Attraction of Pollinators to Atemoya (Annona squamosa × Annona cherimola) in Puerto Rico Using Commercial Lures and Food Attractants.

Atemoya is a hybrid between Annona squamosa L. and Annona cherimola Miller (Annonaceae) and has potential to be an important fruit crop in tropical and subtropical areas. A major impediment to fruit production is low fruit set due to inadequate pollinator visits, typically, by beetles in the family Nitidulidae. We used Universal moth traps to monitor the attractiveness of two commercially available Nitidulidae lures in combination with various food attractants, including raw bread dough, apple juice, and malta beverage, a soft drink by-product of the brewing process. The most commonly trapped beetles were, in order of decreasing frequency, Carpophilus dimidiatus (F.), Brachypeplus mutilatus Erichson, Urophorus humeralis (F.) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), and Europs fervidus Blatchley (Coleoptera: Monotomidae). All traps, except the unbaited control traps, caught beetles. In a previous study, we found that combining two commercial lures had a synergistic effect on the attraction of these beetle species. In this study, the addition of food attractants increased the number of beetles trapped compared with traps baited with only the commercial lures. Also, food attractants appear to be key in attracting U. humeralis; only one U. humeralis individual of the 206 caught during the experiment was trapped without a food attractant. The variation between the number of beetles caught in traps containing the same treatments was high and may explain the erratic results reported in other studies of pollination in Annona spp. The results are discussed with respect to the use of nitidulid lures and food attractants to increase fruit set in atemoya and other Annonaceae.

New records of non-native Coleoptera in Italy.

Background: In the last decades, climate change and globalisation have been exacerbating the introduction of non-native beetles worldwide. Due toits peculiar territory, climate and geographical position in the middle of the Mediterranean Basin, Italy is one of the European countries with the highest number of intercepted, adventive and established non-native beetles, some of which are invasive. In this perspective, producing new faunistic records and continuously updating reliable and easily accessible distributional data is a fundamental step in investigating and potentially preventing further species introduction. New information: The aim of this contribution is to report and discuss new faunistic records of non-native Coleoptera in Italy. For some species, new records enlarge the previously-known distribution (e.g. the ambrosia beetles Anisandrusmaiche (Kurentzov, 1941) and Cnestusmutilatus (Blandford, 1894) or the click beetle Monocrepidiusposticus (Eschscholtz, 1829)), while for others (e.g. the scarab beetle Archophileurusspinosus Dechambre, 2006), data confirm their establishment and highlight a possible expansion phase. The false powderpost beetles Ptilineurusmarmoratus (Reitter, 1877) and the longhorn beetle Xylotrechuschinensis (Chevrolat, 1852) are two new additions to the Italian fauna, while the establishment of the monotomid beetle Monotomaamericana Aubé 1837 is confirmed.

New Coleoptera records from New Brunswick, Canada: Sphindidae, Erotylidae, Monotomidae, and Cryptophagidae.

Two species of Sphindidae, Odontosphindus denticollis LeConteand Sphindus trinifer Casey, are reported for the first time for New Brunswick. Another species, Sphindus near americanus LeConte is reported from the province but may be an undescribed species, pending further study. Five species of Erotylidae are newly recorded for the province, including Tritoma humeralis Fabricius and Tritoma sanguinipennis (Say), which are new to the Maritime provinces. Three species of Monotomidae are added to the New Brunswick faunal list, including Pycnotomina cavicollis (Horn), which is newly recorded for the Maritime provinces. Six additional species of Cryptophagidae are reported for the province and the presence of Antherophagus convexulus LeContein New Brunswick is confirmed. Cryptophagus pilosus Gyllenhal and Myrmedophila americana (LeConte) are newly reported to the Maritime provinces.