The apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella (Walsh) (Diptera: Tephritidae), infests non-commercial apple (Malus domestica (Borkh.) Borkh.) and native black-fruited hawthorns (mostly Crataegus douglasii Lindl.) in central Washington, but little has been published on the abundance of the fly in this region. In this paper, the abundance of R. pomonella across different sites near apple-growing areas in central Washington is documented in order to assess the threat of the fly to commercial apple orchards. The fly was first detected on traps in Klickitat, Yakima, and Kittitas Counties in 1981, 1995, and 1997, respectively. From 1981-2010 in Kittitas and Yakima Counties, only 0 to 4.7% of traps on apple, crabapple, and hawthorn trees were positive for flies, whereas in Klickitat County, located farther from commercial apple orchards, 0 to 41.9% of traps were positive. In 2008, in Yakima County and Goldendale in Klickitat County, 7.8% of black-fruited hawthorn trees were infested, with 0 to 0.00054 larvae per fruit. In 2010, in Kittitas and Yakima Counties and Goldendale in Klickitat County, 25.0% of C. douglasii trees were infested, with 0.00042 to 0.00248 larvae per fruit. In 2010, in a remote forested area of Klickitat County far from commercial apple orchards, 94.7% of C. douglasii trees were infested, with 0.20813 larvae per fruit. Overall results suggest R. pomonella is unlikely to develop high populations rapidly near major commercial apple-growing areas in central Washington, including in black-fruited hawthorns, increasing chances it can be kept out of commercial orchards.

The morphology and histology of Lyonet's gland in the second to fifth instar larvae of Antheraea mylitta Drury (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) are described. Each of the paired silk glands of this silk worm were associated with a Lyonet's gland. The paired Lyonet's glands were located on the ventrolateral sides of the esophagus, close to the subesophageal ganglion. Whole mount and SEM observations revealed that each Lyonet's gland consisted of a rosette of glandular mass, and a short narrow tubular duct opening into the anterior part of the silk gland (ASG), close to the common excretory duct. In each instar, these glands were unequal in size. The glandular mass was innervated by fine nerves from the subesophageal ganglion, suggesting a neural control for the glandular activity. The glandular mass was made up of clustered long cells wrapped by a thin basal lamina, which was continuous over the non-secretory low columnar cells of the Lyonet's gland duct and ASG. The narrow bases of long cells of each glandular mass led into the lumen of the duct of the gland. Histochemical analysis of fully developed Lyonet's gland showed clustered lipid granules in the gland cells.

Male honey bees fly and gather at Drone Congregation Areas (DCAs), where drones and queens mate in flight. DCAs occur in places with presumably characteristic features. Using previously described landscape characteristics and observations on flight direction of drones in nearby apiaries, 36 candidate locations were chosen across the main island of Puerto Rico. At these locations, the presence or absence of DCAs was tested by lifting a helium balloon equipped with queen-sex-pheromone-impregnated bait, and visually determining the presence of high numbers of drones. Because of the wide distribution of honey bees in Puerto Rico, it was expected that most of the potential DCAs would be used as such by drones and queens from nearby colonies. Eight DCAs were found in the 36 candidate locations. Locations with and without DCAs were compared in a landscape analysis including characteristics that were described to be associated with DCAs and others. Aspect (direction of slope) and density of trails were found to be significantly associated with the presence of DCAs.

The richness and composition of a mountain-river chironomid larvae assemblage in the Jacuí River basin, Brazil were studied, and compared with other riverine non-biting midge larvae assemblages previously studied in the country. Additionally, the influence of some regional-scale environmental characteristics on the spatial distribution of these assemblages was tested. The specimens were collected at 12 sites in the middle course of the Jacuí River basin (in the state of Rio Grande do Sul) between April 2000 and May 2002. Around 100 taxa were recorded. The dominant taxa belonged to the genera Rheotanytarsus, Cricotopus, Polypedilum, and Pseudochironomus. Twenty-two rare taxa were found, representing 22% of the total of taxa inventoried. Fourteen genera (Aedokritus, Axarus, Endotribelos, Kiefferulus, Manoa, Oukuriella, Phaenopsectra, Stenochironomus, Xenochironomus, Xestochironomus, Cardiocladius, Metriocnemus, Paracladius, and Rheocricotopus) represent new occurrences in Rio Grande do Sul. The similarity analysis of the chironomid larvae assemblages inventoried in 32 regions of Brazil indicated five groups with similarity higher than 50%. The groups, when the effects of spatial autocorrelation were removed, displayed a weak positive correlation between the assemblage composition and the aquatic system or hydraulic conditions and the hydrographic basin, and a weak negative correlation in relation to the biome. The altitude showed no correlation with the composition of the assemblage. The relatively high richness of the region surveyed in relation to other Brazilian regions corroborates some tendencies already noted in other parts of the world, such as: i) lotic systems may constitute an exception to the rule that diversity is greater in tropical regions, ii) regions of transitional relief may contain the greatest richness of Chironomidae, and iii) in rivers, the group might have its spatial distribution influenced to a greater extent by local environmental characteristics than by regional ones.

The red palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Curculionidae: Coleoptera), is not native to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Since its arrival in 1985, it has been causing major damage to date palm trees. A primary control strategy has been the use of pheromone baited traps. The objectives of this study were to determine the quantity of bait, and the best trap color, to obtain the maximum catch of R. ferrugineus under field conditions in the UAE. Traps with 100, 300, or 500 g of dates as bait collected the same number of R. ferrugineus adults. Captures in black traps were significantly higher than captures in red, yellow, or white traps. Thus, using a black pheromone trap containing 100 g of dates can significantly enhance R. ferrugineus control efforts, and can help considerably in reducing the red palm weevil's deleterious impact on date palm production in UAE.

The Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is a serious insect pest of stored products, and its late-instar larvae diapause as pre-pupae. Diapause induction in P. interpunctella was investigated for four populations obtained from Modesto, California, U.S.A.; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and two locations from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Insects were reared at 25° C and 16:8 L:D for 9 days. The larvae were then either continuously maintained under those conditions or transferred to 25° C 8:16 L:D, 20° C 16:8 L:D, or 20° C 8:16 L:D, and the percent diapause was recorded. In the experiment with four populations, the highest diapause frequency was observed at 20° C 8:16 L:D. The two Winnipeg populations had significantly higher frequency of diapause than the California populations, indicating the increased frequency of diapause in populations from higher latitudes. In a second experiment, the Vancouver population was selected for diapause. Larvae were reared at 25° C 16:8 L:D for 9 days, then placed at 20° C 8:16 L:D for the rest of their development, and percent diapause was determined. Eggs laid by moths that completed diapause in this first (parental) generation were used to obtain a second generation (F1), and the experiment was repeated as in the first generation. Selection increased the frequency of diapause to 91%, compared to 26% in the unselected population, after selecting over two generations. The narrow sense heritability of selection in P. interpunctella was 0.39 in the first selection, and 0.82 in the second. This study has shown that both low temperature and short photoperiod are required to induce diapause in North American populations of P. interpunctella, and that selection can increase diapause in a few generations.

Survivorship of larvae of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), was measured after they were raised on one of six diets. The effects of container shape (wide and shallow vs. narrow and deep), soil depth (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 cm), and temperature (28°, 32°, or 35° C) on pupation success was measured. Diet influenced larval survivorship, but did not have a strong effect on larval weight. The larvae fed only bee brood survived the shortest period of time. The larvae that were denied pupation substrate, fed only honey and pollen, and no other food or water after 20 days, had a median survivorship of 47.6 days, with a maximum of 61 days, while those fed only brood had a median survivorship of 18.2 days. Pupation substrate was essential for successful pupation, and the depth of the substrate, not its top surface area, was the crucial factor. Pupation success in narrow and deep containers was 95.6% on average, but only 12.5% in wide and shallow containers, using the same soil volume. In narrow and deep containers, most or all larvae kept in 4-8 cm of soil pupated at all temperatures, few larvae kept at 2 cm soil depth pupated, one out of 240 kept at 1.0 cm pupated, and no larvae kept at soil depths of 0 or 0.5 cm pupated.

An illustrated key is provided to distinguish the 26 species of the genus Thrips L. (Thripidae: Thripinae) recorded from Iran. Thrips alavii Mirab-balou, Tong & Chen, sp. n. is described and illustrated. Thrips alliorum (Priesner) is newly recorded for the fauna of Iran. A checklist is provided for all recorded species in this genus from Iran, with information on the geographical distribution for each species.

Host-searching and oviposition behaviors of parasitoids, and defensive responses of the hosts, are fundamental in shaping the ecology of host-parasitoid interactions. In order to uncover key behavioral features for the little known interactions between phorid parasitoids (Diptera: Phoridae) and their leaf-cutting ant hosts (Formicidae: Attini), host-related behavioral strategies (i.e., host searching and oviposition) for 13 phorid species, and host defensive responses (i.e., hitchhikers and particular body postures) for 11 ant species, were studied. Data was collected at 14 localities, one of them characterized by its high species richness for this host-parasitoid system. Phorid species showed both great variation and specificity in attacking behaviors. Some chose their hosts using either an ambush or an actively searching strategy, while some species attacked ants on different body parts, and specialized on ants performing different tasks, such as when ants were foraging, removing wastes to refuse piles, or repairing the nest. Combining all the behaviors recorded, most phorid species differed in performance in at least one, making it possible to recognize species in the field through their behavior. Phorid species that attacked hosts with greater activity levels showed overall higher attack rates, although there was no significant correlation between attack rates by most phorid species and ant activity outside the nest while parasitoids were attacking. The presence of phorids was a significant determinant for the presence of defensive behaviors by the ants. Although ant species varied in the incidence levels of these defensive behaviors, most ant species reacted against different phorids by utilizing similar behaviors, in contrast to what parasitoids do. General features of the observed phorid-ant interactions were parasitoid specialization and corresponding high interspecific variation in their behaviors, while their hosts showed generalized responses to attacks with high intraspecific variation. Behavioral patterns as well as specific features of these ant-parasitoid interactions are described, and their ecological importance discussed.

Pupae of the beetle Zophobas atratus Fab. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) have jaws called gin traps on the lateral margin of their jointed abdominal segments. When a weak tactile stimulation was applied to the intersegmental region between the two jaws of a gin trap in a resting pupa, the pupa rapidly closed and reopened single or multiple gin traps adjacent to the stimulated trap for 100200 ms. In response to a strong stimulation, a small or large rotation of the abdominal segments occurred after the rapid closure of the traps. Analyses of trajectory patterns of the last abdominal segment during the rotations revealed that the rotational responses were graded and highly variable with respect to the amplitudes of their horizontal and vertical components. The high variability of these rotational responses is in contrast with the low variability (or constancy) of abdominal rotations induced by the tactile stimulation of cephalic and thoracic appendages. Since the closed state of the gin traps lasts only for a fraction of a second, the response may mainly function to deliver a "painful" stimulus to an attacker rather than to cause serious damage.