A New Genus and Species of Gall-Forming Fordini (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on Rhus wilsonii Hemsl. from Yunnan, China.

A new species of gall-forming aphid from China, Qiao jinshaensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from Rhus wilsonii Hemsl. Morphological identification and molecular analyses both support the establishment of a new genus. A diagnosis combining morphological and molecular characters from alate viviparae is provided and specimen metadata are published in an open-access and machine-readable format.

A new species of Eulachnus Del Guercio from China (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Lachninae).

We describe apterous and alate viviparous females of a new species of the Lachninae genus Eulachnus (Eulachnini) from China. The new species, Eulachnus blackmani sp. nov., can be easily separated from other Asian representatives of this genus: the ultimate rostral segments are without accessory setae; the spinal scleroites are larger than the pleural and marginal ones; there are a few very long setae on the distal part of the tibiae and on the hind tarsus. The new species is morphologically most similar to the European E. nigricola (Paek), and hence unusual within the Asian Eulachnus fauna.

Aphis mirabilis sp. n. (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Aphidina), a South American species resembling A. craccivora, and further data on A. tropaeoli.

We examined 1367 apterous viviparae from 151 samples to study Aphis craccivora, A. tropaeoli and a third, possibly new species in Argentina, resembling both. Principal component analysis (PCA), followed by hierarchical clustering of principal components (HCPC), revealed clusters based on 33 morphological characters of 206 selected specimens. The delimitation of possible taxonomic entities was assessed by logistic regression. PCA confirmed that A. tropaeoli is a valid species. HCPC revealed the existence of a new species distinct from A. craccivora. Recently published data on the variability of A. craccivora, mainly regarding Asian populations, are presented and discussed; the general appearance of the sexuals of this species is also presented. The new species is described with the name Aphis mirabilis Nieto Nafra and Ortego sp. n., based on apterous and alate viviparae, oviparae, and males collected in Mendoza and Neuqun (Argentina) on Adesmia volckmannii (Fabaceae), Atriplex nummularia and At. lampa (Amaranthaceae), Bougainvillea spinosa (Nyctaginaceae), and Robinia pseudoacacia (Fabaceae). This new species has also been collected on plants of another 18 species from 8 additional families, although these specimens are not included in the type series. Features to distinguish A. mirabilis Nieto Nafra and Ortego sp. n. from A. craccivora are presented together with a logistic regression model. The males of A. tropaeoli are described. The list of host plants of A. craccivora in Argentina is updated.

The Effects of an Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus and Rhizobium Symbioses on Soybean Aphid Mostly Fail to Propagate to the Third Trophic Level.

The cascading effects of microbe-plant symbioses on the second trophic level, such as phytophagous insects, have been most studied. However, few studies have examined the higher third trophic level, i.e., their natural enemies. We investigated the effects of the symbiotic associations between an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis (Glomerales: Glomeraceae), a nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Bradyrhizobium japonicum (Rhizobiales: Bradyrhizobiaceae), and soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. (Fabaceae) on two natural enemies of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), the ladybird beetle Coleomegilla maculata (De Geer) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), and the parasitoid Aphelinus certus Yasnosh (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae). We measured the growth and survival in the predator and parasitoid reared on aphids feeding on soybean inoculated seedlings. The rhizobium symbiosis alone was affected with a decreased rate of parasitoid emergence, presumably due to decreased host quality. However, number of mummies, sex-ratio, development time, and parasitoid size were all unaffected by inoculation. AM fungus alone or co-inoculated with the rhizobium was unaffected with any of the parameters of the parasitoid. For the predator, none of the measured parameters was affected with any inoculant. Here, it appears that whatever benefits the microbe-plant symbioses confer on the second trophic level are little transferred up to the third.

Influence on Soybean Aphid by the Tripartite Interaction between Soybean, a Rhizobium Bacterium, and an Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus.

The inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and rhizobia in legumes has been proven to increase plant growth and yield. To date, studies of the effects of these interactions on phytophagous insects have shown them to be context-dependent depending on the inoculant strain, the plant, and the insect species. Here, we document how a symbiosis involving an AM fungus, Rhizophagus irregularis; a rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium japonicum; and soybean, Glycine max, influences the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines. Soybean co-inoculated with the AM fungus-rhizobium pair increased the plant's biomass, nodulation, mycorrhizal colonization, nitrogen, and carbon concentrations, but decreased phosphorus concentration. Similar effects were observed with rhizobium alone, with the exception that root biomass was unaffected. With AM fungus alone, we only observed an increase in mycorrhizal colonization and phosphorus concentration. The aphids experienced an increased reproductive rate with the double inoculation, followed by rhizobium alone, whereas no effect was observed with the AM fungus. The size of individual aphids was not affected. Furthermore, we found positive correlation between nitrogen concentration and aphid population density. Our results confirm that co-inoculation of two symbionts can enhance both plant and phytophagous insect performance beyond what either symbiont can contribute alone.

