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HYMENOPTERA, CURCULIONIDAE, HOMOPTERA, PEST control, INSECT collection & preservation, BEETLES, and HEMIPTERA

The knowledge of the entomological fauna in productive systems is important for the agroecological management since beneficial insects are a key resource for pest management in horticultural systems. Scientific information on the biodiversity present in a given area is essential as well as the ecological function and/or feeding habits of the insects. In Alto Valle de Río Negro and Neuquén, horticultural production systems can be described as highly dependent on chemical inputs for pest management and fertilization. The aim of this study is to carry out an inventory of the biodiversity of some families of Hemiptera, Coleoptera (Curculionidae) and Hymenoptera present in peri-urban and rural farms located in Neuquén and Río Negro, respectively. Insects were collected through pitfall and sweeping net on tomato and pepper crops and the surrounding non-cultivated areas. Idiosystatus Berg (Auchenorrhyncha) was cited for the first time from Argentina. Species cited for the first time from Neuquén: Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Acanalonia chloris (Berg), Syncharina punctatissima (Signoret), Amplicephalus dubius Linnavuori, Exitianus obscurinervis (Stål), Agalliana ensigera Oman and Bergallia signata (Stål); Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Harmostes (Harmostes) prolixus Stål and Atrachelus (Atrachelus) cinereus (Fabricius); Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Hypurus bertrandi (Perris), Naupactus leucoloma Boheman, Otiorhynchus rugosostriatus (Goeze) and Sitona discoideus Gyllenhal and Hymenoptera: Xylocopa (Neoxylocopa) augusti Lepeletier and Pseudagapostemon (Neagapostemon) singularis Jörgensen. Species cited for the first time from Río Negro: Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Amplicephalus dubius Linnavuori, Amplicephalus marginellanus Linnavuori, Circulifer tenellus (Baker) and Xerophloea viridis (Fabricius); Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tupiocoris cucurbitaceus (Spinola), Atrachelus (Atrachelus) cinereus (Fabricius), Dichelops furcatus (Fabricius) and Harmostes (Harmostes) prolixus Stål; Coleptera: Curculionidae: Naupactus xanthographus (Germar) and Hymenoptera: Diadasia pereyrae (Holmberg) and Dialictus autranellus (Vachal). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BIOLOGICAL weed control, BIOLOGICAL pest control agents, CHRYSOMELIDAE, BEETLES, HYMENOPTERA, and EUCALYPTUS

The solitary larval endoparasitoid Eadya daenerys Ridenbaugh (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a proposed biocontrol agent of Paropsis charybdis Stål (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae), a pest of eucalypts in New Zealand. Eadya daenerys oviposition behaviour was examined in two assay types during host range testing, with the aim of improving ecological host range prediction. No‐choice sequential and two‐choice behavioural observations were undertaken against nine closely related species of New Zealand non‐target beetle larvae, including a native beetle, introduced weed biocontrol agents, and invasive paropsine beetles. No behavioural measure was significantly different between no‐choice and two‐choice tests. In sequential no‐choice assays the order of first presentation (target–non‐target) had no significant effect on the median number of attacks or the attack rate while on the plant. Beetle species was the most important factor. Parasitoids expressed significantly lower on‐plant attack rates against non‐targets compared to target P. charybdis larvae. The median number of attacks was always higher towards target larvae than towards non‐target larvae, except for the phylogenetically closest related non‐target Trachymela sloanei (Blackburn) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae). Most non‐target larvae were disregarded upon contact, which suggests that the infrequent attack behaviour observed by two individual E. daenerys against Allocharis nr. tarsalis larvae in two‐choice tests and the frass of Chrysolina abchasica (Weise) was probably abnormal host selection behaviour. Results indicate that E. daenerys is unlikely to attack non‐target species apart from Eucalyptus‐feeding invasive paropsines (Chrysomelinae). Non‐lethal negative impacts upon less preferred non‐target larvae are possible if E. daenerys does attack them in the field; however, this is likely to be rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

STINKBUGS, BROWN marmorated stink bug, HYMENOPTERA, OVIPARITY, BIOLOGICAL pest control agents, GREENBUG, and HOSTS of parasitoids

• We tested the physiological host ranges of an introduced biocontrol agent (T. basalis) and native parasitoid (T. oenone). • T. basalis attacks and develops in all nine pentatomid taxa we tested. • The native T. oenone attacks and develops in seven out of eight pentatomid species we tested. • Parasitism efficiencies were high for all treatments (>60%). Retrospective host range testing is essential for understanding the physiological host range of introduced biological control agents (BCAs) and updating forecasts of non-target risks. It is especially important to conduct this work if there was no host range testing prior to release of the agent. Trissolcus basalis Wollaston was released in New Zealand in 1949 against green vegetable bug (Nezara viridula [L.]), but host range testing was never undertaken, and subsequent work in the 1960s was only of a qualitative nature and remains incomplete. The host-parasitoid complex between New Zealand pentatomids, T. basalis , and the native pentatomid parasitoid Trissolcus oenone Dodd, is therefore poorly understood. We conducted no-choice oviposition tests between the two resident Trissolcus species and all available New Zealand pentatomid species to characterise the physiological (=fundamental) host ranges of these parasitoids. We present the results of the first retrospective host-specificity study on T. basalis in New Zealand. Our results show T. basalis attacks and develops in all nine pentatomid taxa we exposed it to (including the endemic alpine species Hypsithocus hudsonae Bergroth), while T. oenone attacks and develops in seven out of eight pentatomid species we tested it against (and its capacity to attack H. hudsonae remains unknown). Parasitism efficiencies for all treatments exceeded 60%, while development times were similar for both parasitoids regardless of host. We discuss the importance of physiological host range testing for understanding potential non-target effects. Trissolcus japonicus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) was recently approved for release in New Zealand against brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys Stål (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), subject to its potential establishment, and we examine our results in the context of potential competition between introduced parasitoids for non-target species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BROWN marmorated stink bug, PREDATORY insects, ORCHARDS, ANTS, HYMENOPTERA, and PREDATORY animals

In recent years, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, Cappaeini) has become an invasive pest in North America and Europe, where it caused extensive damage to agriculture, resulting in great economic losses. Evaluating the potential of native predators in the invaded areas, ants might represent good candidates thanks to their biology, ecology, and behavior. In Italy, H. halys proved to be the top key pest in pear orchards, where the black garden ant, Lasius niger (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Lasiini), is the most abundant ant species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predatory ability of L. niger on the eggs and on all the juvenile instars of H. halys under laboratory conditions. The results indicate that L. niger significantly reduces the survival of the second and third nymphal instars by 56 and 58%, respectively, but it is unable to reduce the egg hatching and the survival of the first, fourth, and fifth instars. Our preliminary results obtained in laboratory conditions suggest a possible role of the ant L. niger in controlling H. halys invasion mainly acting on the smaller and more mobile nymphal stages. The effective role of this species as potential biocontrol agents of H. halys in fruit orchards in association with other ant species as well as with other predatory insects is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]