A survey of lifespan in Winterschmidtiidae (Sarcoptiformes: Astigmata)

The Winterschmidtiidae are a family of over 140 species of fungivorous, saprophagous, predatory and/or parasitic mites in insect/vertebrate nests, in decaying organic matter, in soils and on plants worldwide. In this review, I provide a survey of the immature developmental time, adult longevity and lifespan of the Winterschmidtiidae as part of the series on the lifespans in the Acari. The complete life cycle in this family includes five immature stages (the egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph and tritonymph) and adult male/female, with deutonymphs lost in some genera such as Czenspinskia and Oulenziella. Development or lifespan data have been reported for only three species (< 3%) of the Winterschmidtiidae, and the experimentally measured lifespans of one to two months most likely reflect those of the summer generation. Afrocalvolia nataliae has two generations per year: the summer generation, which has no deutonymph stage, is mainly devoted to feeding and reproduction and lasts for one month only; the winter generation, however, has a deutonymph stage to resist the cold conditions and lasts for as long as 11 months.

Phenotypic plasticity of the Cydalima perspectalis Walker life cycle stages development in the Crimea

The box tree moth ( Cydalima perspectalis Walker) is an invasive insect that has rapidly colonized the vast area of the European continent, damaging tonatural and ornamental box trees. In order to develop effective phytophagous control measures there are features of the local populations seasonal development that have been studied in the Crimea. It is determined that during the growing season in the green spaces of the Crimean parks there is a temporary overlapping of both development stages and generations of the C. perspectalis populations. An important seasonal adaptation of C. perspectalis to the habitat’s conditions is thermal sensitivity reduction and development acceleration of all life cycle stages in the second summer generation under the influence of photoperiod. This flexibility of ontogenetic requirements for the transition to diapause provides higher phenological variability in populations. There is identified the temperature and photoperiod impact to development rate of larvae and the influence of relative humidity to development rate of pupae. With identical thermal reaction norms for development of the overwintered larvae, for complete of life cycle of the one generation life cycle in the Southern coast of the Crimea conditions needed the sum of growing degrees-days are 80 °С higher than in the Foothill Crimea. It is identified relative constancy of growing degrees-days needed for complete of the second summer generation of C. perspectalis . It allows considering them as a tool for determining the timing of effective treatment of third-generation larvae before they cause severe damage. For the comparability of the research results with the available publications, it was proposed to use the temperature threshold of 9.5 °С when calculating the growing degrees-days.

Biological indicators of bee families against the background of stimulating additives

Modeling of hive buildings with the architectonics of cells close to the natural sample against the background of stimulating additives can become an effective biological and technological lever not only in increasing the productivity of bee families, but also in rearing complete offspring in bee generations. This is especially relevant in association to the reproduction of the spring generation of honey bees. A characteristic feature of this period is that bee colonies should show high nesting activity and increase their strength. At the same time, the amino acids of honey bees play an important role in the detoxification of poisons, which is especially characteristic of histidine. The importance of tyrosine in the metabolism of honey bees as a class of insects is difficult to overestimate, because its derivatives play the important role not only in the formation of the exoskeleton of insects, but also in the creation of body color, they are also part of protective secretions and probably serve as chemical mediators of the nervous system. It has been proved that the spring-summer development of bee families was most active after wintering against the background of stimulating additives with inverted sugar syrup with the addition of cobalt chloride or drug Apinik, or in combination with 10 % bee bread and the construction of new-generation wax honeycombs, which compared with the control group, ensured the achievement of the maximum parameters of the growth indices of strength and construction activity for the construction of honeycombs – in 3,0, 4,26, 4,52 and in 0,86, 1,0 and 1,0 (in the control group – 2,61 and 0,57) and increased the live weight of bee individuals of the summer generation by 4,18, 4,6 and 4,7 %. It has been found that minerals, essential amino acids of the drug Apinik, associated with str. Fasium microorganisms, and 10 % bee bread as part of stimulating additives top dressing against the background of the renewal of new-generation wax combs before the main honey collection, increase the volume of hemolymph in inactive worker bees by 6,76–7,63 %, the degree of development of the fat body by 10,0 %, and in nectar-collecting bees by 6,75–8,16 % and 5,56–7,88 %, respectively. At the same time, the increase in the level of the amino acids histidine and tyrosine was recorded in inactive worker bees by 0,76–1,56 % and by 16,56–17,72 %, in nectar-collecting bees by 2,53–3,19 % and 28,68–30,08 %, respectively. This indicates the receipt of the complete generation of working bees of the summer generation, which will actively work on the main honey collection, providing economically useful traits of bee families.

