Entomology Commons^™

Editorial: Insights In Vector Biology: 2021, Baldwyn Torto, David P. Tchouassi

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

This editorial summarizes collections on the Research Topic “Insights in Vector Biology’’. Vectors of four major tropical diseases including malaria, Chagas, dengue and West Nile were considered. The editorial discusses vectors contributing to residual malaria transmission that reside mainly outdoors and not targeted by indoor vector control interventions, notably, long lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying; the concept of paratransgenesis- a parasite transmission blocking strategy which uses genetically-modified microbes made to produce antimalarial effectors inside the vector for malaria control; assessment of insecticide resistance in malaria vectors; insecticide resistance in Chagas disease vectors; reproductive biology of the dengue vector; …

Identification Of Sesquiterpenes In Wild Tomato Accessions With Activities Against The Potato Aphid And Their Tissue-Specific Engineering In Cultivated Tomato, Fumin Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The potato aphid (Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas) poses a serious problem in the commercial production of horticultural crops including tomato, since it causes damage by stylet feeding and the transmission of viruses for which it serves as the vector. Application of conventional pesticides being the fundamental tactic in the control of the aphid is increasingly considered insufficient and problematic due to emerging pest resistances and biosafety issues, highlighting the continuing need to develop new efficient and sustainable approaches. Alternatively, glandular trichomes of plants are well-known epidermal hairy tissues producing various secondary metabolites that involve in plant-insect interactions, while the terpene …

Counting Butterflies In Yosemite: A Guide For Beginners, Christine Melvin

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Entomology is the study of insects. Insects are the most numerous animal group on the planet and therefore the field of entomology is further divided based upon insect groups. Butterflies and Moths belong to the insect group Lepidoptera. An entomologist who studies butterflies and/or moths is called a Lepidopterist. Butterflies are a special group of insects because they are not only studied by entomologists, but they are also studied by people called citizen scientists. Citizen science is the casual participation in gathering of data about anything relating to science. Anyone who uses the app iNaturalist is a citizen scientist because …

A Survey Of Insects Collected From Wild Flowering Plants At One Site In Michigan, Bryan W. Shields

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

The goal of this project was to document the wild flowering plants and the insect diversity present during a one season survey of an unmanaged habitat. Adult insects were collected from June to September 2020. A total of 58 families from 9 orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Mantodea, Neuroptera, Odonata, Orthoptera) of insects were collected or observed. The insects collected were from multiple functional groups including: fungivores, herbivores, nectarivores, pollinavores, and predators. The type and number of insect orders as well as the number of functional groups suggests that insect diversity was attained at the time of this survey. …

Death Scene Insect Succession In Nebraska: A Guidebook, Erin Bauer, Larry Barksdale, Emma Sidel, Justine Laviolette

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Insect behavior can be helpful to law enforcement in determining time of death, manner of death, location, and environment related to human or other animal victims found at a death scene. They may also provide clues about other aspects associated with an investigation (i.e., fly specks, suspect DNA). The study of how insects and related arthropods can aid in legal investigations is known as forensic entomology. Although this includes both civil applications, such as urban (i.e., maggots in mortuaries or insect structural damage) or stored product (i.e., illness from food contamination) entomology, this manual focuses on criminal applications, such as …

Return Of Floodplain Connectivity And Concurrent Macroinvertebrate Community Response Following Wetland Restoration In Western Kentucky, Christiane M. Soldo Ms.

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands improve the quality of our nation’s streams, rivers, and lakes, and they support a diverse assemblage of plant and animal species. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) is responsible for administering the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), a multi-billion-dollar effort to restore wetlands throughout the nation. Each year, WRP enrolls thousands of acres of private farmland into conservation easements with the goal of improving water quality and creating wildlife habitat. Hydrological modification structures, such as levee breaks, ditch plugs, or shallow water areas are constructed on easements to create wetlands by improving water retention and returning …

Applying Resource Selection Probability Function (Rspf) To Understand Floral Resource Use By A Common Bumble Bee, Bombus Vancouverensis, Rebekah Brassfield

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Bombus) are important pollinators in temperate ecosystems worldwide with seasonal caste variations involving queens, workers, and drones. Like all organisms, they must meet their nutrient requirements for successful growth and development by using several floral resources over time. When resource use is in greater proportion to its abundance on a landscape, that use is considered selective. To examine resource use within the context of abundance, a resource selection probability function (RSPF) was applied to examine floral resource use through a flowering season by a common bumble bee, Bombus vancouverensis. The RSPF framework was used to examine 1) …

Decomposition And Macroinvertebrate Shredder Colonization Of Autumnal Shed Sycamore Leaves In Mining-Contaminated Streams, Leslie Marie Hatch

