On 26-July, 2005 a mating aggregation of Acropyga epedana Snelling (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) was observed in the Chiricahua Mountains in south-eastern Arizona. This is the first record of a mating flight of A. epedana, the only nearctic member of this pantropical genus. Mating behavior was observed, newly mated queens were collected, and a complete colony was excavated. New information is repor...

The association between ants and mealybugs can result in damage to agriculture, including vineyards. In southern Brazil, the ant Linepithema micans F. contributes to the dispersal of Eurhizococcus brasiliensis (Wille) (ground pearl), a root mealybug that can lead to economic losses. In this study, the ant communities in vineyards that were infested or uninfested with ground pearls were evaluate...

Determining the most likely source of an invasive pest species might help to improve their management by establishing efficient quarantine measures and heading the search of efficient biological control agents. Planococcus ficus is an invasive mealybug pest of vineyards in Argentina, California, Mexico, Peru and South Africa. This mealybug pest had a previously known geographic distribution spa...

![Graphic][1] Insects are champions of climbing even on the smoothest surfaces thanks to their sticky footpads. The pads, found different parts legs, can be smooth or hairy but both types allow insects attach equally well via a thin film liquid they secrete. Looking

The phenomenon of chromosome, or genomic, imprinting indicates the relevance of parental origin in determining functional differences between alleles, homologous chromosomes, or haploid sets. In mealybug males (Homoptera, Coccoidea), the haploid set of paternal origin undergoes heterochromatization at midcleavage and remains so in most of the tissues. This different behavior of the two haploid ...

On 26-July, 2005 a mating aggregation of Acropyga epedana Snelling (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) was observed in the Chiricahua Mountains in south-eastern Arizona. This is the first record of a mating flight of A. epedana, the only nearctic member of this pantropical genus. Mating behavior was observed, newly mated queens were collected, and a complete colony was excavated. New information is repor...

Temperature and host stage are important factors that determine the successful development of parasitoids. Aenasius bambawalei Hayat (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is a primary parasitoid of the newly invasive mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). The effects of temperature on the parasitic characteristics of A. bambawalei have seldom been investigated. In the study, ...

The present study aimed to characterize the distribution of mealybug species along Chilean agro-ecosystems and to determine the relative impact of host plant, management strategy, geography and micro-environment on shaping the distribution and genetic structure of the obscure mealybug Pseudococcus viburni. An extensive survey was completed using DNA barcoding methods to identify Chilean mealybu...

Highly reduced genomes of 144-416 kilobases have been described from nutrient-provisioning bacterial symbionts of several insect lineages [1-5]. Some host insects have formed stable associations with pairs of bacterial symbionts that live in specialized cells and provide them with essential nutrients; genomic data from these systems have revealed remarkable levels of metabolic complementarity b...

Leptomastix dactylopii (Howard) is an endoparasitoid wasp, natural enemy of mealybug Planococcus citri (Risso). Despite the acquired knowledge regarding this host-parasitoid interaction, only little information is available on the factors of parasitoid origin able to modulate the mealybug physiology. The major alteration observed in P. citri is a strong reduction in fecundity, which is evident ...