The preimaginal stages and bionomics of Scythris sinensis (Felder and Rogenhofer, 1875) (Lepidoptera, Scythrididae), a Borer in Chenopodium album L. (Chenopodiaceae)

The bionomics and distribution of Scythris sinensis (Felder and Rogenhofer, 1875) were studied in Hungary from 2004 to 2018. The host plant was found to be Chenopodium album L. The larva feeds on the leaves in a loose web. The length of the larval stage varies from 12 to 15 days, that of the pupal stage from 7 to 10 days of the summer generation. The species is generally bivoltine in Hungary, but in the southern, warmer areas a third partial generation may occur. Adults of the second and third generations have characteristic yellow patches on the forewing. The species overwinters as pupa in a white cocoon near the host plant. The immature stages and the adult are illustrated and a map of the Hungarian records is given with two Figures.

Life history and nesting ecology of a Japanese tube-nesting spider wasp Dipogon sperconsus (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae)

To clarify the life history of the Japanese spider wasp Dipogon sperconsus, bionomical studies using bamboo-cane trap nests were carried out in Japan. Based on weekly and consecutive daily surveys of trap nests and rearing of broods from collected nests, we evaluated the production of cells and eggs per day, prey spiders, and seasonal patterns of nesting activities. We found a relatively short critical period of switching from the summer generation into the overwintering generation. We also found that the voltinism is affected by the timing of egg production of the second generation in relation to this critical period. The developmental period for each generation and sex, voltinism and cell production per day were determined based on data for a large number of individuals for the first time.

Inter-sexual and inter-generation differences in dispersal of a bivoltine butterfly

In organisms with discrete generations such as most insects, life-history traits including dispersal abilities often vary between generations. In particular, density-dependent differences in dispersal of bi- and multivoltine species may be expected because subsequent generations are usually characterized by a drastic increase in individual abundance. We investigated the inter-sexual and inter-generation differences in dispersal of a bivoltine butterfly, Lycaena helle, testing the following hypotheses: (1) male emigration is higher in spring generation, as males are prone to leave their natal habitat patches when the density of mating partners is low; (2) female emigration is higher in summer generation, when it helps to reduce intraspecific competition between offspring. The outcome of our analyses of dispersal parameters showed that females of the summer generation emigrated from their natal patches considerably more often than those of the spring generation, whereas an opposite trend was detected in males. These findings offer a novel perspective for our understanding of the advantages of voltinism for metapopulation functioning. The spring generation dispersal mainly improves the random mating opportunities favoured by the increase in male emigration. In turn, the dispersal of females of the summer generation appears the key to long-term metapopulation persistence.

Peculliarities of seasonal the plum fruit moth (Grapholita fune-brana Tr.) flight dynamics of in plum orchards (Prunus domestica L.)

