length was investigated. Wing weights were heavier in the long-winged morph than in the short-winged morph. This result showed that the short-winged morph is not formed by a failure of wing expansion. No obvious morph-specific differences were observed in wing venation, but wing allometry studies indicated that the distal areas of the fore- and hindwings were disproportionally reduced in the short-winged morph compared to the long-winged morph. The morphological differentiation of the wing pad between the two morphs was observed at the penultimate nymphal stage. The flight muscle was well developed in the two morphs, and no sign of flight muscle histolysis was detected in either morph after adult emergence. An analysis of adult body dimensions suggested that the density-dependent phase shifts known for the long-winged morph of this locust were also exhibited by the short-winged morph, demonstrating that these shifts are not specific to the migratory long-winged morph.

We observed that unique projections developed from female flower galls induced by three unidentified cecidomyiid species in the syconia of Ficus microcarpa (Moraceae) on Okinawa and Amami Islands, Japan. The three cecidomyiids (sp. 1, 2 and 3) were tentatively distinguished by the differences in the shape of the projections. The projection of sp. 1 started to develop from the bottom of each gall before emergence, broke the skin of the syconium, and developed finally up to 5–6 mm in length within 6–8 h. During this period, the pupa oriented its head towards the bottom of the gall. After the projection fully elongated, the pupa pushed open the bottom of the projection with its head. The projection was easily removed from the gall at the base. The pupa quickly crawled half way out of the gall through the opening at the bottom of the projection and an adult then emerged. The projection did not develop when other hymenopteran gall inhabitants emerged. The projection was derived from plant tissues consisting of a mass of small square cells in the basal and distal portions and regularly arranged long cells in the middle portion. No projection was induced by the application of gibberellin's paste to the bottom of syconia. The gall midge seemed to manipulate the fig plant to develop the projection before emergence, so that the pupa can easily pass through the sticky epidermis of the syconium. The emergence of sp. 2 and 3 could not be intensively observed.

Although most polistine wasp species are found in the Neotropical region, mainly in Brazil, only a very limited number of South American parasitoids or parasites are known to exist. We assessed the frequency of a hymenopterous parasitoid, Pachysomoides sp. (Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae), in the nests of the Brazilian independent-founding wasp Polistes satan and compared the rates of the parasitization of P. satan by Pachysomoides sp. between the dry (winter) and wet (summer) seasons. Pachysomoides sp. larvae were seen to feed on P. satan pupa and were found in both the upper and lower parts of the host pupal cell (ca. 10 individuals in each host pupal cell). Approximately one-third of the pupal cells in the P. satan colonies were parasitized in the dry season, whereas there were no parasitized pupal cells in the wet season. Consequently, the rates of parasitization by Pachysomoides sp. were significantly greater during the dry season than during the wet season due to unknown reasons.

Many paddy fields in the mountainous rural areas of Japan have been abandoned since the 1960s, and forests have regenerated on these sites. In a mountainous area on Sado Island, a large number of abandoned paddies were converted into wetlands and open terrestrial vegetation. In this study, we used pitfall traps to examine the effects of the creation of open vegetation on carabid beetle assemblages by investigating 14 sites spanning five vegetation types: six sites in secondary forests (three coppice forests and three 40-year-old regenerating forests on abandoned paddies), three each in clear-cuts and paddy levees, and two in grasslands. The 14 study sites were clearly separated into two groups different in the species composition of carabid beetles: secondary forest and grassland-levee groups. The species composition of two clear-cut sites was similar to that of secondary forests, whereas that of the remaining one clear-cut site was similar to that of grasslands. Analyses of species responses showed various habitat preferences, e.g., for only coppice forests, for two types of secondary forests, for secondary forests and clear-cuts, for clear-cuts and grasslands, and for grasslands or levees, or no clear preference. There were no characteristic species in the regenerating forests. These results suggest that the 40-year-old regenerating forests may sustain only a limited subset of the carabid fauna found in coppice forests and that the creation of open vegetation in the abandoned paddies enhances carabid diversity at the landscape level by raising β diversity among the different vegetation types.

