Climate, host and geography shape insect and fungal communities of trees.

Non-native pests, climate change, and their interactions are likely to alter relationships between trees and tree-associated organisms with consequences for forest health. To understand and predict such changes, factors structuring tree-associated communities need to be determined. Here, we analysed the data consisting of records of insects and fungi collected from dormant twigs from 155 tree species at 51 botanical gardens or arboreta in 32 countries.

Worldwide diversity of endophytic fungi and insects associated with dormant tree twigs.

International trade in plants and climate change are two of the main factors causing damaging tree pests (i.e. fungi and insects) to spread into new areas.

Diapause Regulation in Newly Invaded Environments: Termination Timing Allows Matching Novel Climatic Constraints in the Box Tree Moth, (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).

The association between indirect environmental cues that modulate insect diapause and the actual stressors is by no means granted when a species encounters new environments. The box tree moth, , is an Asian pest whose rapid invasion in Europe causes considerable economic and ecological impacts. Larvae enter a winter diapause induced by the photoperiod in both native and invaded ranges, but factors that trigger the return to an active phase are still unknown.

Are traded forest tree seeds a potential source of nonnative pests?

The international seed trade is considered relatively safe from a phytosanitary point of view and is therefore less regulated than trade in other plants for planting. However, the pests carried by traded seeds are not well known. We assessed insects and fungi in 58 traded seed lots of 11 gymnosperm and angiosperm tree species from North America, Europe, and Asia.

Genetic Variation and Differentiation of Hylesia metabus (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae): Moths of Public Health Importance in French Guiana and in Venezuela.

Hylesia moths impact human health in South America, inducing epidemic outbreaks of lepidopterism, a puriginous dermatitis caused by the urticating properties of females' abdominal setae. The classification of the Hylesia genus is complex, owing to its high diversity in Amazonia, high intraspecific morphological variance, and lack of interspecific diagnostic traits which may hide cryptic species. Outbreaks of Hylesia metabus have been considered responsible for the intense outbreaks of lepidopterism in Venezuela and French Guiana since the C20, however, little is known about genetic variability throughout the species range, which is instrumental for establishing control strategies on H.

Sentinel nurseries to assess the phytosanitary risks from insect pests on importations of live plants.

Ornamental plants represent a major pathway of invasion for alien pests worldwide. Commodity risk analyses are carried out to assess the risk posed by a new trade in a commodity, but they are restricted by our limited knowledge of the pests carried by traded plants. We used the sentinel nursery technique to identify insects attacking woody plants imported into Europe.

Corrigenda: Roques A, Copeland RS, Soldati L, Denux O, Auger-Rozenberg M-A (2016) seed chalcids (Hymenoptera, Torymidae) radiated much more on Angiosperms than previously considered. I- Description of 8 new species from Kenya, with a key to the females of Eastern and Southern Africa. ZooKeys 585: 51-124. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.585.7503.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.585.

Phylogeography of the Spanish Moon Moth Graellsia isabellae (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae).

Background: Geographic and demographic factors as well as specialisation to a new host-plant may lead to host-associated differentiation in plant-feeding insects. We explored the phylogeography of a protected moth, Graellsia isabellae, and its two recognised host-plant species (Pinus sylvestris and P. nigra) in order to seek for any concordance useful to disentangle the evolutionary history of this iconic lepidopteran.

Megastigmus seed chalcids (Hymenoptera, Torymidae) radiated much more on Angiosperms than previously considered. I- Description of 8 new species from Kenya, with a key to the females of Eastern and Southern Africa.

A survey of seed chalcids from woody plants in Kenya revealed 12 species belonging to the genus Megastigmus Dalman, 1820, and has increased to 16 the number of Megastigmus species presently recorded from the Afrotropical Region, of which at least 13 are seed feeders. A key to female Megastigmus of the Afrotropical Region is provided. Eight new species are described from morphological evidence: Megastigmus lanneae Roques & Copeland, Megastigmus laventhali Roques & Copeland, Megastigmus ozoroae Roques & Copeland, and Megastigmus smithi Roques & Copeland in seeds of species of the family Anacardiaceae, Megastigmus copelandi Roques & Copeland and Megastigmus grewianae Roques & Copeland in seeds of Malvaceae, Megastigmus helinae Roques & Copeland in seeds of Rhamnaceae, and Megastigmus icipeensis Roques & Copeland for which no host is known.

Reconstruction of a windborne insect invasion using a particle dispersal model, historical wind data, and Bayesian analysis of genetic data.

Understanding how invasive species establish and spread is vital for developing effective management strategies for invaded areas and identifying new areas where the risk of invasion is highest. We investigated the explanatory power of dispersal histories reconstructed based on local-scale wind data and a regional-scale wind-dispersed particle trajectory model for the invasive seed chalcid wasp Megastigmus schimitscheki (Hymenoptera: Torymidae) in France. The explanatory power was tested by: (1) survival analysis of empirical data on M.

Seed wasp invasions promoted by unregulated seed trade affect vegetal and animal biodiversity.

Cone and seed insects are considered the most important predators of tree seeds during the pre-dispersal phase of development. Among them, exotic seed chalcids in the genus Megastigmus invaded Europe as a result of the rapidly-increasing and mostly unregulated seed trade for afforestation and ornamental plantations. Unlike their economic impact in seed orchards, until recently, little attention was paid to the ecological impact of these insects.

The sex pheromones of two pine sawfly species, Gilpinia frutetorum and Gilpinia socia: chemical identification, synthesis and biological activity.

3,7-Dimethylpentadecan-2-ol and 3-methylpentadecan-2-ol were identified in female whole body extracts from the two pine sawfly species Gilpinia frutetorum and Gilpinia socia. This is the first observation of 3-methylpentadecan-2-ol in extracts of a female pine sawfly species. Synthetic and highly pure stereoisomers of 3,7-dimethylpentadecan-2-ol and 3-methylpentadecan-2-ol were used to verify that the (2S,3R,7R)-isomer of 3,7-dimethylpentadecan-2-ol and (2S,3R)-3-methylpentadecan-2-ol were present in the extracts.

Modelling the impact of an invasive insect via reaction-diffusion.

An exotic, specialist seed chalcid, Megastigmus schimitscheki, has been introduced along with its cedar host seeds from Turkey to southeastern France during the early 1990s. It is now expanding in plantations of Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica). We propose a model to predict the expansion and impact of this insect.

Sex pheromone of the pine sawfly, Gilpinia pallida: chemical identification, synthesis, and biological activity.

We present the identification of the sex pheromone in the pine sawfly, Gilpinia pallida, including analysis of the female pheromone content, male antennal response and attraction in the field, and synthesis of the most active pheromone component. Several 3,7-dimethyl-2-alkanols were identified from female whole-body extracts, including some compounds with a 2R configuration. This is the first observation of such compounds in a pine sawfly species.