As a result of the long-term (2011-2018) researches in plum orchards the intensity types of the plum fruit moth butterflies flight seasonal dynamics – low, normal and high have been established which are observed during the vegetation period. The two latters are dangerous for crop so they are problematic for producers and require the flight dynamics control. The weather conditions indicators have been systematized. The mathematical parameters have been determined between those indices and the insect imago population density. The types of intensity of the seasonal flight dynamics (low, normal, and high) that can be observed during the vegetation period have been established. The onset of the imago flight of the plum fruit moth after overwintering at the normal intensity is observed under the sum of effective temperatures (SET) of 80.9 and precipitations up to 33.1 with a probability of 0.545, whereas at high the intensity these indicators were 116.0 °C, 26.3 mm and 0.273 respectively. As for the generation which overwintered the usual flight type of G. funebrana Tr. has been noted at SET 332.7, precipitations 44.8 with a probability of 0.636, and high type, at 410.1 °C, 37.5 mm and 0.182 respectively. The summer generation under the normal intensity developed at SET 710.7, precipitations sum 48.3 and probability 0.555, at high intensity, 604.3 °C, 52.6 mm and 0.364 respectively. In the right-bank part of the Western Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, the imago flight began at the end of April – in the beginning of May. The imago flight ends mostly at the end of September but may last until mid-October when autumn is warm. The average number of the butterflies of the generation wich overwintered under normal and high intensity types, varied to 15.1 and 20.9 respectively, and in the summer generation decreased to 7.8 and 10.5 specimens. Under the low intensity type, the amount of imago after wintering average at 5.0 and for the summer generation 5.8 specimens. The maximum G. funebrana density after wintering under the normal and high types of flight intensity was 19.4 and 30.1 and for the summer generation 15.7 and 27.1 specimens respectively. These figures under the low flight intensity for the both generations were 8.7 and 5.9 specimens respectively. The analysis of variance showed that the average imago number in traps (56.9 %) was determined by the intensity type, the generation share was 24.7 %, and the interaction between the two factors was within 12.6 %. The maximum imago trapping rates depended mainly on the intensity type – 90 %, and the other factors proportions studied were 3.3 and 6.7 %.

Reproductive Biology and Evidence of Diapause in the Cowpea Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Chalcodermus aeneus Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has been the most destructive insect pest of black-eyed peas or cowpeas, Vigna unguiculata L. (Fabales: Fabaceae), over the last century in the southeastern United States. The historical distribution of this semitropical pest suggests the likelihood that diapause plays a key role in the overwintering success in parts of the United States. However, this report is the first to document biological evidence for diapause in C. aeneus. Our study assessed larval emergence from cowpea pods in the summer to fall growing seasons, egg development in female adults over the first (summer) and second (fall) generations, and adult emergence from infested soil after the first and second generations. There was a clear reduction in larval emergence from summer to fall. Egg and follicle development in female C. aeneus dropped off dramatically by September of each year. There was an extended emergence pattern of weevil adults from the soil in the fall as compared to the summer generation. Any future regional management of cowpea curculio will have to take into account the ability of this insect to diapause, thereby increasing its capacity to overwinter in regions where the cowpea crop, a warm-season, semitropical plant, is terminated with winter freezing temperatures.

First data on the reproduction of the Vagrant Emperor Anax ephippiger in North-Eastern Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region (Odonata aeshnidae)

The Vagrant Emperor, Anax ephippiger (burmeister, 1839), is a migrant dragonfly species from africa and Middle East; in Europe only summer generation are known, without evidence of overwintering larvae. In august 2010 a reproductive breeding site for this species was found in the in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region (north-eastern Italy). This discovery represents the first proof of reproduction for the species in north-eastern Italy. With the aim of increasing the knowledge on the species requirements, a study to delineate the emerging habitat was conducted: dragonfly community (adult and exuviae), vegetation, chemical and physical water parameters were sampled. This yielded data about larval tolerance toward salinity. This new data proves a northward move for the species, which may also have been facilitated by global warming.

Plant bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae) on field beans and soybeans in Manitoba, Canada: species composition and seasonal occurrence

In Manitoba, Canada, commercial soybeans and two types of field beans, navy and pinto, were sampled for plant bugs. At the centre and margins of 36 fields, sweep net and tap tray samples were taken weekly. In all three crops, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Miridae) comprised >78% and Adelphocoris lineolatus (Goeze) (Hemiptera: Miridae) <10% of adult mirids. Species composition varied among years but not among crops. For Lygus Hahn, nymphs were 46% of the catch in trays and 23% in sweeps, but total Lygus catch in trays was >2% of that in sweeps. Catch/sample effort was similar at field centres and margins for both Lygus adults and nymphs. Lygus lineolaris reproduced and developed in all three crops. In field beans, Lygus adults were first collected in late vegetative and early pod set stages and late instar nymphs and adults were present from pod elongation until maturity – results consistent with immigration of first summer generation reproductive adults and development of the second generation in the crops. There was evidence of late season immigration of Lygus into all crops. There was no loss of seed quantity attributable to mirids in any of the crops; in field beans there was no evidence that mirids reduced seed quality.