In this study I review the subject of biological rhythms in scorpions. This will include only some of the diel rhythmic endogenous physiological functions and not the locomotory rhythmicity, which will be dealt separately. Most studies reported here were conducted on 13 scorpion species that were studied in 39 different studies. Most of these (66.7%) were studies on a single species (Heterometrus fulvipes). Being a scorpionid, it sits and waits near its burrow not being very active, especially the females. The fact that experimenting was carried out irrespective of species diversity, gender, ecological or physiological conditions, and was usually done on animals kept in captivity for some time before the experimenting had started, is a major drawback to this kind of study. Although the main conclusion appears to be that enzymes reached their peak activity at 20.00 h, there are some exceptions showing otherwise that need further study in order to explain them.

Flowers of dioecious plants have sexually dimorphic traits that may affect florivore performances, and florivores may have preferences to plant sex that are correlated with their performance on different plant sexes. We investigated the florivory on a polygamodioecious evergreen shrub Eurya japonica in Japan to reveal florivores and their feeding patterns involved in sexually biased florivory on E. japonica flowers. Flowers of E. japonica were infested by lepidopteran and dipteran larvae and hemipteran insects. Lepidopteran larvae were chewers, dipteran larvae were gall makers and hemipteran insects were suckers. Chewed flowers were most frequent among infested flowers. Of florivores, lepidopteran larvae, mostly of Geometridae, were the important florivore that damaged flowers by chewing. Florivores infested male flower buds more often than female flower buds, but only a geometrid larvae Chloroclystis excise, which exclusively uses flower buds, showed the biased infection on male flowers. Rearing experiments for two other geometrid moths which use both leaves and flowers showed that the preference and performance of Ourapteryx nivea that fed mainly leaves did not differ between the plant sexes, whereas the development of Alcis angulifera larvae which fed both leaves and flowers was slower when they fed female than male leaves and flower buds. In addition, A. angulifera larvae fed fewer flower buds on female than on male plants. These results show that the male-biased florivory on E. japonica trees is attributed mainly to the specialist florivore and also feeding preference for male flowers in an opportunistic florivore that feed both leaves and flowers.

In Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia, there are four species of processional termites that coexist: Hospitalitermes hospitalis, H. lividiceps, H. rufus and Longipeditermes longipes. This paper presents the results of our investigation on the spatial distribution of nests and the foraging activities of the four species in coexistence. The results show that there are fairly marked differences in nesting sites, as well as in foraging activities, among the four species. It is noteworthy that H. rufus inhabits only the canopy area over 20 m above ground, apparently segregated from the other three species, and that their foraging activities are limited also to tree canopies over 10 m above ground. In contrast, L. longipes nests underground and forages exclusively on the forest floor. Hospitalitermes hospitalis and H. lividiceps inhabit and forage over wide areas, from the forest floor to tree canopies. The upper parts of the tree canopy (over 10 m) are also foraging territories of the secluded H. rufus, but there were no observations of simultaneous foraging of the three Hospitalitermes species in the same canopy areas.

Some insect species are thought to grow quickly, even in low temperatures under natural conditions, presumably by conducting basking behaviors to use sunlight. However, whether basking behavior in fact enhances developmental speed and shortens the larval period in the field has not been determined. Moreover, few studies have examined whether basking is behavioral thermoregulation or simply the result of highly-heterogeneous heat environments in the field. To examine these issues, we conducted field observations and laboratory experiments using larvae of Parnassius citrinarius Motschulsky, which mature within a short period after the thaw in early spring. First, body temperatures of larvae were measured under sunny and cloudy conditions. Second, larval preference for warmer locations was examined. Finally, we compared the developmental speed of larvae when they basked under field conditions and when did not bask in laboratory conditions under different air temperature regimes. Under sunny conditions, larval body temperature was substantially higher than either the temperature of the host plant or the air temperature, and was equivalent to the temperature of dead leaves, which the larvae used as basking sites. In contrast, no such tendency was observed under cloudy conditions. Larvae exhibited an exclusive preference for warmer locations. Moreover, in the field, despite the low ambient temperature, larvae grew much faster than those reared in the laboratory. These results imply that the basking behavior of P. citrinarius larvae is active thermoregulation to maintain high body temperatures in the cold season.

