Systematic emergence trapping in two streams in the Luquillo Mountains Experimental Rainforest in Puerto Rico from 1989 to 1992 produced five new species of aquatic dance flies (Diptera: Empididae: Hemerodromiinae). They are described and illustrated as Hemerodromia marci Masteller new species, Hemerodromia melissa Masteller new species, Hemerodromia oncilla Masteller new species, Hemerodromia prieta Harper new species, and Hemerodromia simonis Harper new species.

The bee species described and identified by Léon Provancher are reviewed. From 1882–1896, Provancher published accounts of 179 bee species from North America, which represent 145 currently recognised species. He proposed 67 new names, 21 of which are here considered valid; five species epithets proposed by Provancher were junior homonyms.

The following are considered new junior synonyms of Provancher species: Andrena macrocephala Cockerell under Andrena nigripes Provancher; Pseudopanurgus nebrascensis (Crawford) under Pseudopanurgus aestivalis (Provancher); Lasioglossum timberlakei McGinley under Lasioglossum californicum (Provancher); Osmia kenoyeri Cockerell under Osmia tarsata Provancher. Additional new synonymies made here include: Halictus distinguendus Dalla Torre under Lasioglossum coriaceum (Smith); Osmia parva Provancher under Osmia atriventris Cresson; Stelis plena (Provancher) under Stelis lateralis Cresson; Coelioxys tristis Provancher under Coelioxys sodalis Cresson; Diadasia tricincta Provancher under Eucera actuosa (Cresson).

Lectotypes for 60 of Provancher's bee species are here designated, but type material for eight other species were not found. The taxonomic placement of Calliopsis quadrilineata Provancher, Calliopsis interrupta Provancher, Hoplitis alboscopata (Provancher), Hoplitis imperfecta (Provancher), and Diadasia albovestita Provancher within the bee fauna of North America remain unclear, and are here declared nomina oblita.

There currently is considerable confusion regarding the correct application of the name Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). This name has historically been applied to the western spruce budworm, a serious forest pest in western North America. However, in 2008 Razowski transferred the African species Archips occidentalis (Walsingham) to Choristoneura Lederer and proposed C. freemani Razowski as a replacement name for the western spruce budworm. The validity of these nomenclatural changes and alternative solutions to resolve the confusion they have caused are discussed. Illustrations of wing patterns and genitalia for the two species are provided.

The mite species Trochometridium mutilliphillum Loghmani and Hajiqanbar new species (Acari: Trombidiformes: Trochometridiidae) associated with two mutillid wasps of the genera Tricholabiodes Radoszkowski and Dentilla Lelej (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) is described from northeastern Iran. Some new host records for species of the genus Trochometridium Cross are reported, including a remarkable new record of an association between the mite family Trochometridiidae and the order Diptera. Also, an illustrated key to world genera and species of the family Trochometridiidae is provided.

Based on a large number of specimens deposited in many collections, and on material collected in a sampling program in Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, 19 North American species of Clistopyga Gravenhorst, 1829 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) are reported. Five species, C. aenigmatica, C. arizonica, C. juliana, C. maya, and C. oaxacana, are described as new. Clistopyga covarrubiasi Khalaim and Hernández, 2008 is synonymysed with C. recurva (Say, 1835) and C. sauberi Brauns, 1898 is once again re-synonymysed with C. canadensis Provancher, 1880. Data on diagnosis, variation, distribution, and hosts of all species are provided. All previously known species are re-described. The present revision extends the distributional range of the Neotropical species C. calixtoi Gauld, 1991, C. fernandezi Gauld, 1991, and C. henryi Gauld, Ugalde, and Hanson, 1998 to the southern part of the Nearctic Region (northern Mexico), and the area of the Nearctic species C. manni Cushman, 1922 to the northern part of the Neotropical region (southern Mexico). An illustrated identification key to all North American Clistopyga species is provided.