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Leaf decomposition in streams is an important ecological function facilitated by bacteria, fungi, and macroinvertebrates. Metal contamination can decrease leaf decomposition rates and reduce macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity. In the current study, I focused on mining-contamination in well-buffered streams in two different Missouri mining districts with varying extents of mining contamination, Big River and Pierson Creek. I measured decomposition rates of sycamore leaves, and abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrate shredders in leaf pack experiments with a full-factorial design to determine the effects of metal contamination of leaves and stream substrates. Comparisons were made between leaf packs upstream and downstream of …

Table Of Contents, Taxonomic Report Of The International Lepidoptera Survey, October 1, 1998–December 20, 2022, International Lepidoptera Survey

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Table of contents for all issues of the Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey from October 1, 1998 (volume 1, issue 1) through December 20, 2022 (volume 10, issue 10).

Modeling Jadera Haematoloma’S Phenotypic Variation In The Context Of Its Developmental Plasticity, Michael C. Yorsz

Honors Theses

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to integrate information from environmental cues to inform the development of its phenotype and remains understudied in biology. Models of plasticity are needed because evolution in the presence of plasticity is poorly understood. Jadera haematoloma, a hemimetabolous true bug, is an excellent animal model of plasticity, exhibiting a non-linear plastic response to juvenile nutrition that biases adult development into groups with differences in flight capability, wing shape, and fecundity. However, there is a lack of literature consensus regarding the range of developmental outcomes in the species. Some publications report the presence …

Nesting Behavior, Ecology, And Functional Morphology Of The Trapdoor Spider-Hunting Spider Wasp Aporus (Plectraporus) Hirsutus (Banks) (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Frank E. Kurczewski, Alice J. Abela, Rick C. West

Insecta Mundi

Macrophotographs in series taken by Alice Abela on sandy coastal dunes in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, CA in 2010–2021 supplement and enhance F. X. Williams (1928) study of the ecol­ogy and nesting behavior of the trapdoor spider-hunting spider wasp Aporus (Plectraporus) hirsutus (Banks) (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae: Aporini). Abela’s macrophotographs and observations provide new details of adult wasp feeding, functional morphology, hunting, digging and prey transport, and host spider trapdoor, entrance, burrow structure, host capture and escape activity. Newly reported host records from this study and online photographs expand A. hirsutus host selection in the large wafer-lid …

Micromentignatha Geberti, A New Tiger Beetle Species From Australia (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), Jürgen Wiesner

Insecta Mundi

Micromentignatha geberti (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), new species, is described. It is distinguished from the other members of the genus by its larger body size and shape of elytral maculation.

Due to the kindness of Christian Kerkering, I was able to study specimens of a tiger beetle species he recently acquired. It proved to be new to science and is described herein. It is a member of Micromentignatha Sumlin, 1981, which raises the number of species in this genus to four (Wiesner 2020: 327). A key to distinguish these congeners as well as a catalog of the genus are given herein.

Ishtarella Thailandica Martens, New Genus, New Species (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) Of Aphid Parasitoid From Thailand, With A Country Checklist Of Aphidiinae, Abigail P. Martens, Matthew L. Buffington, Donald L.J. Quicke, Marisa Raweearamwong, Buntika A. Butcher, Paul J. Johnson

Insecta Mundi

Ishtarella Martens new genus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) and I. thailandica Martens new species are described and illustrated from Doi Phu Kha National Park, Nan Province, Thailand. The genus is assigned to the tribe Aphidiini, subtribe Trioxina. Based on morphology, Ishtarella appears most closely related to Binodoxys Mackauer. An updated checklist of the aphidiine fauna of Thailand, based on published records, is presented.

Parasitoid wasps in the subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) comprise about 60 genera and more than 650 species worldwide (Yu et al. 2016). The Aphidiinae of Thailand were all but unknown prior to a Thai­land Inventory Group for Entomological …

Ardella Magnaemirabilis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Ardellini), A New Scarabaeoid Species, Genus And Tribe From The Southwestern United States, M. J. Paulsen

Insecta Mundi

An interesting new taxon of scarabaeoid beetle is described from western Texas, USA. The remark­ably small chafer, Ardella magnaemirabilis new genus, new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Ardellini) is described and compared to other diminutive scarabaeoid genera from drier habitats of the southwestern USA. The tribe Ardellini, new tribe, is erected to accommodate the unusual genus.

After a few centuries with entomologists scouring the continent, the discovery of unknown Nearctic scarab gen­era is no longer commonplace. The western United States, in particular, is biogeographically diverse with pockets of endemism that makes such discoveries still possible, driving collectors to continue sampling …

Two New Species Of Deromecus Solier From Guatemala (Coleoptera: Elateridae: Pomachiliini), E. R. Fuller

Insecta Mundi

Deromecus georginas Fuller, new species, and Deromecus longitarsis Fuller, new species (Cole­optera: Elateridae: Pomachiliini) are described from cloud forest habitat on eastern coastal volcanoes in Quetzaltenango Department, Guatemala, and compared with Deromecus trivittatus Champion from Mexico.

