A Review of Alternative Controls for House Flies

House flies are the most prevalent synanthropic pest worldwide. Although they seldom reproduce in homes, they invade buildings, cause annoyance, and carry pathogens. Urban pest management personnel are limited in their ability to locate and manage larval habitats, so most house fly management in urban settings focuses on adult fly suppression. Sanitation is probably the most critical component, eliminating odors that attract flies. Source reduction applies where larval habitats can be identified and eliminated. Exclusion involves keeping flies out of structures. Despite all efforts, flies will manage to enter the human environment, so exclusion includes air curtains, fans, screened windows, and doors. Ultraviolet light traps attract and immobilize, while window traps entice flies into devices that entrap them. Sticky tubes and ribbons rely on flies’ inclination to land on vertical lines to entangle them in glue. Even low-tech fly swatters can play significant roles in eliminating individual flies. Timed-release aerosol pyrethrin dispensers can be effective against flies confined in enclosed spaces. Toxic baits have limited use in urban settings. Chemical suppression remains a critical component of fly IPM, essential in situations requiring immediate fly elimination.

Description of Marolia alicantina sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Melandryidae) from Spain and new distribution records of Marolia species

Marolia alicantina sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Melandryidae) from eastern Spain is described and illustrated. All specimens were collected using window traps on Quercus rotundifolia Lamarck, 1785 (Fagaceae) in the Carrascar de la Font Roja Natural Park (Alicante, Spain). M. alicantina sp. nov. is the only European Marolia having erect setae on the elytra and pronotum. M. alicantina resembles M. grandis Peyerimhoff, 1971 from north Africa, from which it can distinguished by the denser punctuation of the pronotum, shape of the base of the pronotum and shape of the aedeagus. Furthermore, unpublished records for other Marolia species are presented in this paper; in particular M. purkynei Mařan, 1933 is recorded for the first time in Croatia and Greece. The authors had the chance to study six specimens, subsequently labelled as syntypes, of the M. purkynei type series. The location of the remaining possible syntype remains unknown.

Beetle biodiversity in forest habitats in Laos depends on the level of human exploitation

Coleopteran diversity was compared between more and less disturbed lowland evergreen deciduous forests located in Phou Phanang National protected area, Lao PDR. Using window traps and pitfall traps and collecting beetles from March until December 2018, a total of 6243 specimens were obtained. The number of morphospecies found in the less disturbed forest was significantly higher as compared to the more disturbed forest. Slightly more morphospecies were found in the window traps compared to pitfall traps and a significantly higher number of morphospecies were found in the wet season (June and September collections), compared to the dry season (March and December collections). Similarly, more than twice as many specimens were found in the less disturbed forest, compared to the more disturbed forest and also again more were found in the wet season, in particular predators. The data presented here indicate that so far largely undisturbed forests in Lao PDR need to be better protected from human exploitation such as logging.

New species of Pseudoscorpiones (Arachnida) from tree hollows in a Mediterranean oak forest in Spain

Pseudoscorpions inhabiting mature Quercus pyrenaica Willd. trees have been surveyed using hollow emergence traps and window traps in Salamanca, Spain. Three new species are described: Neobisium (N.) hispanicum Zaragoza & Hernández-Corral, n. sp., Rhacochelifer gaeli Zaragoza & Hernández-Corral, n. sp. and Rhacochelifer nonidezi Zaragoza & Hernández-Corral, n. sp. The genera Amblyolpium Simon, 1898 and Beierochelifer Mahnert, 1977 and the species Amblyolpium dollfusi Simon, 1898 and Beierochelifer peloponnesiacus (Beier, 1929) are new records for the Iberian Peninsula. Beierochelifer peloponnesiacus jonicus (Beier, 1932) is shown to be a junior subjective synonym of B. peloponnesiacus n. syn. New regional records of five other species belonging to the families Cheliferidae, Chernetidae and Withiidae are given. Keys are given for the species of the genera Pseudorhacochelifer Beier, 1976 and Rhacochelifer Beier, 1932 with elongated keels on posterolateral corners of carapace and anterior tergites in males, and for the Rhacochelifer species of the Iberian Peninsula. Complementary data to the description of the female syntypes from Caravaca (Murcia, mainland Spain) and males from the Canary Islands of Rhacochelifer pinicola (Nonídez, 1917) are given. Brief redescriptions of the female of Neobisium (N.) maroccanum Beier, 1930 and the male of Rhacochelifer euboicus Mahnert, 1977 are provided. The previous record of R. disjunctus from Slovakia is shown to be an error for R. euboicus. New data on the distribution and habitats of species of Cheliferidae, Chernetidae and Withiidae are given.

Are insect flower visitor assemblages distinguishable between Brassica napus and B. rapa?

Brassica napus and Brassica rapa are grown across six continents for purposes including oilseed, biofuel, vegetables and livestock fodder. Hybridisation between the two can downgrade seed quality reducing grower returns. We assess the similarity of flower visitor assemblages of both species to determine the applicability of pollinator management strategies to both. Insect taxa were collected using window traps placed within ten peak-flowering fields, five each of B. napus and B. rapa (one cultivar/species) located in South Canterbury, New Zealand. Both crops contained similar flower visitor assemblages with 25 of 29 taxa in common. Of the 1549 insects counted, Apis mellifera was most abundant (~40% of individuals in both crops). Bombus terrrestris and the flies Delia platura, and Oxysarcodexia varia were also common. Crop location more likely influenced assemblage composition than crop species. Strategies to boost the role of bee and non-bee pollinators have potential benefits for both crops; however, a broader understanding of pollinator movement between crops is required to optimise seed purity and crop spacing.

Vertical distribution of scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) in a beech forest

The structure of scuttle fly communities in vegetative strata of a beech forest in the Montseny Natural Park (Catalonia, Spain) was compared. Window traps were used from March 1990 to March 1991. Relative abundance and species richness of scuttle flies were higher in the herb and shrub layers than in the canopy, while diversity was not significantly different between strata. Saprophagous species dominated in all strata, while the mycophagous and zoophagous species decreased with height. Herb layer was dominated by Megaselia pectoralis and M. subpleuralis. Shrub layer was dominated by M. pectoralis, M. pectorella, M. diversa, M. subpleuralis and M. superciliata. Canopy layer was dominated by M. pectorella, M. pectoralis, M. pusilla and M. diversa.