A checklist of longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) within the present geographical frontier of Indian subcontinent up to 2016 is provided. As per the current checklist prepared, there are 1536 species, classified under 440 genera, 72 tribes, and seven subfamilies of Cerambycidae (Parandrinae is not present in India). The report is accounted for 4.2 per cent of species, 7.94 per cent of genera and 28.24 per cent of tribes from India as compared to global record. For each species, accepted nomenclature followed by all relevant works reporting systematics, distribution and ecology of Indian longhorn beetles is provided along with synonyms, type locality and distribution within and outside India.

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The shoot and fruit borer, Leucinodes orbonalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is the major cause of low productivity in eggplant and insecticides being the mainstay of management of L. orbonalis. However, field control failures are widespread due to the evolution of insecticide resistance. Taking advantage of the whole genome sequence information, the present study investigated the level of insecticide resistance and the expression pattern of individual carboxylesterase (CE) and glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) genes in various field collected populations of L. orbonalis. Dose-mortality bioassays revealed a very high level of resistance development against fenvalerate (48.2–160-fold), phosalone (94-534.6-fold), emamectin benzoate (7.2–55-fold), thiodicarb (9.64–22.7-fold), flubendiamide (187.4–303.0-fold), and chlorantraniliprole (1.6–8.6-fold) in field populations as compared to laboratory-reared susceptible iso-female colony (Lo-S). Over-production of detoxification enzymes viz., CE and GST were evident upon enzyme assays. Mining of the draft genome of L. orbonalis yielded large number of genes potentially belonging to the CE and GST gene families with known history of insecticide resistance in other insects. Subsequent RT-qPCR studies on relative contribution of individual genes revealed over-expression of numerous GSTs and few CEs in field populations, indicating their possible involvement of metabolic enzymes in insecticide resistance. The genomic information will facilitate the development of novel resistance management strategies against this pest.

Genome‐wide analysis of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP) genes from the advanced genome project of the Leucinodes orbonalis and the expression analysis provided significant information about the metabolism‐mediated insecticide resistance. A total of 72 putative CYP genes were identified from the genome and transcriptome of L. orbonalis. The genes were classified under 30 families and 46 subfamilies based on the standard nomenclature. In the present study, a novel CYP gene, CYP324F1, was identified and it has not been reported from any other living system so far. Biochemical assays showed enhanced titers (5.81–18.5‐fold) of O‐demethylase of CYP in five field‐collected populations. We selected 34 homologous CYP gene sequences, seemed to be involved in insecticide resistance for primer design and quantitative real‐time PCR studies. Among the many overexpressed genes (>10 fold), the expression levels of CYP324F1 and CYP306A1 were prominent across all the field populations as compared with the susceptible iso‐female line. Oral delivery of ds‐CYP324F1 and ds‐CYP306A1 directed against CYP324F1 and CYP306A1 to the larvae of one of the insecticide resistance populations caused reduced expression of these two transcripts in a dose‐dependent manner (53.4%–85.0%). It appears that the increased titer of O‐demethylase is the result of increased transcription level of CYP genes in resistant populations. The data provide insight for identifying the novel resistance management strategies against L. orbonalis.

The South American pinworm Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Family: Gelechiidae) is one of the most devastating lepidopteran pests in the developing countries of South America, Africa, and Asia. This pest is classified as the most serious threat for tomato production worldwide. In the present study, we analyzed RNAi-mediated control through exogenously applied dsRNA delivery on tomato. The dsRNA treatments were made to target the juvenile hormone binding protein and the v-ATPase B. Both mRNA targets were cloned, validated by sequencing, and used to produce each dsRNA. After treatments the relative transcript expression was analyzed using qRTPCR to assess to efficacy of RNAi. A leaf-dip assay was used to provide late 2nd instar larvae three feeding access periods: 24, 48, and 72 h, to evaluate the effect of gene silencing of each target. Larvae were fed tomato leaves coated with five different RNAi concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 micrograms/centimeter-squared), that suppressed two genes (juvenile hormone protein, JHBP, and vacuolar-type adenosine triphosphatase enzyme, v-ATPase). Treatments with dsRNA showed a significant increase in mortality at 24, 48, and 72 h after ingestion (P < 0.01, α = 0.05), along with reduced leaf damage, and increased feeding deterrence. The results suggest that these two RNAi products may provide a suitable treatment for control of this and other lepidopteran pests.

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