No abstract

A jack of all trades can be master of none-this intuitive idea underlies most theoretical models of host-use evolution in plant-feeding insects, yet empirical support for trade-offs in performance on distinct host plants is weak. Trade-offs may influence the long-term evolution of host use while being difficult to detect in extant populations, but host-use evolution may also be driven by adaptations for generalism. Here we used host-use data from insect collection records to parameterize a phylogenetic model of host-use evolution in armored scale insects, a large family of plant-feeding insects with a simple, pathogen-like life history. We found that a model incorporating positive correlations between evolutionary changes in host performance best fit the observed patterns of diaspidid presence and absence on nearly all focal host taxa, suggesting that adaptations to particular hosts also enhance performance on other hosts. In contrast to the widely invoked trade-off model, we advocate a "toolbox" model of host-use evolution in which armored scale insects accumulate a set of independent genetic tools, each of which is under selection for a single function but may be useful on multiple hosts.

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This chapter focuses on recent invasions of scales (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) and whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) as a result of international trade among Florida and the countries and territories that comprise the Caribbean region. The data presented in table format are derived primarily from the extensive database maintained by the Florida Department of Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry, and ScaleNet, an online database that endeavours to maintain an exhaustive compendium of literature pertaining to scale insects. ScaleNet offers numerous database search options that enable the user to 'data-mine' under various parameters, such as distribution, host and literature citation information. Other information presented is derived from the primary literature, especially Miller et al. (2005), which is an excellent synopsis of the adventive Coccoidea fauna of the USA.

A new addition on the list of whitefly species found in Florida, Aleurodicus rugioperculatus Martin, was originally called the gumbo limbo spiraling whitefly, but is now named the rugose spiraling whitefly. Being a fairly new species to science – identified less than a decade ago, not much information is available about this pest. It is an introduced pest, endemic to Central America, and was reported for the first time in Florida from Miami-Dade County in 2009. Since then it has become an escalating problem for homeowners, landscapers, businesses, and governmental officials throughout the southern coastal counties of Florida. Feeding by this pest not only causes stress to its host plant, but the excessive production of wax and honeydew creates an enormous nuisance in infested areas. The presence of honeydew results in the growth of fungi called sooty mold, which then turns everything in the vicinity covered with honeydew black with mold. This 5-page fact sheet was written by Vivek Kumar, Cindy L. McKenzie, Catharine Mannion, Ian Stocks, Trevor Smith, and Lance S. Osborne, and published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, October 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1015

‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (Las) is the primary causal agent of huanglongbing (HLB), the most devastating disease of citrus worldwide. There are three known insect vectors of the HLB-associated bacteria, and all are members of the Hemiptera: Diaphorina citri (Psyllidae), Trioza erytreae (Triozidae), and Cacopsylla (Psylla) citrisuga (Psyllidae). In this study, we found that another hemipteran, the striped mealybug Ferrisia virgata (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), was able to acquire and retain Las bacteria. The bacterial titers were positively correlated with the feeding acquisition time on Las-infected leaf discs, with a two-weeks feeding period resulting in Ct values ranging from 23.1 to 36.1 (8.24×107 to 1.07×104 Las cells per mealybug). We further discovered that the prophage/phage populations of Las in the mealybugs were different from those of Las in psyllids based on Las prophage-specific molecular markers: infected psyllids harbored the Las populations with prophage/phage FP1 and FP2, while infected mealybugs carried the Las populations with the iFP3 being the dominant prophage/phage. As in the psyllids, Las bacteria were shown to move through the insect gut wall to the salivary glands after being ingested by the mealybug based on a time-course quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay of the dissected digestive systems. However, Las populations transmitted by the mealybugs did not cause disease in host plants. This is the first evidence of genetic difference among Las populations harbored by different insect vectors and difference among Las populations with respect to whether or not they cause disease in host plants.

The monophyletic agelenid genus Barronopsis Chamberlin & Ivie is revised to include 6 species. The Cuban species B. campephila Alayón and B. cesari Alayón are synonomized under B. barrowsi (Gertsch) and B. jeffersi (Muma), respectively, and B. stephaniae new species is described. Natural history observations, distribution maps, diagnoses and descriptions, and a species identification key including B. texana (Gertsch), B. arturoi Alayón, and B. floridensis (Muma) are provided. Detailed descriptions of the male palpus and female genitalia, a review and evaluation of historical terminology used to describe agelenid palpal bulbs, and a discussion of the utility of certain male palpal characters in resolving phylogeny within Agelenidae are provided. Based on the morphology of the male and female genitalia and morphometric data, two species groups are recognized: a large-bodied B. texana species group (B. texana, floridensis, arturoi, jeffersi) and a small-bodied B. barrowsi species group (B. barrowsi, B. stephaniae). A cladistic analysis of Barronopsis, using Tortolena glaucopis (F. O. P.-Cambridge), Melpomene singula (Gertsch & Ivie), and species of Agelenopsis Giebel as outgroups identified three most parsimonious trees of 37 steps. The strict consensus tree yielded the following species relationships: (Agelenopsis (((B. texana, B. jeffersi), B. floridensis, B. arturoi), (B. barrowsi, B. stephaniae))))).Key words: Agelenopsis, revision, taxonomy, phylogenetic analysis

Several orders of morphologically four-winged insects have evolved mechanisms that enforce a union between the mesothoracic and metathoracic wings (forewings and hindwings) during the wing beat cycle. Such mechanisms result in a morphologically tetrapterous insect flying as if it were functionally dipterous, and these mechanisms have been described for several insect orders. The caddisfly suborders Annulipalpia and Integripalpia (Trichoptera) each have evolved a wing coupling apparatus, with at least three systems having evolved within the suborder Annulipalpia. The comparative and inferred functional morphology of the putative wing coupling mechanisms is described for the annulipalpian families Hydropsychidae (subfamilies Macronematinae and Hydropsychinae), Polycentropodidae and Ecnomidae, and a novel form-functional complex putatively involved with at-rest forewing-forewing coupling is described for Hydropsychidae: Smicrideinae. It is proposed that the morphology of the wing coupling apparatuses of Hydropsychinae and Macronematinae are apomorphies for those clades.