Not All Field Margins Are Equally Useful: Effects of the Vegetation Structure of Margins on Cereal Aphids and Their Natural Enemies.

Differences in the semi-natural vegetation of field margins will affect the biological control services derived from the presence of these semi-natural habitats adjacent to fields. Of the plant functional traits that are most relevant for insects, plant life forms reflect different aspects of plant structure and functioning that can help predict the value of marginal vegetation for arthropods in agricultural systems. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the vegetation structure of field margins on cereal aphids and on some of their natural enemies (parasitoids, hoverflies and ladybugs) in terms of plant life forms.

Chou & Chou, 1993 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae): an invasive aphid parasitoid attacking invasive species (Hemiptera, Aphididae) in the Iberian Peninsula.

Biological invasion of aphids and other insects has been increased due to long distance commercial transportation of plant material. The bamboo-aphid-parasitoid association is strictly specific and even though it does not develop interactions with the local environment it should be listed as part of the fauna of southwestern Europe. On-going research regarding aphids and their aphidiine parasitoids in Spain has yielded a new association of Chou & Chou, 1993 with an undescribed species of aphids on bamboo, spp.

Insights into aphid prey consumption by ladybirds: Optimising field sampling methods and primer design for high throughput sequencing.

Elucidating the diets of insect predators is important in basic and applied ecology, such as for improving the effectiveness of conservation biological control measures to promote natural enemies of crop pests. Here, we investigated the aphid diet of two common aphid predators in Central European agroecosystems, the native Coccinella septempunctata (Linnaeus) and the invasive Harmonia axyridis (Pallas; Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) by means of high throughput sequencing (HTS). For acquiring insights into diets of mobile flying insects at landscape scale minimizing trapping bias is important, which imposes methodological challenges for HTS.

A molecular study of (Hemiptera, Aphididae) in Costa Rica.

The genus (Takahashi) (Aphididae: Neophyllaphidinae) is composed of 18 species; however, in the Americas only nine species have been reported previously. A new species, Miller & Halbert, was described in 2014 in USA. Colonies resembling those of this new species have been observed in Costa Rica on spp.

Integrative taxonomy of root aphid parasitoids from the genus (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) with description of new species.

Species from the genus are obligatory endoparasitoids of root aphids in the Palaearctic. It is known that these species are broadly distributed, parasitizing various aphid hosts and showing great biological and ecological diversity. On the other hand, this group of endoparasitoids is understudied and was thought to be represented by a single species in Europe, viz.

Description of the sexuales of (Hottes) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) discovered in the Swiss Alps.

The sexuales (apterous oviparous female and alate male) of Myzodium modestum (Hottes) are described for the first time from specimens captured in the Swiss Alps. This is also the first record of this species in Switzerland. This is the first evidence that an aphid may be able to complete its life cycle on mosses.

Three new Asiatic species of Hyadaphis (Hemiptera, Aphididae).

Three new species of Hyadaphis Kirkaldy, 1904 (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Macrosiphini) are established: Hyadaphis levantina sp. n. from specimens caught on Lonicera nummulariifolia from Lebanon and Israel, and Hyadaphis anethi sp.

Revision of the world Monoctonia Starý, parasitoids of gall aphids: taxonomy, distribution, host range, and phylogeny (Hymenoptera, Braconidae: Aphidiinae).

The present paper represents a contribution to the knowledge of the taxonomy of Monoctonia Starý aphid parasitoids obtained using the barcoding region of the mitochondrial COI gene. We discuss the phylogenetic position of the genus within the subtribe Monoctonina, redescribe known species, and describe Monoctonia japonica sp. n.

Aggressive mimicry coexists with mutualism in an aphid.

Understanding the evolutionary transition from interspecific exploitation to cooperation is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Ant-aphid relationships represent an ideal system to this end because they encompass a coevolutionary continuum of interactions ranging from mutualism to antagonism. In this study, we report an unprecedented interaction along this continuum: aggressive mimicry in aphids.

A new species of Rhopalosiphum (Hemiptera, Aphididae) on Chusquea tomentosa (Poaceae, Bambusoideae) from Costa Rica.

The new species Rhopalosiphum chusqueae Pérez Hidalgo & Villalobos Muller, is described from apterous viviparous females caught on Chusquea tomentosa in Cerro de la Muerte (Costa Rica). The identity of the species is supported both by the morphological features and by a molecular phylogenetic analysis based on a fragment of the mitochondrial DNA containing the 5' region of the cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) and on the nuclear gene coding for the Elongation factor-1 alpha (EF1α). The taxonomic position of the new species is discussed.

First record of the adventive oriental aphid Schizaphis piricola (Matsumura, 1917) (Hemiptera, Aphididae) in Europe.

The oriental aphid Schizaphis piricola (Matsumura) is recorded for the first time in Europe, on the ornamental pear tree Pyrus calleryana in landscaped areas in Madrid (Spain). Data on the morphology of the forms on primary host (apterous and alate fundatrigeniae and fundatrices), and their biology and distribution are given. The keys for identifying species of Schizaphis (Schizaphis) in the Iberian Peninsula are updated.