In order to determine the transference of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bacillaceae) (Bt) insecticidal protein in the food chain, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect Bt insecticidal protein levels in transgenic Bt cotton (GK12, New variety 33B and SGK321), Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) fed on the Bt cotton varieties, and two natural enemies of S. exigua, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) and Microplitis pallidipes Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). The results showed that Bt insecticidal protein was found not only in cotton leaves, but also in the body and excrement of S. exigua and the bodies of both C. carnea and M. pallidipes. Bt toxin was detected in S. exigua larvae of all the examined instars (second, third, fourth, and fifth) that fed on transgenic cotton varieties and the Bt toxin level was the highest in the body of the second instar. In addition, the Bt toxin content in the excrement of the second instar was lower than that in the older ones. After the natural enemies C. carnea and M. pallidipes preyed/parasitised the S. exigua larvae that fed on transgenic cotton, Bt toxin was found in both the predator and parasite. This research indicates that Bt protein can be transferred through the food chain and to natural enemies of various predatory habits.

Male crickets belonging to the genus Loxoblemmus Saussure (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) often exhibit exaggerated facial structures with characteristic projections. Whether these structures are stable within a single species is not certified. We collected Loxoblemmus angulatus Bey-Bienko and reared the second generation under 16:8, 14:10, and 12:12 light:dark photoperiods. Body morphology of adults was measured and development days were recorded. The results showed that short daytime photoperiod made them develop slowly. Males became larger after longer developmental days. Head width was wider in males and horns on head were more exaggerated in large individuals than in small ones. Head width was allometric against pronotum width. Our study shows that the male head morphology in L. angulatus is strongly influenced by development days and it is not suitable as taxonomic characters.

The Hesperempis genus group is revised. The group includes Dryodromia Rondani and Hesperempis Melander, with Melanderalus Özdikem and Başar and Toreus Melander newly synonymised with Hesperempis, newsynonymy. Dryodromia includes D. testacea Rondani from the western Palaearctic and D. yunnanica Cumming and Saigusa new species from southwestern China. Hesperempis includes H. anatolica Cumming and Brooks new species, H. mabelae (Melander), H. neomexicana (Melander) newcombination, H. sanduca Melander, and H. vespera Cumming and Brooks new species from the Nearctic Region, as well as H. melina Cumming and Saigusa new species, H. nipponica Cumming and Saigusa new species, and H. sibirica Shamshev from the Palaearctic Region. A key to the two genera and 10 species is provided, and a cladistic analysis is presented. A new interpretation of the homologies of the male terminalia is proposed for this lineage, and the phylogenetic relationships and zoogeographic history of the group are discussed.

The eastern foothills of the Cascade Range in Washington State, United States of America are west of the State's major fruit-producing region. Alders (Alnus Hill (Betulaceae)), an important floristic component of riparian communities in the Cascade Range foothills, were surveyed for leafrolling caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) that might serve as alternate hosts for parasitoids of orchard pest leafrollers, particularly the nonnative wasp Colpoclypeus florus (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). Tortricid leafrollers were abundant on alder, but reared parasitoids did not include C. florus. Survey results also revealed that rolled leaves were secondarily colonised by a wide variety of predatory and phytophagous arthropods. Rolled leaves were almost 10-fold more likely to be occupied by predatory arthropods than adjacent, roll-free leaves. Phytophagous thrips and mites showed a similar preference for rolled leaves. The most abundant predaceous arthropods in the leafrolls were Anthocoris antevolens White (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), found in 4.4% of leafrolls, and the spider Clubiona pacifica Banks (Araneae: Clubionidae), found in 8.3% of leafrolls. Both species, and several other predatory insect and spider species found in the rolled leaves, also occur in eastern Washington orchards where they contribute to biological control. Because of its frequent colonisation by beneficial arthropods, alder may prove useful in conservation biological control programs.

Generic boundaries are reevaluated in the subfamily Agromyzinae (Diptera: Agromyzidae), specifically, amongst those taxa in the Ophiomyia genus group. Ophiomyia Braschnikov, 1897 is redefined on the basis of an anteriorly truncated clypeus, the only character consistently found in all species of this diverse group, with very few exceptions. This results in the synonymy of the species-poor genera Kleinschmidtimyia Spencer, 1986 new synonym, Penetagromyza Spencer, 1959 new synonym, and Hexomyza Enderlein, 1936 new synonym. Many species of Hexomyza are recombined as Ophiomyia and one species is returned to Melanagromyza Hendel, 1920, but the remainding species form a small, mostly Holarctic clade that is here given the new genus name Euhexomyzanew genus. Melanagromyza and Tropicomyia Spencer, 1973 are also redefined, and while most Tropicomyia belong to a single lineage, at least one is clearly of separate origins and the genus should be reclassified following closer examination. Epidermomyia Ipe and Ipe, 2004new synonym is included as a junior synonym of Tropicomyia. Although larval morphology and life history have sometimes been found to be predictive of phylogeny in the Agromyzinae, superficially similar feeding strategies in the broadly inclusive categories of leaf mining, stem mining/boring, and gall forming are found to occur independently multiple times throughout the subfamily and can be misleading when delimiting genus-level groups.

