A new species of pygmy mole cricket (Orthoptera: Tridactylidae) from the Lake Wales ridge of Florida and new records of Ellipes eisneri from the northern Brooksville ridge

Pygmy mole crickets (Orthoptera: Tridactylidae) are usually associated with the edges of ponds and streams, but in the sandy uplands of Florida, at least two lineages of these insects have evolved to live in xeric scrub and sandhill habitats. Very little work has been done with scrub tridactylids since they are tiny and often difficult to collect. In this paper, the pygmy mole cricket Ellipes deyrupisp. nov. is described from the northern Lake Wales Ridge of Florida. It is sympatric at all known locations with another scrub tridactylid, Neotridactylus archboldi Deyrup & Eisner, but has not been found co-occurring with the closely related Ellipes eisneri Deyrup. The habits of this new species are convergent with both N. archboldi and E. eisneri. In addition, new records of Ellipes eisneri are presented, extending this species’ known distribution to the Northern Brooksville Ridge. Both species of scrub Ellipes are found in restricted geographic ranges and suffer from a lack of study and recognition. Conservation implications for these two species are discussed.

Witches and goddesses in modern prose

The article deals with the evolution of female demonic characters appearing in literature since the classics to this day. In Russian classics, infernal females with magical powers were not uncommon: described by V. Zhukovsky, O. Somov, N. Gogol, A. Kuprin, etc., they were mostly treated as ‘abnormal’ or negative. The perception has changed dramatically in modern literature: a woman with connections to infernal powers (e. g. princess Tichert in A. Ivanov’s novel The Heart of Parma [Serdtse Parmy] or Rogneda in M. Galina’s Mole Crickets [Medvedki], etc.) is no longer a manifestly negative character. A. Guskova discovers that the contemporary infernal (or demonic) female character is not so much part of a love theme but is rather connected to the magic of the story’s location: the Urals in A. Ivanov’s book and Transdniestria in M. Galina’s, respectively. Also transformed is the nature of the contact between the heroine and the male protagonist: the impossibility of a constructive interaction and mortal danger (in classic prose) are replaced with a positive tone, granting the protagonist an opportunity for development.

Turfgrass Insects of the United States and Canada

The first edition of this reference work became known as the bible of turfgrass entomology upon publication in 1987. It has proved invaluable to professional entomologists, commercial turf managers, and golf course superintendents and has been used widely in college extension courses. This classic of the field is now in its third edition, providing up-to-date and complete coverage of turfgrass pests in the continental United States, Hawaii, and southern Canada. This revised volume integrates all relevant research from the previous two decades. It provides expanded coverage of several pest species, including the annual bluegrass weevil, invasive crane fly species, chinch bugs, billbugs, mole crickets, and white grubs. The book also provides detailed information on the biology and ecology of all major pests and includes the most current information on conditions that favor insect development and biological control strategies pertinent to each species. The reader should be able to identify most turf insects through the use of this text. It is a critical reference work that any serious turf professional should own.

Fungal pathogens occurring on Orthopterida in Thailand

Two new fungal genera and six species occurring on insects in the orders Orthoptera and Phasmatodea (superorder Orthopterida) were discovered that are distributed across three families in the Hypocreales. Sixty-seven sequences generated in this study were used in a multi-locus phylogenetic study comprising SSU, LSU, TEF, RPB1 and RPB2 together with the nuclear intergenic region (IGR). These new taxa are introduced as Metarhizium gryllidicola, M. phasmatodeae, Neotorrubiella chinghridicola, Ophiocordyceps kobayasii, O. krachonicola and Petchia siamensis. Petchia siamensis shows resemblance to Cordyceps mantidicola by infecting egg cases (ootheca) of praying mantis (Mantidae) and having obovoid perithecial heads but differs in the size of its perithecia and ascospore shape. Two new species in the Metarhizium cluster belonging to the M. anisopliae complex are described that differ from known species with respect to phialide size, conidia and host. Neotorrubiella chinghridicola resembles Torrubiella in the absence of a stipe and can be distinguished by the production of whole ascospores, which are not commonly found in Torrubiella (except in Torrubiella hemipterigena, which produces multiseptate, whole ascospores). Ophiocordyceps krachonicola is pathogenic to mole crickets and shows resemblance to O. nigrella, O. ravenelii and O. barnesii in having darkly pigmented stromata. Ophiocordyceps kobayasii occurs on small crickets, and is the phylogenetic sister species of taxa in the 'sphecocephala' clade.

Dietary Partitioning in Two Co-occurring Caecilian Species (Geotrypetes seraphini and Herpele squalostoma) in Central Africa

Synopsis Trophic interactions among fossorial vertebrates remain poorly explored in tropical ecosystems. While caecilian species can co-occur, whether and how sympatric species partition dietary or other resources are largely unknown. Based on specimens collected during field surveys in southern Cameroon, we conducted a dietary analysis of two co-occurring caecilian species, Geotrypetes seraphini and Herpele squalostoma. We find a negligible overlap in the adult diets of these two species. Earthworms dominated the diet of adult G. seraphini, whereas we found that mole crickets were the most frequent prey items in adult H. squalostoma. The dietary breadth of adult G. seraphini is smaller than that of H. squalostoma, which consumes a variety of hard-bodied prey including mole crickets, cockroaches, beetles, and crabs. Juvenile diets were similar between these species and mostly contained earthworms and ants. We did not detect significant ontogenetic dietary shifts in either species, though adults generally consumed a broader diversity of prey. As adults, G. seraphini and H. squalostoma may partition prey categories by consuming soft-bodied and hard-bodied prey, respectively. Because most caecilians are likely opportunistic predators, we expect that sympatric species partition dietary resources either by preference for different soil layers or ability to consume different prey categories.

Insect Management for Carrots

There are no major insect pests on carrot in Florida. The greatest concern for growers has been root damage from soil pests, particularly wireworms (southern potato and tobacco), cutworms (variegated, granulate, black), and mole crickets, all of which are sporadic. Occasional minor pests include leafminers (especially the vegetable leafminer), aphids (green peach and melon), and weevils (especially vegetable weevils). Other arthropods that may occasionally cause minimal damage to carrots in Florida include armyworms (fall, beet, and southern), field crickets, mites (especially twospotted spider mite), and plant bugs (including tarnished plant bug). This document is ENY-462, one of a series of the Entomology & Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: July 2002. Revised: August 2005. ENY-462/IG148: Insect Management for Carrots (ufl.edu)