We describe four new species of feather mites of the family Gabuciniidae collected from Accipitridae and Falconidae (Falconiformes) from South and North America. Three of these belong to new genera, Metagabuciniagen. nov. with one new species and Proaposolenidiagen. nov. with two new species. We also describe one new species of the genus Aposolenidia Gaud and Atyeo. The new species and host records are Aposolenidia striatasp. nov. from the pearl kite, Gampsonyx swainsonii Vigors, Metagabucinia caracaraesp. nov. from the red-throated caracara, Ibycter americanus (Boddaert), Proaposolenidia accipitrissp. nov. from the Cooper’s hawk, Accipiter cooperii (Bonaparte), and Proaposolenidia elanoidessp. nov. from the swallow-tailed kite, Elanoides forficatus (Linnaeus). Aposolenidia, Metagabucinia, and Proaposolenidia constitute a morphologically distinct group within the Gabuciniidae. This “Aposolenidia genus group” is characterized by the following features: bases of epimerites of legs I and II inflated, ball-shaped, heavily sclerotized, and connected by sclerotized dorsolateral bridges; tarsi of legs I and II with dorsal walls strongly thickened and dorsobasal part of tarsus I inflated. Members of this group coexist on falconiforms with other gabuciniid taxa that exhibit longer and more extensively sclerotized bodies, such as the genera Aetacarus Gaud and Atyeo, Hieracolichus Gaud and Atyeo, and Ramogabucinia Gaud and Atyeo.

The many components of seasonal adaptations in insects are reviewed, especially from the viewpoint of aspects that must be studied in order to understand the structure and purposes of the adaptations. Component responses include dispersal, habitat selection, habitat modification, resistance to cold, dryness, and food limitation, trade-offs, diapause, modifications of developmental rate, sensitivity to environmental signals, life-cycle patterns including multiple alternatives in one species, and types of variation in phenology and development. Spatial, temporal, and resource elements of the environment are also reviewed, as are environmental signals, supporting the conclusion that further understanding of all of these seasonal responses requires detailed simultaneous study of the natural environments that drive the patterns of response.

A new aleocharine species, Euvira micmac Klimaszewski and Majka, sp. nov., from Nova Scotia, Canada, is described and illustrated. This is the first record of the genus Euvira for Canada. New data on bionomics and distribution are provided, including notes on the red oak gall environment where the species was found. A short diagnosis, description, colour habitus image, and black and white genital images are provided. The lectotype (male) and the paralectotypes (5 females) are designated for E. quadriceps (Casey). Two beetles, Litargus tetraspilotus LeConte (Mycetophagidae) and Melanophthalma americana (Mannerheim) (Latridiidae), found co-inhabiting red oak galls are newly recorded for Atlantic Canada.

Phylogenetic relationships within the genus Wyeomyia Theobald are presented, based on a cladistic analysis of 88 morphological characters (from adults, larvae, and pupae) of 38 named species and 1 unnamed species and 46 allozyme markers from a subset of 19 of these species. Two taxa are used as outgroup (Sabethes aurescens Lutz and Limatus durhami Theobald). The analysis indicates that, as currently defined, the genus Wyeomyia is not a monophyletic lineage: firstly, the genus Onirion Peyton and Harbach is nested within the genus Wyeomyia, and secondly, the subgenus Phoniomyia Theobald is a monophyletic lineage outside the genus Wyeomyia. Our results also demonstrate that the subgenera Cruzmyia Lane and Cerqueira, Decamyia Dyar, Dendromyia Theobald, Spilonympha Motta and Lourenço-de-Oliveira, and Prosopolepis Lutz are monophyletic lineages nested within the genus Wyeomyia. Triamyia Dyar is resurrected as a subgenus of Wyeomyia to include W. aporonoma Dyar and Knab and W. staminifera Lourenço-de-Oliveira, Motta, and Castro. The subgenus Miamyia Dyar is resurrected to include seven species: W. codiocampa Dyar and Knab, W. lutzi (Costa Lima), W. limai Lane and Cerqueira, W. serrata (Lutz), W. hosautos Dyar and Knab, W. oblita (Lutz), and W. sabethea Lane and Cerqueira.