Patagonicola Packer new genus is described for two species of xeromelissine bee (Hymenoptera: Colletidae) from Patagonian Argentina. One species, P. graveli Packer new species is described; the second species, P. aenigma (Packer) new combination, originally placed in Chilicola Spinola, 1851 subgenus Chilioediscelis Toro and Moldenke, 1979, is designated as the type species. The new genus is superficially most similar to Xenochilicola Toro and Moldenke, 1979 but possesses none of the derived characteristics that were originally used to define that genus. Results of a phylogenetic analysis, based upon 114 morphological characters, are presented and suggest that the new genus is the sister clade to (Geodiscelis Michener and Rozen, 1999 + Xeromelissa Cockerell, 1926). An illustrated key is provided for the genera of Xeromelissinae and for the two species of Patagonicola.

Apple clearwing moth, Synanthedon myopaeformis (Borkhausen) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), is an invasive species in Canada and a destructive pest of commercial apple trees in British Columbia. Adult mass trapping is being developed to help organic apple producers manage this pest. We manipulated and measured spectral reflectance from delta traps, unitraps, and bottle traps used to deploy sex pheromone, phenylacetaldehyde, and grape juice mass-trapping baits and compared catches in baited traps having different reflectance properties. Synanthedon myopaeformis did not discriminate among pheromone-baited delta traps painted yellow, green, or white, from those left clear (group 1), nor among those painted purple, blue, red, or black (group 2). Catches by all treatments in group 1 were significantly greater than all in group 2. Catches in pheromone-baited delta traps were positively correlated with their intensity of green wavelength reflectance (500–550 nm). Fluorescent yellow delta traps reflected more green and ultraviolet (300–400 nm) light than standard yellow or green traps but caught significantly fewer moths when baited with pheromone, implying an antagonistic interaction of green versus ultraviolet-sensitive behaviours. Pheromone-baited all-yellow unitraps caught significantly more moths than equivalent all-green, all-white, or all-red unitraps. Catches in pheromone-baited all-yellow unitraps decreased when any component (lid, funnel, or bucket) was replaced with a green one. Changing the intensity or quality of reflectance from funnels had the greatest impact on unitrap catches (82% reduction). Spectral preferences were modulated by odours eliciting different behaviours (mating versus feeding). When baited with the floral feeding odour phenylacetaldehyde, yellow and green delta traps were among the least attractive, whereas black and blue traps were among the most attractive. When baited with grape juice food baits, black bottle traps caught significantly more moths than any other colour except white, and the former are recommended for maximising mass trapping of females while minimising nontarget impacts of juice baits.

Anatoecus Cummings (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae) is a genus of chewing lice with four species infesting Anseriformes in North America: Anatoecus cygni (Denny), Anatoecus dentatus (Scopoli), Anatoecus icterodes (Nitzsch), and Anatoecus penicillatus Kéler. Males of A. dentatus and A. icterodes are distinguishable by their genitalia; however, there are no known anatomical characteristics to distinguish females. Anatoecus dentatus and A. icterodes are recorded from at least 55 of the same host species worldwide. The mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I was examined from the four Anatoecus species, specifically to examine the taxonomic status of A. dentatus and A. icterodes. When sequences from these species were analysed using neighbour joining analysis, A. dentatus and A. icterodes were recovered in a well-supported cluster. However, A. dentatus and A. icterodes were mixed within the same cluster. The average interspecific genetic distance of A. dentatus and A. icterodes (0.04%) was almost the same as the average intraspecific genetic distances of A. dentatus and A. icterodes 0.02% and 0.05%, respectively. Therefore, we formally synonymise A. dentatus and A. icterodes as Anatoecus dentatus (new synonymy). In addition two new hosts for A. penicillatus were recorded: Branta canadensis (Linnaeus) (Anseriformes: Anatidae) and Chen caerulescens (Linnaeus) (Anseriformes: Anatidae).