Dillenia suffruticosa (Dilleniaceae), a common pioneer shrub in Southeast Asia, is broadly distributed along roadsides. This species flowers throughout the year and is thought to be a keystone species for maintaining populations of flower visitors. To examine the flower visitors of this species, we conducted field surveys and described the behaviors of each flower visitor species within four different research sites: Primary Forests 1 and 2, Secondary Forest, and Mixed Vegetation. We caught 1087 individuals belonging to 51 species from 11 insect families and one species of arachnid. Most flower visitors belonged to Hymenoptera (98.6% of individuals); Trigona spp. and Xylocopa spp. (Apidae) accounted for 64.0% and 20.0%, respectively, of all caught individuals. According to observations of behavior by each species, effective pollinators may include Xylocopa spp. and Amegilla spp. (Apidae). We compared the research results among four research sites and found that the effective pollinators were not different among sites. However, the number of species and the abundances of flower visitors decreased in disturbed areas, especially in Secondary Forest. This research suggests the effects of human disturbances on the diversity and abundance of flower visitors.

Brontispa longissima is a serious pest of the coconut palm Cocos nucifera, presumed to have originated in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. It recently invaded Southeast and East Asia, where outbreaks have been reported. Mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals two cryptic species in B. longissima: one is distributed over a wide area including Asia and the Pacific region (the Asian clade) and the other in a limited area in the Pacific region (the Pacific clade). Recent invasions and outbreaks have been reported only from the area where the Asian clade has been found, suggesting that this clade has become a pest in Asia. To infer if the Asian clade has the ability to establish, spread and outbreak in novel habitats more effectively than the Pacific clade, we compared life-history traits between the two populations of different clades. The net reproduction rate (R₀) was 130.0 and 94.0, the mean length of a generation (T) was 57.7 and 54.7 days, and the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) was 0.084 and 0.083 per day for the population from Ishigaki Island, Japan (ISH) (the Asian clade) and for the population from Papua New Guinea (PNG) (the Pacific clade), respectively. Although the difference in r was little, the simulated population growth showed that the ISH population can be 1.6 times larger than that of the PNG after ten generations. The rapid population growth of the Asian clade would be partly responsible for its establishment, spread and frequent outbreaks in Asia.

Life cycle, feeding habits and nymphal density of a population of Ephoron virgo from the Bormida river (Northwestern Italy) were studied. Nymphs were present in the river from the beginning of May until August, with the highest density of nymphs recorded at the end of May–beginning of June. The life cycle was univoltine and the nymphal growth was fast. During the life cycle, an obligatory egg diapause occurs and individuals remain in this stage for up to nine months. Nymphs fed mainly on detritus, although mineral matter constituted a considerable percentage of the gut contents, predominantly in smaller nymphs.

In this study, we examined the genetic structure and population history of the high elevation black fly Simulium feuerborni in Thailand at both cytogenetic and molecular genetic levels. Cytological examination revealed two cytoforms differentiated by fixed chromosome inversions. The distributions of the cytoforms were associated with geographic origins. Cytoform A was found in the lower north and northeast, and cytoform B was found in the upper northern region of Thailand. Molecular data based on the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding sequence supports the separation of the cytoforms. The average sequence divergence between the two cytoforms was 3.75%, which is higher than the threshold value for the species level based on a COI barcoding sequence. Median joining network clearly differentiated the haplotypes of the cytoforms into different lineages. Population pairwise F_ST and amova analyses reveal significant genetic differentiation between cytoforms. This indicates that the low land areas separating these populations act as a gene flow barrier. No genetic differentiation was detected within cytoforms. This could be due to a recent sharing of population history. Mismatch distribution analysis revealed population expansion in the northern lineage of the cytoform B approximately 220 000 years ago. More recent expansion (32 000 years ago) was found in the lower north and northeast (cytoform A) lineage. The demographic history of S. feuerborni mirrored previous findings in black flies and other insect species in Thailand. This indicates the important role of Pleistocene climatic change on genetic structure and diversity of Southeast Asian mainland species.

In recent years, research on “insect properties” has been attracting much attention for industrial applications of insect technology. This is a new field of research that attempts to analyze specific physiological properties of insects to develop technology for helping humankind. The term “insect properties” has been used to refer to “specific biological functions of insects” since around 1986, and it is now widely accepted in Japan. From 1996, the National Institute of Sericultural and Entomological Science (NISES) promoted “Research for utilization of insect properties” as a “Center of Excellence (COE)” project funded by the Science and Technology Agency. At this point, a new research field called “Research for utilization of insect properties” was initiated, and this led to the recognition of this field by the academic community. In the 21st century, remarkable results, including the development of transgenic silkworms and the full decoding of the silkworm genome, have been achieved. It is expected that this advanced technology will be a powerful tool for progress of research on the use of insect properties. This review presents an overview of the current state of research on use of insect properties as a new technology.