Se describen la neuva especie Deromecus georginas Fuller y la neuva especie Deromecus longitarsis Fuller (Coleoptera: Elateridae: Pomachiliini), del hábitat del bosque nuboso, de los volcanes oriental de la costa, en el Departmento de Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, y se comparan con Deromecus trivittatus Cham­pion, de México.

The Elateridae are a conspicuous and diverse group of beetles in Central America (Champion 1894–1897). Adults of luminous …

Occurrence Of An Exotic Whitefly, Siphoninus Phillyreae (Haliday) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) In South Korea And Its Potential Pathway Analysis, Seon Woo Lee, Hyun Jik Lee, Jun-Ran Kim, Soo-Jung Suh

Insecta Mundi

The ash whitefly, Siphoninus phillyreae (Haliday) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), was first found in southern areas of South Korea during September 2019. During the survey of 2021, no additional specimens of the ash whitefly were found other than the previously reported regions. Attempts to trace a possible path­way for exotic ash whitefly suggested that this species probably followed pathways of illegal importation of infested plants from China or Japan and was unintentionally introduced into South Korea based on a survey-based study. This whitefly has not been intercepted at ports of entry to South Korea on imported plant material between 1999 and 2019 …

New Synonymies And Notes In Criodion Audinet-Serville (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae), Antonio Santos-Silva, Sergio Devesa

Insecta Mundi

Criodion angustatum Buquet, 1852 and C. pilosum Lucas, 1857 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae) are synonymized with C. tomentosum Audinet-Serville, 1834. The holotypes of C. angustatum and C. hirsutum, and syntypes of C. pilosum and of C. tuberculatum Gahan, 1892 are illustrated for the first time. One of the type localities of C. tuberculatum is corrected.

Currently, Criodion Audinet-Serville, 1834 includes 13 species distributed from Guatemala to southern South America (Monné 2021; Tavakilian and Chevillotte 2021). Despite the relatively small number of species, they encompass several problems with their identification. For example, the specimens often identified as C. murinum Nonfried, 1895 …

New Larval Host Plants And Ecological Observations On North American Cerambycidae (Coleoptera), Josef Vlasak, Katerina Vlasakova

Insecta Mundi

New larval hosts are presented for 152 North American Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Larval host plants of Aneflus calvatus Horn in Leng, Aneflomorpha arizonica Linsley, Aneflomorpha fisheri Linsley, Ane­flomorpha opacicornis Linsley, Anelaphus magnipunctatus (Knull), Atylostagma glabra Schaeffer, Cacophrissus pauper Bates, Elytroleptus limpianus Skiles and Chemsak, Obrium rubidum LeConte, and Stenelytrana splen­dens (Knull) are reported for the first time. The types of wood utilized by larvae of Leptorhabdium pictum (Haldeman), Sphenostethus taslei (Buquet), Typocerus lugubris (Say), and Xestoleptura octonotata (Say) are discussed. Notes on larval morphology and larval habits of Aneflus spp. and Stenaspis solitaria (Say), includ­ing a correction of a published host …

Reevaluation Of The Described Subspecies Of Euphydryas Phaeton (Drury, 1773) With A Replacement Name For Melitaea Phaeton Schausi (Clark, 1927), Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The present paper reevaluates the subspecific standing of the nominotypical and three described subspecies of Euphydryas phaeton (Drury, 1773). The nominotypical subspecies phaeton occupies the mid-Atlantic region, with undefined zones of contact with described subspecies borealis (F. Chermock & R. Chermock, 1940) to the north, and subspecies schausi (Clark, 1927) to the south. Nominotypical phaeton is an intermediate phenotype between borealis and schausi, which are each noticeably different from each other but both reasonably similar to intermediate (nominotypical) phaeton. Both borealis and schausi were synonymized under nominotypical phaeton since about time of their descriptions, by authors and list …

Structure And Parasitism Of Egg-Batches Of The Pine Processionary Moth, Thaumetopoea Pityocampa In The Algerian Cedar Forests., Zineb Messaadia, Nabil Bertella, Naama Frah

Journal of Bioresource Management

Today, climate change is one of the greatest threats facing forest ecosystems. It directly influences the geographical distribution of insects and increases epidemics of harmful insects. The present work took place in this context. It aimed to contribute to the knowledge of egg parasitoids that could affect the evolution of the pine processionary caterpillar Thaumetopoea pityocampa, a major forest pest in Algeria and Mediterranean countries. The study was carried out on 120 batches of eggs taken from the Atlas cedar at two sites in the Chelia cedar zone (case of eastern Algeria) in 2017. It allowed the analysis of a …