In cold climates most aquatic habitats are frozen for many months. Nevertheless, even in such regions the conditions in different types of habitat, in different parts of one habitat, and from one year to the next can vary considerably; some water bodies even allow winter growth. Winter cold and ice provide challenges for aquatic insects, but so do high spring flows, short, cool summers, and unpredictable conditions. General adaptations to cope with these constraints, depending on species and habitat, include the use of widely available foods, increased food range, prolonged development (including development lasting more than one year per generation), programmed life cycles with diapause and other responses to environmental cues (often enforcing strict univoltinism), and staggered development. Winter conditions may be anticipated not only by diapause and related responses but also by movement for the winter to terrestrial habitats, to less severe aquatic habitats, or to different parts of the same habitat, and by construction of shelters. Winter itself is met by various types of cold hardiness, including tolerance of freezing in at least some species, especially chironomid midges, and supercooling even when surrounded by ice in others. Special cocoons provide protection in some species. A few species move during winter or resist anoxia beneath ice. Spring challenges of high flows and ice scour may be withstood or avoided by wintering in less severe habitats, penetrating the substrate, or delaying activity until after peak flow. However, where possible species emerge early in the spring to compensate for the shortness of the summer season, a trait enhanced (at least in some lentic habitats) by choosing overwintering sites that warm up first in spring. Relatively low summer temperatures are offset by development at low temperatures, by selection of warm habitats and microhabitats, and in adults by thermoregulation and modified mating activity. Notwithstanding the many abiotic constraints in cold climates, aquatic communities are relatively diverse, though dominated by taxa that combine traits such as cold adaptation with use of the habitats and foods that are most widely available and most favourable. Consequently, except in the most severe habitats, food chains and community structure are complex even at high latitudes and elevations, including many links between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Despite the complex involvement of aquatic insects in these cold-climate ecosystems, we know relatively little about the physiological and biochemical basis of their cold hardiness and its relationship to habitat conditions, especially compared with information about terrestrial species from the same regions.

We analyzed the phylogenetic relationships between eight Aphidius Nees and six Lysaphidus Smith species on the basis of 12 morphological characters by parsimony analysis. The consensus tree does not support the generic status of Lysaphidus. Aphidius iranicus, sp. nov., associated with Titanosiphon bellicosum Nevsky on Artemisia absinthium L. from Iran, is described. The new parasitoid species is described and illustrated by line drawings, and its diagnostic characters are discussed. The taxonomic position of the subgenus Tremblayia Tizado and Núñez-Pérez is also considered. Tremblayia and Lysaphidus are newly classified as synonyms of Aphidius. The following new or revised combinations are proposed: Aphidius adelocarinus Smith, comb. rev., A. ramythirus Smith, comb. rev., A. rosaphidis Smith, comb. rev., A. viaticus (Sedlag), comb. nov., A. arvensis (Starý), comb. nov., and A. erysimi (Starý), comb. nov.

This study deals with two species of the genus Phtheiropoios, redescribing P. tucumanus Cicchino, 1990, previously known from five specimens collected on Ctenomys tucumanus Thomas, 1900, and describing P. inaequalissp. nov. from C. tuconax Thomas, 1925, both from different localities in Tucumán Province, Argentina. Diagnostic features for the new species include proportion of the male forficula, male external genitalia, and counts of setae and body measurements in both sexes. Brief comments on the morphological affinities of these species with other species of Phtheiropoios, and a key to males of all species of the genus Phtheiropoios known to parasitize rodents of the genus Ctenomys, are included.