The effects of mycorrhizal colonization on phytophagous insects and their natural enemies in soybean fields.

The use of belowground microorganisms in agriculture, with the aim to stimulate plant growth and improve crop yields, has recently gained interest. However, few studies have examined the effects of microorganism inoculation on higher trophic levels in natural conditions. We examined how the diversity of phytophagous insects and their natural enemies responded to the field-inoculation of soybean with a model arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF), Rhizophagus irregularis, combined with a nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, and a plant growth-promoting bacterium, Bacillus pumilus. We also investigate if the absence or presence of potassium fertilizer can affect this interaction. We found an increase in the abundance of piercing-sucking insects with the triple inoculant irrespective of potassium treatment, whereas there were no differences among treatments for other insect groups. A decrease in the abundance of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, with the double inoculant Rhizophagus + Bradyrhizobium was observed in potassium enriched plots and in the abundance of Empoasca spp. with potassium treatment independent of inoculation type. Although it was not possible to discriminate the mycorrhization realized by inoculum from that of the indigenous AMF in the field, we confirmed global negative effects of overall mycorrhizal colonization on the abundance of phytophagous piercing-sucking insects, phytophagous chewing insects, and the alpha diversity of phytophagous insects. In perspective, the use of AMF/Rhizobacteria inoculants in the field should focus on the identity and performance of strains to better understand their impact on insects.

The Odonata of Quebec: Specimen data from seven collections.

BACKGROUND: The Odonata, dragonflies and damselflies, constitute one of the more charismatic and better-studied orders of insects. The approximately 6,000 extant species on Earth can be variously found on all continents, except Antarctica. A relatively stable taxonomy, a relative ease of species identification and an aquatic immature stage has made the Odonata a taxon of interest in documenting the symptoms of global environmental change, especially at higher latitudes. The Odonata fauna of the north-temperate Canadian province of Quebec includes 150 species, many of which are at the northern limits of their geographic distribution. NEW INFORMATION: Quebec hosts multiple entomological specimen depositories, including seven publicly-accessible research collections. One of these, the University of Montreal's Ouellet-Robert Entomological Collection, houses an exceptionally large collection of Odonata. An initial specimen data capture project for this collection gathered 31,595 Quebec Odonata occurrence records, but several Quebec species were missing and geographic coverage was biased towards the Montreal region. To complement this dataset, we undertook to digitise the Odonata records of six other public research collections. They are, in order of Quebec Odonata collection size, the Laval University Entomological Collection, McGill University's Lyman Entomological Museum, the Insectarium of Montreal Research Collection, the Quebec Government's Insect Collection, Bishop's University's Insect Collection and the Laurentian Forestry Centre's René-Martineau Insectarium. Of the 40,447 total specimen occurrence records, 36,951 are identified to the species level, including 137 of the 150 species officially-recorded in Quebec and 2 non-nominotypical subspecies. We here summarise the data and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the datasets. The complete dataset is available with this publication (Suppl. material 1), whereas the specimen data associated with each collection are available as Darwin Core archives at Canadensys.net and will be updated as appropriate.

The evolution of climate tolerance in conifer-feeding aphids in relation to their host's climatic niche.

Climate adaptation has major consequences in the evolution and ecology of all living organisms. Though phytophagous insects are an important component of Earth's biodiversity, there are few studies investigating the evolution of their climatic preferences. This lack of research is probably because their evolutionary ecology is thought to be primarily driven by their interactions with their host plants. Here, we use a robust phylogenetic framework and species-level distribution data for the conifer-feeding aphid genus Cinara to investigate the role of climatic adaptation in the diversity and distribution patterns of these host-specialized insects. Insect climate niches were reconstructed at a macroevolutionary scale, highlighting that climate niche tolerance is evolutionarily labile, with closely related species exhibiting strong climatic disparities. This result may suggest repeated climate niche differentiation during the evolutionary diversification of Cinara. Alternatively, it may merely reflect the use of host plants that occur in disparate climatic zones, and thus, in reality the aphid species' fundamental climate niches may actually be similar but broad. Comparisons of the aphids' current climate niches with those of their hosts show that most Cinara species occupy the full range of the climatic tolerance exhibited by their set of host plants, corroborating the hypothesis that the observed disparity in Cinara species' climate niches can simply mirror that of their hosts. However, 29% of the studied species only occupy a subset of their hosts' climatic zone, suggesting that some aphid species do indeed have their own climatic limitations. Our results suggest that in host-specialized phytophagous insects, host associations cannot always adequately describe insect niches and abiotic factors must be taken into account.