The sexually size-dimorphic grasshopper Tetrix japonica exhibits variation in body-color markings on the pronotum even within a single local population. Such markings have been suggested to reduce the visual detectability of grasshoppers. However, some grasshoppers have no markings. In the present study, we examined the effect of the sex-related difference in body size and the spotted markings on the degree of camouflage. We hypothesized that: (i) large individuals (females) are potentially more readily detectable than small individuals; (ii) large individuals (females) with spotted markings would realize a moderate degree of the camouflage effect, whereas large individuals (females) without spotted markings would be quite poorly camouflaged; (iii) small individuals (males) would be sufficiently less detectable, with or without markings; and (iv) large individuals (females) would tend to have spotted markings in the wild. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a morph-frequency field survey and laboratory experiments on the body-size dependency of the spotted markings. The field survey confirmed that all females exhibited spotted markings and that the majority of males were non-spotted morphs. Next, to determine whether body size and the spotted markings affected crypsis, we conducted detection task experiments using humans as dummy predators by manipulating the body size, presence/absence of spotted markings, or both, of printed grasshoppers. The absence of spotted markings increased the detection risk in large and small grasshoppers, particularly in large-sized females. These results suggest that female-biased selective predation could have eliminated non-spotted female morphs because they were too conspicuous.

Nesidiocoris tenuis is considered to make significant contributions to the control of greenhouse pests such as whiteflies, thrips, leafminers, lepidopterans, and spider mites, although there is little information based on direct observation of the predation of N. tenuis on these target pests. We developed a method to perform gut content analysis of N. tenuis based on DNA in which specific PCR primers were designed to detect the DNA of target pests. By means of gut-content analysis, we found that the percentage of N. tenuis preying on Bemisia tabaci and Thrips palmi was approximately 40% in the field.

Subsocial burrower bugs (Heteroptera: Cydnidae) provide unique opportunities to investigate evolutionary ecological questions regarding parental provisioning and family dynamics. Observations and marked nutlet-setting experiments in the field showed that Adomerus triguttulus females progressively delivered mint nutlets into nests harbouring nymphs under the litter. More than one female often attended nymphs, but not eggs, in a nest in the field. The number of nymphs aggregating in a nest with a single female was usually smaller than that in a nest with two females, suggesting the joining of different families and facultative joint parental care. There was a positive correlation between the number of nutlets delivered and the number of nymphs in a nest. The number of attendant females also affected the amount of provisioning; more nutlets were found for second-instar broods with more females. The effect of brood size on provisioning was confirmed for families under laboratory rearing. Maternal provisioning also varied with the developmental stage of offspring; second-instar broods received more nutlets than first-instar broods, with a temporal decrease in provisioning during the moulting of nymphs. Considering the growing evidence of food solicitation signals of young in subsocial insects, the observed finely tuned supply of food by the female could be induced by begging signals from the nymphs.

In the Brazilian savanna many plant species bear regular associations with patrolling ants that are aggressive towards insect herbivores. However, not only ants but also several species of predatory wasps are attracted to plants due to the extrafloral nectaries (EFNs). Such wasps feed on both herbivores and plant exudates. In this study we describe the foraging behavior of the social Polistinae wasp Brachygastra lecheguana in the extrafloral nectaried shrub Banisteriopsis malifolia, and investigated the influence of patrolling ants Camponotus blandus on the activity of the wasp. Brachygastra lecheguana fed on the endophytic larvae of Anthonomus (Curculionidae) beetles that developed inside flower buds. The wasp lacerated the bud layers to reach the beetle larvae located at the bud core. The wasp visits to Ba. malifolia were statistically related to the abundance of flower buds and beetles. Ant exclusion experiments revealed that the hunting behavior of B. lecheguana on beetles was not related to the absence of C. blandus. However we found that wasps spent more time consuming extrafloral nectar on branches where ants were excluded. This is the first study reporting extrafloral nectar consumption by B. lecheguana, as well as the predation on herbivores in natural areas. In cerrado vegetation, ants benefit the plant by reducing insect herbivores, and our study provides evidence that the B. lecheguana – Ba. malifolia system represents a potential interaction where the wasp may also benefit the host plant. The value of this wasp species as a plant-guard is discussed.