Two new athetine beetles from eastern Canada are described and illustrated: Atheta (Metadimetrota) savardae Klimaszewski and Majka, sp. nov. (Nova Scotia, Quebec) and Atheta (Datomicra) acadiensis Klimaszewski and Majka, sp. nov. (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec). Their relationships to other closely related species are discussed, and new data on bionomics and distribution are provided. The new species are presented with a short diagnosis, description, colour habitus images, and black-and-white genital images.

The Oriental clusiine genus Phylloclusia Hendel, 1913 is redefined and revised, with four new species (P. hendelisp. nov., P. darlingisp. nov., P. nigroscutellumsp. nov., and P. lanceolasp. nov.) described from Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Phylloclusia is established as the sister genus to the Japanese, Afrotropical, and Australian Tetrameringia McAlpine, 1960 on the basis of newly recognized male and female genitalic synapomorphies. An identification key and illustrations for the six species of Phylloclusia are provided.

Uroleucon is one of the largest genera of Macrosiphini, with 216 known species; it is one of the few genera of Aphidinae to have a diversification in South America, with 15 native species and 1 subspecies. Moreover, 7 introduced species have been recorded in South America. Five new species from Argentina are described herein: Uroleucon malarguense Ortego and Nieto Nafría, sp. nov., U. mendocinum Mier Durante and Ortego, sp. nov., U. patagonicum Nieto Nafría and Seco Fernández, sp. nov., U. payuniense Ortego and Nieto Nafría, sp. nov., and U. riojanum Nieto Nafría and Mier Durante, sp. nov. One Palearctic species, U. jaceae (Linnaeus), has been recorded for the first time in South America, and thus 28 species and 1 subspecies are now known from South America. Uroleucon essigi Carvalho and U. chilense (Essig) are recorded for the first time from Argentina, and 20 of these 29 taxa are known for this country. New morphological and bionomic data from some previously known species are given. Alate viviparous females of U. gochnatiae Delfino and oviparae and males of U. bereticum (Blanchard) and U. macolai (Blanchard) are described. A taxonomic discussion about native South American species of Uroleucon is given, and we include them at present in the subgenus Lambersius. A key is provided for the identification of apterous and alate viviparous females.

The bark weevil, Pissodes yunnanensis Langor and Zhang, is an important pest of young Yunnan pine, Pinus yunnanensis Franchet (Pinaceae), in southwestern China. Populations of the host and weevil are disjunct, especially in the northwestern part of the range in Yunnan province. To estimate maternal gene flow and examine the genetic structure of Pissodes yunnanensis, we sequenced an 840-bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene in 60 individuals from 7 populations in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Percent divergence among populations ranged from 0.001% to 2.1%. Nested clade analysis of 21 haplo types showed evidence of genetic structuring that is inferred to be primarily due to allopatric fragmentation and a low level of gene flow. Analysis of molecular variance also showed significant genetic structuring and restricted gene flow among weevil populations, especially between northwestern and eastern regions of the range. Such genetic structuring may be important for pest management programs. Phylogenetic analyses comparing the same 761-bp sequence among P. yunnanensis, Pissodes punctatus Langor and Zhang from southwestern China, and five Nearctic species of Pissodes showed that (i) the two Chinese species were most closely related to each other, (ii) the four species in the P. strobi (Peck) species group formed a distinct clade, and (iii) these two clades were more similar to each other than to the Nearctic species P. affinis Randall.