We studied life history traits of Xenos peckii Kirby (Strepsiptera: Xenidae), a little-known parasite of the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus (Fabricus) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in North America. We field-collected 24 wasp nests in early July 2012, isolated parasitised wasps, tracked life history events of X. peckii, and recorded such behaviour as emergence of males and mating by normal-speed and high-speed cinematography. To emerge, males first cut the puparium with their mandibles along an ecdysial suture line, and then push aside the pupal cap during emergence. The endoparasitic females engage in active calling (pheromone release) behaviour by slowly inflating their cephalothorax, and then extruding it even farther out of, and tilting it away from, the host wasp abdomen. Seasonal and diel (afternoon) emergence periods of males coincide with seasonal and diel receptivity and calling periods of females. Males approach calling females in a swaying flight with smooth turns. They typically land on the anterior portion of the host wasp's abdomen, and then step backward until they make contact with the cephalothorax of the female. As soon as their mesothoracic legs contact the female's cephalothorax, they curl around it, and the male initiates mating. Thereafter, the female fully retreats and never re-mates.

Complex subsociality involving guarding, progressive provisioning, and trophic egg production behaviours in herbivorous Hemiptera is known in only a few genera in the Cydnidae subfamily Sehirinae and in Parastrachiidae. Because progressive provisioning and trophic egg production are apparently specific to these closely related species, phylogenetically it seems likely that the behaviours emerged once in the common ancestor of this clade. However, the scarcity of information on species in the clade precludes any reliable exploration of this hypothesis. To ameliorate this situation, it is necessary to accumulate additional information for as many related species as possible. To this end, we first targeted Japanese representatives of the genus Adomerus Mulsant and Rey (Hemiptera: Cydnidae), three species of which are distributed in Japan. Complex subsocial behaviours in two of these species, Adomerus triguttulus (Motschulsky) and Adomerus variegatus (Signoret), have been well characterised and analysed. The third Japanese species, Adomerus rotundus (Hsiao), was identified to display complex maternal care, but, with the exception of egg hatch synchronisation, parental behaviours have not been characterised. In this study, we examined the parental behaviours of A. rotundus. Additional investigations on subsocial behaviours, in addition to morphological and molecular analyses, should gradually clarify whether the complex subsociality represents a homologous or convergent adaptation.

The Ochlerotatus communis (De Geer, 1776) complex consists of four cryptic mosquito species in North America, including: O. communis, Ochlerotatus churchillensis (Ellis and Brust, 1973), Ochlerotatus nevadensis (Chapman and Barr, 1964), and Ochlerotatus tahoensis (Dyar, 1916). Most of the morphological characters used for the identification of these species are quantitative and overlap across species. Here we evaluated the efficacy of DNA barcoding for identification of three members of the communis complex (O. nevadensis is not included in this study) and developed diagnostic restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns for O. communis and O. churchillensis. A phylogeny of 23 Ochlerotatus Lynch Arribálzaga, 1891 species was inferred using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences. All species included in our analysis within the O. communis complex were delineated using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I barcodes. However, this complex was recovered as paraphyletic with respect to Ochlerotatus abserratus (Felt and Young, 1904) and Ochlerotatus implicatus (Vockeroth, 1954), indicating the need for increased genetic and taxonomic sampling to infer the phylogenetic relationships of these taxa. The RFLP profile for multiple field specimens of O. communis was distinct from all RFLP patterns for O. churchillensis, and this method can be used as an efficient molecular method for the identification these species.

Mountain pine beetle (MPB) Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) attacks and overwhelms the defences of vigorous trees during outbreaks by attacking en masse. Low or endemic populations are regulated by host resistance and restricted to colonising weakened trees, where there is a potential trade off between tree defences and habitat quality. Mountain pine beetle populations are typically in the endemic population phase, but MPB attack behaviour and brood productivity in this phase are poorly understood. We located attacks made by beetles from endemic populations in north-central Alberta, Canada and examined galleries constructed on these trees. The distribution of gallery starts on trees was clustered relative to height on the tree, but not related to aspect on the tree bole. We found no Allee effect associated with mate location as over 99% of galleries were constructed by mated females. Productivity was generally low and brood development rarely reached the pupal stage, with one exception that suggests that endemic populations are capable of rapid increase in certain hosts. Egg galleries constructed by unmated females differed in morphology from galleries created by mated females. To understand the dynamics of this eruptive species, we need to identify the conditions under which endemic populations can persist and periodically increase to densities that result in coordinated mass attacks on healthy trees and lead to outbreaks.

