One new species in the leaf-beetle genus Sphenoraia Clark(Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae:Galerucinae)from the Haizhu Wetland of Guangzhou,China

In this study,one new species of the leaf-beetle genus Sphenoraia Clark,1836(Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae:Galerucinae)is described from the Haizhu Wetland,Guangzhou,China:Sphenoraia(Sphenoraioides)haizhuensis Yang sp.nov.A key to the 12 Chinese species of Sphenoraia as well as photographs of the habitus and aedeagus of the new species and its related species are given.

Involvement of CYP347W1 in neurotoxin 3-nitropropionic acid-based chemical defense in mustard leaf beetle Phaedon cochleariae

Chrysomelina beetlesstore 3-nitropropionic acid in form of a pretoxin,isoxazolin-5-one glucoside-conjugated ester,to protect themselves against predators.Here we identified a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase,CYP347W1,to be involved in the production of the 3-nitropropionic acid moiety of the isoxazolin-5-one glucoside ester.Knocking down CYP347W1 led to a significant depletion in the concentration of the isoxazolin-5-one glucoside ester and an increase in the concentration of the isoxazolin-5-one glucoside in the larval hemolymph.Enzyme assays with the heterologously expressed CYP347W1 showed freeβ-alanine was not the direct substrate.Homology modeling indicated thatβ-alanine-CoA ester can fit into CYP347W1’s active site.Furthermore,we proved that Phaedon cochleariae eggs are not able to de novo synthesize 3-NPA,although both isoxazolin-5-one glucoside and its 3-NPA-conjugated ester are present in the eggs.These results provide direct evidence for the involvement of CYP347W1 in the biosynthesis of a P.cochleariae chemical defense compound.

Does overshoot in leaf development of ponderosa pine in wet years leads to bark beetle outbreaks on fine-textured soils in drier years?

Background： Frequent outbreaks of insects and diseases have been recorded in the native forests of western North America during the last few decades, but the distribution of these outbreaks has been far from uniform. In some cases, recent climatic variations may explain some of this spatial variation along with the presence of expansive forests composed of dense, older trees. Forest managers and policy makers would benefit if areas especially prone to disturbance could be recognized so that mitigating actions could be taken. Methods： We use two ponderosa pine-dominated sites in western Montana, U.S.A. to apply a modeling approach that couples information acquired via remote sensing, soil surveys, and local weather stations to assess where bark beetle outbreaks might first occur and why. Although there was a general downward trend in precipitation for both sites over the period between 1998 and 2010 （slope =-1.3, R2 = 0.08）, interannual variability was high. Some years showed large increases followed by sharp decreases. Both sites had similar topography and fire histories, but bark beetle activity occurred earlier （circa 2000 to 2001） and more severely on one site than on the other. The initial canopy density of the two sites was also similar, with leaf area indices ranging between 1.7-2.0 m2. m-2. We wondered if the difference in bark beetle activity was related to soils that were higher in clay content at site I than at site II. To assess this possibility, we applied a process-based stand growth model （3-PG） to analyze the data and evaluate the hypotheses. Results： We found that when wet years were followed by drier years, the simulated annual wood production per unit of leaf area, a measure of tree vigor, dropped below a critical threshold on site I but not on site II. Conclusion： We concluded that the difference in vulnerability of the two stands to beetle outbreaks can be explained largely by differences in gross photosynthesis attributed to the fact that an equivalent amount of stored water in the rooting zone （100 mm） is extracted less efficiently from fine-textured soils than from coarse-textured ones.

Ultrastructure of the compound eye of Longitarsus lewisii(Baly,1874)(Coleoptera,Chrysomelidae)

In this study,the morphology and ultrastructure of the compound eye of L.lewisii were investigated using scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),microcomputed tomography(μCT),and 3D reconstruction.The compound eye of L.lewisii was of the apposition type,with an average of 121.88±7.64 ommatidia in males and 119.00±4.71 ommatidia in females.Each ommatidium was composed of a biconvex cornea,an acone consisting of four cone cells,eight retinular cells along with the rhabdom,two primary pigment cells,and numerous secondary pigment cells.The open type of rhabdom in L.lewisii consists of six peripheral rhabdomeres contributed by the six peripheral retinular cells(R1~R6)and two vertically attached central rhabdomeres contributed by R7 and R8 respectively.The orientation of microvilli suggested a weak sensitivity to polarized light perception.

The morphology of the antennal lobe of Ambrostoma quadriimpressum(Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae)

The structure of the primary olfactory brain center was studied in male and female adult Ambrostoma quadriimpressum by means of a series of histological sections labeled using the reduced-silver-stain technique.The antennal lobe was elliptical,and the total number of glomeruli was approximately 50 in the antennal lobe in both sexes.There was no sexual dimorphism with respect to the size of the antennal lobe or the number and shape of glomeruli.

Studies on Occurrence Ecological Factors and Management Strategies of Ambrostoma quadriimpressum in Harbin City

This paper investigated effects of four ecological variables on the damage levels of elm leaf beetle （different effects of minimum and maximum values, relations between each two variables were also explored） and discussed current management measures. The results showed that among these factors, interval between elm trees significantly affected damage level by this leaf beetle species, and perimeter of elm trunk could change this effect. On the other side, while middle values for each index were deleted, effects comparison between minimum and maximum parts showed that good root soil as overwintering was related with more damage; more severe damages on elm tree would result in more control measures used; on elm tree with bigger mink, more damages were observed; and if other elm tree was closer, more damages would occur. Secondly, good root soil was related with more measures used; good root soil was correlated with smaller perimeter; good root soil was associated with bigger interval. Thirdly, more measures were correlated with bigger perimeter; more measures were also correlated with good root soil. Fourthly, bigger perimeter was correlated with worse root soil. Current dominant control measures included chemical pesticide application preventing adult insects from descending or climbing up along trunk before and after overwintering. These results suggested that we should focus on elm leaf beetle management on all the elm trees instead of only on bigger elm trees at proper period simultaneously because occurrence on these elm trees were related intensively although this adult elm leaf beetle species could not fly and had limited movement ability.

A review of the neptis species group of the genus Lilioceris(Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae:Criocerinae)

A new species group of the genus Lilioceris Reitter,1913 is proposed and keyed as neptis group,characterized by adults with mesoventral process widened,tuberculate,and horizontally connected with mesoventrite.It includes six species:Lilioceris balyi Chujo,1962,L.cantonensis Heinze,1943 stat.rev.,L.fouana Pic,1932,L.neptis(Weise,1922),L.subpolita(Motschulsky,1861)and L.vietnamica Medvedev,1985.Among them,Lilioceris cantonensis Heinze,1943 is resurrected as a valid species from synonyms of L.neptis(Weise,1922);L.fouana Pic,1932 is transferred from the subgenus Chujoita Monrós,1959 to the subgenus Lilioceris Reitter,1913;L.vietnamica Medvedev,1985 is firstly recorded in China;some misidentifications of former literatures for L.neptis are provided.Redescriptions(if necessary),habitus photographs,geographic distributions,host plants and habitats(if known)are provided for these species.