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) were collected from 35 sites (streams and tundra ponds) across southern Nunavut in 2002–2005. Nine mayfly species were previously reported for Nunavut: Acentrella feropagus Alba-Tercedor and McCafferty, Acerpenna pygmaea (Hagen), Baetis bundyae Lehmkuhl, B. flavistriga McDunnough, B. foemina McDunnough, Diphetor hageni (Eaton) (Baetidae), Ephemerella aurivillii (Bengtsson) (Ephemerellidae), Leptophlebia nebulosa (Walker) (Leptophlebiidae), and Metretopus borealis (Eaton) (Metrotopidae). We add 7 species to this list, bringing the total to 16: Ameletus inopinatus Eaton (Ameletidae), Acentrella lapponica Bengtsson, Baetis hudsonicus Ide, B. tricaudatus Dodds, Heptagenia solitaria McDunnough (Heptageniidae), Rhithrogena jejuna Eaton (Heptageniidae), and Parameletus chelifer Bengtsson (Siphlonuridae). Based on numbers collected, the dominant mayfly family was Baetidae. Baetis bundyae was the most common mayfly collected, particularly in coastal areas, where larvae were found in permanent and temporary streams and in small or shallow tundra ponds. Larvae hatched 2–3 weeks after ice-out and developed rapidly in 2.5–4 weeks, emerging as adults by early August. All populations containing larvae that were large enough to sex showed female-biased sex ratios, suggesting parthenogenesis. A combination of freeze-tolerant eggs, good dispersal ability, and probable parthenogenesis is probably responsible for the success of Baetidae across the Arctic.

The North American species of Acrolepiopsis are reviewed and include six described species: A. assectella (Zeller), A. californica Gaedike, A. heppneri Gaedike, A. incertella (Chambers), A. leucoscia (Meyrick), and A. reticulosa (Braun). Acrolepiopsis liliivora Gaedike is considered a junior synonym of A. californica (new synonymy). Acrolepiopsis assectella, commonly known as the leek moth, is a recently invasive alien species in North America and a pest of the plant genus Allium, including leek, onion, garlic, and related cultivated plants. A key to species based on adults is provided, diagnostic characters including male and female genitalia are illustrated, and geographical distribution, host plants, and larval feeding pattern and damage (where known) are given. Diagnostics and illustrations are presented also for A. sapporensis (Matsumura); known as the Asiatic onion leafminer, it is very similar to A. assectella and is an invasive alien species present in Hawaii, though not in North America. Adult diagnostic characters of the genus Acrolepiopsis, the family Acrolepiidae, and the superfamily Yponomeutoidea are also provided and illustrated. DNA barcoding data (short sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene) obtained for five of the six species revealed interspecific differences averaging 8.1%, whereas intraspecific variation was ≤ 0.16%, and provided unequivocal species separation matching morphology-based identifications.

Rove beetle assemblages from forest dominated by yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt. (Betulaceae)) at two sites in southeastern Quebec were characterized in terms of composition, diversity, and relative abundance. In total, 143 species were collected over two seasons (June–August of 1999 and 2000). In the pretreatment year (1999), 88 species were found in uncut stands. In the post-treatment year, 116 species were found in treated (by patch harvesting and ground scarification) and control plots combined. Sixty-one species were common to the two sites, 27 species captured in the 1999 season were not recaptured in the 2000 season, and 55 additional species were captured in 2000. There are 23 new distribution records for Quebec, and one species, Atheta (Dimetrota) pseudomodesta Klimaszewski, sp. nov., is described. New bionomics data on relative abundance, seasonality, and the utility of different trapping methods are presented. Assemblage composition is compared with that of a red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg. (Pinaceae)) forest in New Brunswick.

Eight additional adventive aleocharine beetles, native to the Palaearctic region, are reported from Canada, five of them for the first time. They belong to three tribes: Crataraea suturalis (Mannerheim) (Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, British Columbia) and “Meotica pallens (Redtenbacher)” (Ontario, British Columbia) belong to Oxypodini; Atheta (Chaetida) longicornis (Gravenhorst) (Nova Scotia, Quebec), Atheta (Thinobaena) vestita (Gravenhorst) (New Brunswick), Dalotia coriaria (Kraatz) (Alberta), Dinaraea angustula (Gyllenhal) (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Alberta), and Nehemitropia lividipennis (Mannerheim) (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario) belong to Athetini; and Homalota plana (Gyllenhal) (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick) belongs to Homalotini. These species have likely been introduced into Canada from Europe by various anthropogenic activities, and their bionomics and possible modes of introduction are discussed. For each species, a short diagnosis and habitus and genital images are provided to assist with identification. The habitus and genital images are presented here for the first time for these species in North America. New United States records are not included in the abstract.