Molecular data and species diagnosis in Essigella Del Guercio, 1909 (Sternorrhyncha, Aphididae, Lachninae).

Morphological and molecular data are used to describe three new species of Essigella (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae: Lachninae): Essigella domenechisp. n., Essigella gagnonaesp. n., and Essigella sorensenisp. n.; and to re-establish as valid Essigella patchae Hottes, 1957, stat. n., until now considered a synonym of E. pini Wilson, 1919. The catalogue of Essigella species is updated. This study highlights the need and utility to use discreet DNA characters in aphid species diagnoses.

EF-1α DNA Sequences Indicate Multiple Origins of Introduced Populations of Essigella californica (Hemiptera: Aphididae).

Aphids in the pine-feeding Nearctic genus Essigella (Sternorrhyncha, Aphididae, Lachninae) have been introduced in Europe, North Africa, Oceania, and South America. Mitochondrial, nuclear, and endosymbiont DNA sequences of 12 introduced populations from three continents confirm they all belong to Essigella californica (Essig, 1909). Intron sequence variation of the nuclear gene EF-1α has revealed the existence of four distinct groups. Group I gathers one population from China, where the species is newly reported, and several from Europe (France and Italy); Group II is represented by one population from Argentina; Group III includes two populations from Southern Australia with one from New Zealand; and Group IV corresponds to five populations from Eastern and South-Eastern Australia. These results indicate that introduced populations of E. californica have at least four source populations. They also show that intron variation of EF-1α can be a method to discriminate populations of asexually reproducing aphids.

The Bhutan Pine Aphid Pseudessigella brachychaeta Hille Ris Lambers (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Lachninae) From India Reveals the Hitherto Unknown Oviparous Female and Dwarfish Male.

Mariusz Kanturski, Shahid Ali Akbar, and Colin Favret (2017) Here we describe the presence of the monotypic and poorly known aphid genus Pseudessigella Hille Ris Lambers (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Lachninae) in India. So far, the genus has only been known from Punjab, Pakistan. Representatives of P. brachychaeta Hille Ris Lambers were collected from Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jacks. in the Yousmarg region of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Hitherto unknown oviparous females and dwarfish males, the latter reported in Eulachnini for the first time, are described and illustrated. The male's antennal sensilla and genitalic morphology are additionally studied and presented using Scanning Electron Microscopy. Notes on the biology, distribution, and previously overlooked generic features are given. We provide morphological identi cation keys to the genera of the tribe Eulachnini and to the species of aphid living on P. wallichiana.

Catalog of the phylloxerids of the world (Hemiptera, Phylloxeridae).

A taxonomic and nomenclatural catalog of the phylloxerids (Hemiptera, Phylloxeridae) is presented. Six family-group names are listed, three being synonyms. Thirty-five genus-group names, of which six are subjectively valid, are presented with their type species, etymology, and grammatical gender. Ninety-four species-group names are listed, of which 73 are considered subjectively valid. This is the last group of Aphidomorpha to be catalogued, bringing the list of valid extant species to 5,218.

An aphid lineage maintains a bark-feeding niche while switching to and diversifying on conifers.

Lachnine aphids are unusual among phytophagous insects because they feed on both leafy and woody parts of both angiosperm and conifer hosts. Despite being piercing-sucking phloem-feeders, these aphids are most speciose on woody parts of coniferous hosts. To evaluate the significance of this unusual biology on their evolution, we reconstructed the ancestral host and feeding site of the lachnine aphids and estimated important host shifts during their evolution. We sampled 78 species representing 14 of the 18 genera of Lachninae from Asia and North America. We performed parsimony, Bayesian and likelihood phylogenetic analyses of combined mitochondrial Cox1, Cox2, CytB and nuclear EF1a1 DNA sequences. We dated the resulting phylogram's important nodes using Bayesian methods and multiple fossil and secondary calibrations. Finally, we used parsimony and Bayesian ancestral state reconstruction to evaluate ancestral feeding ecology. Our results suggest the lachnine common ancestor fed on a woody part of an angiosperm host in the mid-Cretaceous. A shift to conifer hosts in the Late Cretaceous is correlated with a subsequent increased diversification in the Palaeogene, but a switch to leafy host tissues did not engender a similar burst of diversification. Extant lachnine lineages exhibit the full range of historical association with their hosts: some appeared before, some concomitant with and some after the appearance of their hosts. We conclude our study by placing all the lachnine genera in five tribes.

