Bionomics of Scymnus (Pullus) louisianae J. Chapin (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) as a predator of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Homoptera: Aphididae).

A field population of Scymnus louisianae Chapin (Coccinellidae) was found attacking soybean aphids, Apis glycines Matsumura (Aphidae), a pest recently introduced into Kentucky. This coccinellid had not previously been found in Kentucky. A greenhouse population of S. louisianae was established and its predation on A. glycines studied under laboratory conditions. Total time to develop from egg to adult was about 20 d. About 70% of immatures survived to adulthood and they consumed approximately 100 aphid nymphs per beetle larva during the beetle's four larval instars. Adults lived for an average of 47 d (mated males) and 63 d (mated females) and, during their total adult lifetime, mated males consumed an average of 665 nymphs and mated females consumed 1261 nymphs. All developmental times and predation rates were comparable to those reported for other aphidophagous Scymnus spp. which, in conjunction with reports that Scymnus spp. are effective predators of cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover, suggests that S. louisianae is a potentially important predator of A. glycines in the southern United States.

Pericarditis associated with acral erythema of chemotherapy: a syndrome of cutaneous and serosal toxicities?

A nineteen-year-old woman whose Hodgkin's disease had relapsed experienced acral erythema in association with a asymptomatic pericardial friction rub following autologous bone marrow transplantation. An echocardiogram revealed a large pericardial and right pleural effusion. Since blood cultures gave negative results, renal function was normal, and the patient had neither neutropenia nor elevated temperature, an infectious cause was deemed unlikely and invasive procedures were not performed. These effusions resolved spontaneously. We propose that this patient's acral erythema and associated pericardial and pleural inflammation represent cutaneous and serosal toxic reactions to high-dosage chemotherapy that occur with the onset of leukocyte recovery. If so, acral erythema may signal the beginning of a toxic drug reaction. The appearance of erythema associated with lymphocyte recovery is due to immune hypersensitivity secondary to immaturity of the reconstituting immune system. Thus, we recommend that patients with acral erythema be examined for pleuropericarditis, especially if they experience chest pain.

PHYLOGENY OF THE SUBFAMILIES OF THE FAMILY BRACONIDAE (HYMENOPTERA: ICHNEUMONOIDEA): A REASSESSMENT.

Abstract- The recently published phylogeny of Braconidae by Quicke and van Achterberg is reassessed. Character-state definitions and character polarities are evaluated, and more rigorous methods are suggested. Our results indicate that there are many more parsimonious solutions to their data set, the consensus of which differs substantially from their results. Based on our reassessment, little can be said about the relationships among braconid subfamilies. Consensus trees show the cyclostomes as a largely unresolved basal grade. The two other major lineages which have been proposed, the helconoids and microgastroids, are somewhat better resolved, but not consistently so. Relationships among the helconoids vary considerably depending on the parameters used for parsimony analysis.