Anthropogenic disturbances have caused pollinator decline by affecting the abundance and diversity of foraging plants. Anthropogenic disturbances are also thought to drive pollinator decline by reducing nest site availability, but the exact mechanisms by which human activities influence nest site availability are not currently well understood. In this study, we investigated nesting site preference of underground bee Andrena camellia Wu in two orchards. Principal component analysis of environmental factors (bulk density, penetration resistance, water content and temperature) indicated that A. camellia preferred loose, moist and low-temperature habitats. The favored habitats were located at the bases of the foothills a long distance from human settlements. At the bases, favored nesting substrates decreased along the distance gradient, and nest densities of digger bees increased along the distance gradient. On the summit, however, nesting substrates were compacted, dried with high temperature regardless of distance from human settlements, and the nest densities were all low along the distance gradient. In summary, anthropogenic soil disturbances in the vicinity of human settlements threaten digger bees by altering soil characteristics. The conservation of the soil substrates is addressed in terms of its role in governing the population of digger bee A. camellia.

The spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, is a recent new introduction to the Qilian Mountains of China. An outbreak of these beetles has infested over 0.03 million hectares of spruce forests in this area. Although primary attraction to volatiles has been clearly demonstrated for I. typographus, the existence and role of attraction to insect-produced pheromones have been widely debated. Currently, commercial lures for I. typographus include only the volatiles ipsdienol, cis-verbenol, trans-verbenol, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and 2-phenylethanol in Europe. Several potential pheromone candidates have been identified for I. typographus. Our GC–MS and GC–FID analyses volatiles from hindgut extracts of I. typographus in different attack phases demonstrated that the 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol, ipsdienol, cis-verbenol and trans-verbenol as major hindgut components, and ipsenol, 2-phenylethanol, trans- myrtenol and verbenone as minor components. We tested various combinations of semiochemical candidates, to determine an optimal blend. Our results suggest that addition of 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol to either ipsenol alone, or to blends of ipsenol and other semiochemical candidates, significantly enhanced attraction of I. typographus. Therefore, a simple lure consisting of ipsenol and 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol would be an optimal blend of I. typographus in the Qilian Mountains, China. We conclude that this optimal semiochemical blend may provide an effective biological pest control method for use in forest ecosystem against I. typographus.

Watshamia Bouček, 1974 (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) has three known world species described by Bouček: W. versicolor and W. turneri (Afrotropical), and W. malaica (Oriental). In this paper, Watshamia gero sp. nov. is described from Kenya. It is the only known species in which females have hyaline fore wings. Wing interference pattern (WIP) is used for the first time in the taxonomy of Pteromalidae as a differential feature. An illustrated key to females and males of Afrotropical Watshamia is given and the first indications of the biology of the Afrotropical species are presented. Watshamia versicolor is newly reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Three new species of Lonchaeidae are described from material reared from fig syconia in Japan: Silba inubiwa sp. nov., S. ishigaki sp. nov. and S. japonica sp. nov. Based on the taxonomy of these and similar species the boundaries of the genus Silba are re-evaluated, and, as a result, it is considered that Setisquamalonchaea Morge is synonymous with Silba Macquart. A revised key and generic notes on the tribe Lonchaeini are provided.

The aphid Ceratovacuna nekoashi and its allied species have been a taxonomically difficult group. They form peculiar “cat's-paw” galls (called “Nekoashi” in Japanese) on Styrax trees and also use Microstegium grasses as their secondary hosts. Through sampling aphids from both Styrax galls and Microstegium grasses in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, and sequencing their DNA, we made it clear that four distinct species occur in these regions: C. nekoashi (Sasaki), C. oplismeni (Takahashi), C. orientalis (Takahashi) and C. subtropicana sp. nov. In Korea, C. nekoashi forms galls on both S. japonicus and S. obassia, whereas in Japan the species forms galls on the former but not on the latter; our molecular analyses unequivocally indicated the occurrence of a single species in South Korea and mainland Japan. Aphids of the four species on the secondary host were morphologically discriminated from one another. The identity of the primary- and secondary-host generations was also clarified for each species. All four species were found to produce second-instar sterile soldiers in their Styrax galls, and first-instar soldiers were found in colonies of C. subtropicana on the secondary host.

Lepidozonates gen. nov. is described, with description of three new species: L. viciniolus Park, sp. nov. from Thailand, L. tenebrosellus Park, sp. nov. from Taiwan and L. prominens Park, sp. nov. from Cambodia and Thailand. The new genus is characterized by having the specialized plumose corematal scales developed on the pleural membrane of the abdominal segments IV–VI in the male, and the venation of both wings also differs from those of the allied genera, e.g., Deltoplastis Meyrick, Torodora Meyrick or Thubana Walker of the subfamily Torodorinae.