Catalog of the adelgids of the world (Hemiptera, Adelgidae).

A taxonomic and nomenclatural Catalogue of the adelgids (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) is presented. Six family-group names are listed, five being synonyms of Adelgidae. Twenty-two genus-group names, of which nine are subjectively valid and in use, are presented with their type species, etymology, and grammatical gender. One hundred and six species-group names are listed, of which 70 are considered subjectively valid.

Cybertaxonomy to accomplish big things in aphid systematics.

Biodiversity sciences have progressed at such a pace that the taxonomic community has been unable to grow concomitantly to keep up with the influx of biological data. This "taxonomic impediment" has led some to suggest that taxonomy is no longer pertinent and to the development of methodologies that circumvent the taxonomic process. This article does not seek to argue for the importance of taxonomy but rather is a call to the aphid taxonomy community to rise to the challenge by dramatically increasing the volume and comprehensiveness of its output without sacrificing quality. Recent informatics technology allows us to mobilize the 2 most important aphid taxonomy resources: experts and specimens, both distributed globally. "Cyberspecimens," museum specimens digitally rendered at a resolution sufficient for remote identification, and open "cybertaxonomic" tools will allow the international aphid taxonomic community to carry out large, ambitious, projects. The global aphid cybertaxonomy proposed here will serve not only the ends of research aphidologists, but also provide a model for other taxonomic communities to adapt and adopt as we confront both the taxonomic impediment and the taxonomic naysayers.

Molecular and morphological differentiation between Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera, Aphididae) and related species, with particular reference to the North American Midwest.

The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii, is one of the most biologically diverse species of aphids; a polyphagous species in a family where most are host specialists. It is economically important and belongs to a group of closely related species that has challenged aphid taxonomy. The research presented here seeks to clarify the taxonomic relationships and status of species within the Aphid gossypii group in the North American Midwest. Sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI), nuclear elongation factor 1-α (EF1-α), and nuclear sodium channel para-type (SCP) genes were used to differentiate between Aphid gossypii and related species. Aphis monardae, previously synonymised with Aphid gossypii, is re-established as a valid species. Phylogenetic analyses support the close relationship of members of the Aphid gossypii group native to North America (Aphid forbesi, Aphid monardae, Aphid oestlundi, Aphid rubifolii, and Aphid rubicola), Europe (Aphid nasturtii, Aphid urticata and Aphid sedi), and Asia (Aphid agrimoniae, Aphid clerodendri, Aphid glycines, Aphid gossypii, Aphid hypericiphaga, Aphid ichigicola, Aphid ichigo, Aphid sanguisorbicola, Aphid sumire and Aphid taraxicicola). The North American species most closely related to Aphid gossypii are Aphid monardae and Aphid oestlundi. The cosmopolitan Aphid gossypii and Aphid sedi identified in the USA are genetically very similar using COI and EF1-α sequences, but the SCP gene shows greater genetic distance between them. We present a discussion of the biological and morphological differentiation of these species.

Evolution and diversity of facultative symbionts from the aphid subfamily Lachninae.

Many aphids harbor a variety of endosymbiotic bacteria. The functions of these symbionts can range from an obligate nutritional role to a facultative role in protecting their hosts against environmental stresses. One such symbiont is "Candidatus Serratia symbiotica," which is involved in defense against heat and potentially also in aphid nutrition. Lachnid aphids have been the focus of several recent studies investigating the transition of this symbiont from a facultative symbiont to an obligate symbiont. In a phylogenetic analysis of Serratia symbionts from 51 lachnid hosts, we found that diversity in symbiont morphology, distribution, and function is due to multiple independent origins of symbiosis from ancestors belonging to Serratia and possibly also to evolution within distinct symbiont clades. Our results do not support cocladogenesis of "Ca. Serratia symbiotica" with Cinara subgenus Cinara species and weigh against an obligate nutritional role. Finally, we show that species belonging to the subfamily Lachninae have a high incidence of facultative symbiont infection.

Is there a cryptic species within Aulacorthum solani (Hemiptera: Aphididae)?

Examination of DNA sequences of the 5' end of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene of Aulacorthum solani (Kaltenbach) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) reveals little variation between samples from broad geographic provenances. The apparent genetic similarity despite A. solani's morphological and biological differences contrasts with the species complexes of other aphid pests.