OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGY OF GLYPHODES PYLOALIS WALKER(PYRALIDAE:LEPIDOPTERA)ASERIOUSPEST OF MULBERRY TREES.

Glyphodes pyloalisWalker( Pyralidae:Lepidoptera) is a serious insect pest of mulberryand is widely distributed in Kashmir.The present communication describes its biology un-der laboratory conditions,In Kashmir severe infestation was observed from July to Octo-ber which usually makes the summer and autumn broods of silkworms suffer.The insecthas four generations in a year and overwinters in larval stage.

Taxonomic notes and new species of the genus Minooa Yamanaka from Southeast Asia and China(Lepidoptera, Pyralidae,Pyralinae)

Two species of Minooa are revised from China and Southeast Asia,and one of these,Minooa carinata Qi,Bae&Li,sp.nov.is described as new to science,and M.acantha Qi,2016 is newly recorded from Vietnam.Photographs of adults,male and female genitalia are provided,along with a key for all species of Minooa.

Genus Ptyobathra Turner new to China,with description of a new species(Lepidoptera:Pyralidae:Phycitinae)

The genus Ptyobathra Turner is newly reported from China. Ptyobathra recta sp. nov. is described as new; P. hypolepidota Turner, 1905 is newly recorded for China. Images of adults and genitalia are provided.

Taxonomic study of the genus Etiella Zeller(Lepidoptera:Pyralidae:Phycitinae) in China

The genus Etiella Zeller, 1839 is reviewed in China. Etiella brevis sp. nov. is described as new; E. grisea Hampson, 1903 and E. walsinghamella Ragonot, 1888 are newly recorded for China. Images of adults and genitalia are provided, along with a key to all the known Chinese species of this genus.

Genus Cathyalia Ragonot, 1888(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), new record phycitine to China

The genus Cathyalia Ragonot, 1888 and three species C. fulvella Ragonot, 1888, C. okinawana Yamanaka, 2003 and C. pallicostella Roesler ＆ Küppers, 1981 are newly recorded from China. A key and photographs of adults and genitalia of the three species are provided.

Pollination and seed dispersal of Aquilaria sinensis(Lour.)Gilg(Thymelaeaceae):An economic plant species with extremely small populations in China

Pollination and seed dispersal in angiosperms have long been investigated in order to understand the coevolution of plants and animals.However,the signals from flowers and/or seeds to attract pollinators and/or seed dispersers have received comparatively little attention.In this study,the pollination biology and seed dispersal of the vulnerable agarwood plant Aquilaria sinensis(Lour.) Gilg,a traditional medicinal plant in China,was studied in its natural distribution range.The reproductive tactics of A.sinensis were studied in detail by employing various tests dealing with fruit set and also seed dispersal.Dynamic headspace extraction followed by GC-MS analysis was also performed in order to reveal the composition of floral scent.The results showed that noctuids and pyralids are the most effective pollinators of pollinator-dependent A.sinensis.The main compounds of the floral scent were(E,E)-α-Farnesene(61.9 ± 3.2%),trans-Ocimene(16.6 ± 1.2%),and Benzyl salicylate(4.6 ± 1.1%).The results obtained from seed dispersal experiments indicate that hornets are effective seed dispersers and they may play an important role in long-distance seed dispersal of A.sinensis.Based on our findings,we recommend several protection methods for this threatened agarwood plant in China.

Sensitivity of polyphagous(Plodia interpunctella)and stenophagous(Ephestia kuehniella)storage moths to residual insecticides:effect of formulation and larval age

Pyralid moths,Ephestia kuehniella and Plodia interpunctella,are prevalent stored product pests.The insecticides are the main tool to control these moths in the stores.The data describing the response of these moths to insecticides are scarce.The lethal effect of the organophosphate,pyrethroid,and halogenated-pyrrole on moths larvae were compared in laboratory test.The hypothesis was that the very polyphagous P.inter-punctella would have generally higher insecticide tolerance than that of the stenophagous E.kuehniella.Different insecticide concentrations were applied onto the inner surface of glass tube vials.Ten larvae of 14 or 21 d old of E.kuehniella and 7 or 14 d old of P.interpunctella were used by treatment.The larval mortality was checked after 24 h of exposure.The mortality was significantly influenced by age of larvae and the groups of chemicals.No differences among the efficacies of the tested formulations with identical active compounds were found,except significant different mortality of E.kuehniella on deltamethrin formulations.A comparison of analytical standards showed that P.interpunctella was less susceptible to the active ingredient pirimiphos-methyl than E.kuehniella,while E.kuehniella was less susceptible to deltamethrin than P.interpunctella.No differences between the two species were observed for chlorfenapyr.We therefore rejected the hypothesis that polyphagy/stenophagy can be a general predictor of insecticide tolerance in the two tested storage moths.The most important finding for effective use was that the young larvae of both species were more susceptible to tested insecticides than older larvae.

Larval social cues influence testicular investment in an insect

Socio-sexual environment can have critical impacts on reproduction and survival of animals.Consequently,they need to prepare themselves by allocating more resources to competitive traits that give them advantages in the particular social setting they have been perceiving.Evidence shows that a male usually raises his investment in sperm after he detects the current or future increase of sperm competition because relative sperm numbers can determine his paternity share.This leads to the wide use of testis size as an index of the sperm competition level,yet testis size does not always reflect sperm production.To date,it is not clear whether male animals fine-tune their resource allocation to sperm production and other traits as a response to social cues during their growth and development.Using a polygamous insect Ephestia kuehniella,we tested whether and how larval social environment affected sperm production,testis size,and body weight.We exposed the male larvae to different juvenile socio-sexual cues and measured these traits.We demonstrate that regardless of sex ratio,group-reared males produced more eupyrenes(fertile and nucleate sperm)but smaller testes than singly reared ones,and that body weight and apyrene(infertile and anucleate sperm)numbers remained the same across treatments.We conclude that the presence of larval social,but not sexual cues is responsible for the increase of eupyrene production and decrease of testis size.We suggest that male larvae increase investment in fertile sperm cells and reduce investment in other testicular tissues in the presence of conspecific juvenile cues.