Three new species of Pipunculidae (Diptera) are described (one named), from the early Eocene (Ypresian) Okanagan Highlands of British Columbia, Canada and Washington State, United States of America: Metanephrocerus belgardeaenew species from Republic, Washington; and Pipunculidae species A and Pipunculinae species A from Quilchena, British Columbia. We re-describe the late Eocene (Priabonian) species Protonephrocerus florissantius Carpenter and Hull from Florissant, Colorado, United States of America, and assign it to a new genus proposed here, Priabonanew genus. Pipunculinae species A is the oldest known member of the family whose wing lacks a separated M2 vein; previously this had been known in species only as old as Miocene Dominican amber. This is a presumably derived character state that is predominant in modern species. Molecular analysis indicates an origin of the Pipunculidae in the Maastrichtian; the morphological and taxonomic diversity seen here in the Ypresian is consistent with an early radiation of the family. This is concordant with the radiation of Auchenorrhyncha, upon which they mostly prey, which is in turn associated with the early Paleogene diversification of angiosperm-dominated forests recovering from the K-Pg extinction event.

The plum curculio (PC), Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a key pest of stone and pome fruit in North America. Though grandisoic acid (GA) was identified as a male-produced aggregation pheromone for this species, other components likely exist, as have been identified for various curculionids. To better determine these components, an understanding of the conditions necessary for optimum pheromone production and attraction is needed, this is essential for the improvement of monitoring techniques and to achieve better biological control. The goal of this study was to determine the biotic and abiotic factors influencing both the response to pheromones and pheromone production. Tests were conducted in a dual-choice still-air vertical olfactometer using live male PCs as odour sources and live females as responders, to determine which physiological factors (age, number of males, mating status) influenced female response to males. Head-space collections of GA production under various conditions (airflow rate and frequency, collection zone strata, variation of humidity, temperature, and presence of a harbourage) were also done, as were electroantennograms (EAG) using synthetic pheromone mixtures. Results revealed that for both strains, the odour of two virgin mature males elicited significantly greater and more consistent attraction from mature virgin females than other ages and numbers of males when compared with the control. Head-space collections indicate that male PC have increased production of GA under high humidity in the presence of fruit, indicating that these conditions are necessary for optimal pheromone production and collection. EAG studies revealed significant responses to GrandLures I, II, III/IV and to the positive enantiomer of GA, and the amplitude of the signal varied with concentration. Our data identify the optimal physiological state and conditions at which pheromone collections should be performed, and what physiological life stages respond to these stimuli. These results have implications for optimising monitoring tools for this serious crop pest. This species has a northern univoltine strain and a southern multivoltine strain, both of which were examined in this study.

Population parameters of ectoparasites on feral pigeons, Columba livia Gmelin (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae), were estimated from 1995–2012 in southern Manitoba, Canada. The ectoparasites are chewing lice (Phthiraptera): Philopteridae – Campanulotes compar (Burmeister), Columbicola columbae (Linnaeus), and Coloceras tovornikae Tendeiro; Menoponidae – Hohorstiella lata (Piaget). We tested the hypotheses that both abundance and population stability are species-specific traits. Over 10 years, the four species of lice had distinct population dynamics. Campanulotes compar and C. columbae were more abundant than C. tovornikae and H. lata, had higher male to female sex ratios and higher ratios of nymphs to females, different levels of aggregation, and more stable populations. Campanulotes compar was more prevalent than C. columbae and its prevalence was more stable, and the two species also showed differences in the levels and stabilities of male and nymph to female ratios. Coloceras tovornikae had a higher prevalence and male to female sex ratio than H. lata, but the two species showed similar levels of stability for these parameters. The level of stability of these populations was relatively high compared with many other organisms, and in particular higher than for plant ectoparasites (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Although the four species occupy similar habitats, often on the same bird, and three of the four feed in a similar way, the population biology of each species is distinct. The life history traits that lead to these differences have yet to be determined.