Variable infection frequency and high diversity of multiple strains of Wolbachia pipientis in Perkinsiella Planthoppers.

This survey of Wolbachia infections in populations of the planthoppers Perkinsiella saccharicida and Perkinsiella vitiensis revealed variable frequencies, low-titer infections, and high phylogenetic diversities of strains. These observations add to the growing realization that Wolbachia infections may be extremely common within invertebrates and yet occur infrequently within populations and at low titer within individuals.

In vitro rearing of Perkinsiella saccharicida and the use of leaf segments to assay Fiji disease virus transmission.

Fiji leaf gall (FLG) is caused by the Reovirus, Fiji disease virus (FDV), which is transmitted to sugarcane by planthoppers of the genus Perkinsiella. Low vector transmission rates and slow disease symptom development make experimentation within the FDV-Perkinsiella-sugarcane system inherently difficult. A laboratory-based technique was devised to rear the vector using sugarcane leaves as a food source. Planthoppers were reared on sugarcane leaf segments embedded in agarose enclosed within plastic containers. To provide a nondestructive assay for determination of the inoculation potential of planthoppers, FDV was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in newly infected sugarcane leaf segments following exposure to viruliferous planthoppers. Leaf segment inoculation correlated with development of FLG symptoms in whole plants that were fed on by the same planthoppers. Analysis of FDV RNAs within the planthopper, measured by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), indicated that FDV RNA concentration was associated with successful inoculation of the leaf segment, transmission of FDV to sugarcane and subsequent development of FLG in plants. Quantification of FDV RNA within planthoppers provided an additional measure to assess vector competence in individuals.

Sugarcane moth borers (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae and Pyraloidea): phylogenetics constructed using COII and 16S mitochondrial partial gene sequences.

Sugarcane moth borers are a diverse group of species occurring in several genera, but predominately within the Noctuidae and Pyraloidea. They cause economic loss in sugarcane and other crops through damage to stems and stalks by larval boring. Partial sequence data from two mitochondrial genes, COII and 16S, were used to construct a molecular phylogeny based on 26 species from ten genera and six tribes. The Noctuidae were found to be monophyletic, providing molecular support for the taxonomy within this subfamily. However, the Pyraloidea are paraphyletic, with the noctuids splitting Galleriinae and Schoenobiinae from the Crambinae. This supports the separation of the Pyralidae and Crambinae, but does not support the concept of the incorporation of the Schoenobiinae in the Crambidae. Of the three crambine genera examined, Diatraea was monophyletic, Chilo paraphyletic, and Eoreuma was basal to the other two genera. Within the Noctuidae, Sesamia and Bathytricha were monophyletic, with Busseola basal to Bathytricha. Many species in this study (both noctuids and pyraloids) had different biotypes within collection localities and across their distribution; however the individual biotypes were not phylogenetically informative. These data highlight the need for taxonomic revisions at all taxon levels and provide a basis for the development of DNA-based diagnostics for rapidly identifying many species at any developmental stage. This ability is vital, as the species are an incursion threat to Australia and have the potential to cause significant losses to the sugar industry.

Overwintering, soil distribution and phenology of Childers canegrub, Antitrogus parvulus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Queensland sugarcane.

In this study, the question of whether Childers canegrub, Antitrogus parvulus (Britton) overwinters in the subsoil was addressed. Irrigated fields of sugarcane were sampled during a 2-year period near Bundaberg in southern Queensland. Antitrogus parvulus overwintered as second and third instars at each of three sites. During autumn and winter third instars of different allochronic (separated in age by 12 months) populations occurred together and could not be readily separated. Field-collected third instars were reared on ryegrass and separated into two age groups based on the date of pupation. Third instars in the first year of their life cycle (young third instars) remained at shallow depth (100-200 mm) and did not overwinter in the subsoil as once thought. Minimum temperatures during winter were 13-16 degrees C and did not prevent young third instars from feeding and gaining weight. Third instars in their second and final year moved downwards from late summer and pupated in the subsoil at 293-425 mm in spring. General phenology was as previously reported with first instar larvae occurring from January until April, second instars from January until November and third instar larvae throughout the year. Prepupae and pupae were found between October and December and adults occurred in soil during November and January. Batches of eggs occurred at a mean depth of 350 mm. First and second instars occurred predominantly at relatively shallow (100-200 mm) depths in the soil profile. All stages tended to be most common under rows of sugarcane rather than in the interrow.

Morphological variation in adult Xylotrupes gideon australicus (Scarabaeidae, Coleoptera, Insecta).

Variation in horn and body size of both sexes of Xylotrupes gideon australicus is normally distributed with no evidence of dimorphism in either sex. This contrasts with that of X. gideon gideon, in which males are dimorphic for horn length, but horn size varies within morphs. Males of X. gideon australicus are generally larger than females, but the distributions of all characters, except tarsal length, overlap considerably. Males have longer legs, presumably to facilitate mating.