Reassessment of the type locality of Euptychiastigmatica Godman, 1905, with the description of two new sibling species from Amazonia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Satyrini).

A brief historical review regarding the type locality of Euptychiastigmatica Godman, 1905 was conducted, which suggests that its type locality is actually Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, rather than northeastern Argentina, as previously purported. Consequently, E.stigmatica and its senior synonym E.cyanites Butler, 1871, are regarded to be two species-group names representing a taxon in the euptychiine genus Caeruleuptychia Forster, 1964 known from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. A lectotype is designated for E.cyanites. Additionally, two closely related species are named and described using an integrative approach with morphological and molecular evidence. Caeruleuptychiaharrisi Nakahara & Freitas, sp. nov. and C.aemulatio Nakahara & Willmott, sp. nov. both occur in Amazonia and COI barcode data recovered these taxa as part of the caerulea clade of Caeruleuptychia.

RNAi-induced knockdown of white gene in the southern green stink bug (Nezara viridula L.).

The southern green stink bug (SGSB) Nezara viridula L. is one of the most common stink bug species in the United States and can cause significant yield loss in a variety of crops. A suitable marker for the assessment of gene-editing tools in SGSB has yet to be characterized. The white gene, first documented in Drosophila, has been a useful target to assess the efficiency of introduced mutations in many species as it controls pigmentation processes and mutants display readily identifiable phenotypes. In this study we used the RNAi technique to investigate functions and phenotypes associated with the white ortholog in the SGSB and to validate white as a marker for genetic transformation in this species. This study revealed that white may be a suitable marker for germline transformation in the SGSB as white transcript knockdown was not lethal, did not impair embryo development and provided a distinguishable phenotype. Our results demonstrated that the white ortholog in SGSB is involved in the pathway for ommochrome synthesis and suggested additional functions of this gene such as in the integument composition, management of hemolymph compounds and riboflavin mobilization.

Testing new compounds for efficacy against Varroa destructor and safety to honey bees (Apis mellifera).

BACKGROUND: Varroa destructor is among the greatest threats to honey bee health worldwide. Acaricides used to control Varroa are becoming increasingly ineffective due to resistance issues, prompting the need for new compounds that can be used for control purposes. Ideally, such compounds would exhibit high toxicity to Varroa while maintaining relatively low toxicity to bees and beekeepers. We characterized the lethal concentrations (LC50 ) of amitraz, matrine, FlyNap®, the experimental carbamates 2-((2-ethylbutyl)thio)phenyl methylcarbamate (1) and 2-(2-ethylbutoxy)phenyl methylcarbamate (2), and dimethoate (positive control) for Varroa using a glass vial assay. The test compounds also were applied to honey bees using an acute contact toxicity assay to determine the adult bee LD50 for each compound. RESULTS: Amitraz was the most toxic compound to Varroa, but carbamate 2 was nearly as active (within 2-fold) and the most selective due to its lower bee toxicity, demonstrating its promise as a Varroa control. While carbamate 1 was less toxic to honey bees than was amitraz, it was also 4.7-fold less toxic to the mites. Both matrine and FlyNap® were relatively ineffective at killing Varroa and were moderately toxic to honey bees. CONCLUSION: Additional testing is required to determine if carbamate 2 can be used as an effective Varroa control. As new chemical treatments are identified, it will be necessary to determine how they can be utilized best alongside other control techniques as part of an integrated pest management program. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.