The millipede Perunosoma trojanicagen. nov., sp. nov. is described on the basis of specimens from the Prekonoška Pećina Cave in southeast Serbia. Scanning electron micrographs of the gonopods and legs are presented. Comparative photomicrographs of the closely related genus Serbosoma Ćurčić and Makarov, 2000 are also presented. The central part of the anterior gonopods in these genera can be species-specific and provide grounds for initial recognition of species. The Anthroleucosomatidae occupy three disjunct areas globally: one on the west coast of North America, the second in Asia, and the third in Europe. The North American anthroleucosomatid fauna is composed of one monotypic genus, while the Asian one includes six genera with seven species and the much more diverse European anthroleucosomatids include 14 genera with 39 species.

Six species of Trichomalus Thomson were reared as parasitoids of Ceutorhynchinae hosts in Europe during surveys in 2000–2004. Trichomalus rusticus (Walker) is treated as a valid species, resurrected from synonymy under T. lucidus (Walker), and T. lyttus (Walker) is transferred from synonymy under T. lucidus and newly placed in synonymy with T. rusticus. Illustrated keys to females and males are given to differentiate the six species (T. bracteatus (Walker), T. campestris (Walker), T. gynetelus (Walker), T. lucidus, T. perfectus (Walker), and T. rusticus) except for males of T. bracteatus and T. gynetelus. A lectotype female is designated for T. rusticus. Trichomalus campestris is newly recorded as a parasitoid of Ceutorhynchus cardariae Korotyaev. Implications of the host-parasitoid associations recovered by the surveys are discussed relative to introduction of species to North America for classical biological control.

Two new species from northern China, Pissodes chenisp. nov. and Pissodes pilatsquamosussp. nov., are described from Pinus and Picea, respectively. Pissodes harcyniae (Herbst) is recorded from China and P. nitidus Roelofs is recorded from Russia for the first time. A key is provided to the eight Pissodes species known from China. A list of the 18 known Palearctic species with synonyms, host data, and distribution is also included. Type specimens for the two new species are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Brassicaceae germplasm (Brassica napus L., Brassica rapa L., Brassica juncea (L.) Czern., Brassica carinata A. Braun, Sinapis alba L., Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz, Crambe species) with cultivar development potential for the prairies was evaluated for resistance to cabbage seedpod weevil (Ceutorhynchus obstrictus (Marsham) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)) infestation under field conditions in southern Alberta from 2001 to 2005. Relative susceptibilities were as follows: B. rapa and B. napus > B. juncea = B. carinata > S. alba. Although some of the germplasm evaluated varied within species in terms of glucosinolate profile, erucic acid level, oil content, and plant height, none of these factors appeared to influence the degree of C. obstrictus damage. A subset of this germplasm was also evaluated in the greenhouse. Although the canola species B. rapa sustained the highest level of damage in the field tests, it was similar to other Brassica genotypes in the greenhouse. All lines of S. alba were virtually immune to weevil attack in both field and greenhouse tests, regardless of glucosinolate profile, suggesting that other factors confer resistance in this species. Synchrony of crop development with weevil activity in the field explains some of the variability in damage observed among genotypes and illustrates the importance of combining field and greenhouse studies when assessing resistance.

The seashore aleocharine genus Salinamexus Moore and Legner is revised. Three species are recognized, one of which is described as new (Salinamexus koreanussp. nov.). The genus Salinamexus and the species S. browni Moore and Legner and S. reticulatus (Moore and Legner) are redescribed. A key and illustrations of diagnostic features are provided.