The diversity and host associations of parasitoids attacking mycophagous drosophilids were studied in Tokyo (a warm-temperate region) and Sapporo (a cool-temperate region) in Japan. Field collections were carried out using traps baited with mushrooms in May, June, September and October 2009 in Tokyo and in July and August 2010 in Sapporo. The major drosophilid species that emerged from mushroom baits was Drosophila bizonata in Tokyo and D. orientacea in Sapporo. In total, 13 parasitoid species emerged from drosophilids occurring in mushroom baits, and 11 of them were larval parasitoids belonging to Braconidae and Figitidae. Among the 11 larval parasitoids, 10 were collected in Tokyo, while only two were collected in Sapporo. It is not known why their diversity differed so much between these two regions. Four of the 11 larval parasitoids have also been recorded from drosophilid larvae occurring in fruit (banana). The use of these two habitats (mushrooms and fruit) by these four species seems to reflect the occurrence (i.e. resource use) of their suitable hosts. On the other hand, most larval parasitoids from Tokyo attacked D. bizonata, and two larval parasitoids from Sapporo attacked D. orientacea, suggesting that the abundance of potential hosts is one of the important factors affecting their host use.

The geographical variation in elytral color polymorphism in Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius) was analyzed based on data from specimen surveys. In all, 1549 individuals collected from different latitudes throughout Indonesia to Japan were categorized into 20 morph types of elytra. Results show that the morph types have a geographical cline: dark types increased with latitude, although the light types showed higher relative frequency in lower latitudes, which suggests that the geographic variation in elytral color polymorphism in C. sexmaculata is a product of selection by climate. The darker morph types might be advantageously able to make fuller use of insolation at higher latitudes, whereas the lighter morph types were likely to reduce heat stress at lower latitudes. In most areas across Southeast and South Asia, all specimens were of the lightest type, which may imply either: (i) the saturation of genes expressing light morph types, which have less solar absorption, due to tropical climate; or (ii) an enhanced warning function of bright red against predators. On Miyako Island of Japan, a unique frequency of morph types was found compared to the adjacent areas.

Tetraneura nigriabdominalis (Sasaki, 1899) is a galling aphid that is distributed widely in Eurasia. In the present study, a diagnostic multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol was developed to discriminate two types of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences in this species, and its usefulness was examined from 25 samples of T. nigriabdominalis. Multiplex PCR and electrophoresis revealed that 10 and 15 samples had one band of 133 bp (type A) and 426 bp (type B), respectively. This discrimination was identical to the division of the 25 samples based on the alignments of COI sequences (511 bp), indicating high accuracy of this protocol in distinguishing the two types. This protocol is useful for studying microgeographic distributions of the two types and genetic diversities in T. nigriabdominalis.

Recently, the number of collection records of Pemphigus galls from Populus nigra has been increasing in Japan. To identify the galls on P. nigra, mitochondrial COI sequences were analyzed from galling aphid samples collected on P. nigra in Tokyo and Hokkaido. From the BLAST search and neighbor-joining (NJ) analysis, the aphid samples were identified as Pemphigus bursarius, which has not been recorded from Japan. Two samples from Tokyo and Hokkaido showed a genetic difference of 0.30%. This result suggests that different strains of P. bursarius might have been introduced into the Japanese islands at least twice.

Temperature is one of the most important climatic factors that may influence different traits (morphological, physiological or behavioral) in Drosophila. In this study, we examined the effects of two developmental temperatures (18°C and 25°C) on the size and the symmetry of sex combs (a male sexual trait) and their importance for male mating success in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the number of sex comb teeth (“size”) and its difference between right and left legs (“symmetry”) were relevant neither to male mating success nor to the growth temperatures.

Three wingless reproductives of Polyergus samurai Yano were collected in the reproductive season. These wingless reproductives had developed ovaries and laid eggs immediately after collection. They lacked spermatheca and the eggs produced by wingless reproductives finally become adult males. These observations suggest that the wingless reproductives of P. samurai are potential producers of males.

Here we present the first data on the chromosome complement of Trissolcus basalis gathered in conjunction with the ongoing whole genome sequencing efforts for this species. The cytogenetic investigation revealed a diploid karyotype with 20 chromosomes, comprising one pair of large metacentrics and nine pairs of acrocentrics that gradually decrease in length.