BACKGROUND The European earwig, Forficula auricularia (L.) (Dermaptera: Forficulidae), is regarded as an important beneficial in many orchard environments but has the potential to be a plant pest in other systems, including to grain crops. Due to its agricultural importance, the lifecycle of F. auricularia has been widely studied in North America and Europe. However, much less is known in the southern hemisphere, including Australia where F. auricularia has been present for over 170 years. RESULTS To elucidate the lifecycle of F. auricularia, we monitored five sites in grain‐growing areas of southern Australia using two different trap types. Adults were found year‐round, but most prevalent from late‐spring to mid‐winter. First instars were typically found from mid to late winter. Second, third and fourth instars occurred from winter through to late spring. The seasonal development of F. auricularia in Australia may be much earlier than observed in comparable North American studies. Degree day modelling highlights variation in development times across the active season for F. auricularia across our sites. CONCLUSION Forficula auricularia is well adapted to the Australian grain growing environments. The timing of egg hatching aligns closely with crop emergence, juveniles then develop alongside the crop, and adult development occurs by harvest time in late spring. These findings are important given that many of these crops (canola, lucerne, pulses) are vulnerable to attack by F. auricularia during emergence and development. They also suggest a phenotypic capacity of this species to adapt different phenology after introduction into a novel environment. © 2020 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Dermaptera (earwigs) from the Anisolabididae family may be important for pest control but their taxonomy and status in Australia is poorly studied. Here we used taxonomic information to assess the diversity of southern Australian Anisolabididae and then applied cox1 barcodes as well as additional gene fragments (mitochondrial and nuclear) to corroborate classification and assess the monophyly of the putative genera. Anisolabididae morphospecies fell into two genera, Anisolabis Fieber and Gonolabis Burr, based on paramere morphology. Combinations of paramere and forceps morphology distinguished seven morphospecies, which were further supported by morphometric analyses. The morphospecies were corroborated by barcode data; all showed within-species genetic distance < 4% and between-species genetic distance > 10%. Molecular phylogenies did not support monophyly of putative genera nor clades based on paramere shape, instead pointing to regional clades distinguishable by forceps morphology. This apparent endemism needs to be further tested by sampling of earwig diversity outside of agricultural production regions but points to a unique regional insect fauna potentially important in pest control.

The Russian wheat aphid, Diuraphis noxia (Mordvilko ex Kurdjumov), is one of the world's most economically important pests of grain crops and has been recorded from at least 140 grass species within Poaceae. It has rapidly dispersed from its native origin of Central Asia into most major grain-producing regions of the world including Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Diuraphis noxia was first found in Australia in a wheat crop in the mid-north of South Australia in May 2016. Since then, D. noxia has been recorded throughout grain-growing regions of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. The distribution will continue to expand, with climatic suitability modelling suggesting D. noxia can persist in all key grain regions, including large parts of Western Australia and Queensland. Australian populations of D. noxia appear to be anholocyclic, with no sexual stages being observed. The aphids can reproduce year round as long as host plants are available. Australian farmers have generally adopted prophylactic insecticide seed treatments and/or foliar sprays to manage D. noxia. Research is required to fully understand yield impacts, host preferences and host plant resistance associated with D. noxia. Cultural control through managing alternate host plants over summer, agronomic crop management, biological control and developments in host plant resistance should provide considerable future benefits. Key wordsexotic pest, invasion, management, review, Russian wheat aphid. DESCRIPTIONOriginally named Brachycolus noxius, the Russian wheat aphid (now known as Diuraphis noxia) was first recognised as a separate species by Mordvilko in a paper by Kurdjumov (1913). Detailed descriptions of D. noxia have been provided by Blackman and Eastop (1984) and Stoetzel (1987). In brief, D. noxia has an elongated, spindle-shaped body, with the tips of the legs and distal third of the (distinctively short) antennae black. The wings *pumina@unimelb.edu.au

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