Consumption and utilization of the 5th instar larvae of Mythimna separata (Walker) feeding on the leaves of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis corn were assayed in the laboratory. Two Bt corn hybrids with events MON810 and Bt11 expressing CryIAb protein and their nonBt controls were employed in the bioassays. Results showed that the survival rate of the 5th instar larvae of M. separata was significantly lower when fed on MON810 and Bt11 leaves. The food ingestion was 88.1 mg and 115.4 mg, respectively, when larvae fed on MON810 and Bt11, whereas 653.6 mg and 715.4 mg when fed on non-Bt corn DK647 and NX4906 separately, at 4th day. The larvae exhibited an average weight loss of 12.2 mg and 7.4 mg when fed on MON810 and Bt11 leaves, and showed an average weight gain of 100.4 mg and 119.9 mg when fed on two non-Bt controls at 3rd day. The efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) and efficiency of conversion of digested food (ECD) by the larvae feeding on the two Bt corn leaves were significantly lower than by the larvae feeding on non-Bt corn hybrids. This indicated that the Bt corn significantly restrained the feeding, food consumption and utilization of the 5th instar larvae of M. separata. However, the approximate digestibility (AD) by the larvae was much higher when fed on Bt corn leaves than on non-Bt corn controls, and a possible explanation is that the digestion function of the larvae fed the Bt corn leaves was restrained as a result of the toxication by Bt toxin.

Effects of CpTI-Bt transgenic cotton （SGK321） and Bt transgenic cotton （Zhong 30） from the field on the survival and growth of Helicoverpa armigera （Hübner） were tested respectively in mid July and mid August of 2000. The results indicated that both transgenic cottons showed high insect resistance in mid July, especially the leaf and petal tissues of CpTI-Bt transgenic cotton, which led to more than 92% mortality of fourth instar larvae in 3 days. In mid August, the insect resistance of both CpTI-Bt transgenic cotton and Bt transgenic cotton declined，while CpTI-Bt transgenic cotton showed significantly higher insect resistance than Bt transgenic cotton. Compared with Zhong 16 (the recipient cotton line of Bt transgenic cottton), Bt transgenic cotton did not show significantly higher larval mortality, but showed significant inhibition of larval growth. Petal of Shiyuan 321 (the recipient cotton line of CpTI-Bt transgenic cotton) showed some inse ct resistant activity, which led to the inhibition of larval growth and even death of some larvae. In SGK321 with expression of CpTI and Bt insecticidal protein genes, both petal and leaf showed significantly higher insect resistant activity than bud and boll heart. Nutrition index of 5th instar larvae on consumption of boll indicated that while either RGR or RCR in larvae treated with CpTI-Bt transgenic cotton or Bt transgenic cotton showed no significant difference between the two treatments, both were significantly lower than that in larvae treated with Shiyuan 321, the recipient cotton line of SGK321 Larvae treated with CpTI-Bt transgenic cotton showed significantly lower AD and higher ECI than those treated with Bt transgenic cotton and Shiyuan 321.

The DNA polymorphism of the three host-related populations of Nilaparvata lugens, which differed in virulence and had been reared on rice variety TN1, Mudgo and ASD7 for 82 generations, respectively, was studied using RAPD-PCR technique. Of 205 RAPD primers, 10 with population-specific amplified bands were selected. The results showed that the genetic diversity among populations was greater than that within populations and the TN1 population reared on susceptible rice variety showed the largest genetic variation, although the differences between different populations were not statistically significant. In the dendrogram obtained with UPGMA analysis based on the standard of similarity index (SI), every female individual of a population could be clustered into a group with no exception, and so does the male. This provided the first clear evidence confirming that significant genetic differentiation exits between host-associated N. lugens populations with different virulence. It was also found that male and female individuals were grouped into two discrete classes, which suggested that the inheritance of virulence of N. lugens may be associated with the sex chromosome. Some amplified DNA bands were population-specific, which were useful to develop a molecular marker to examine the virulence of N. Lugens at the individual level.

The cDNA libraries were constructed from the kidney and normal unfertilized eggs of the silkworm, Bombyx mori and sequenced at random in order to study the maternal genetic information contained in the silkworm's eggs. We had successfully sequenced 391 ESTs (expressed sequence tag) and obtained 374 unigenes after assembling. Bioinformatics analysis indicated 172 unigenes had significant similarity with the known genes recorded in GenBank and silkbase. Except three known maternal genes, the rest were mainly related to replication, metabolism，signal transduction, transcription factor, protein structure and embryo development. These results will provide source for further study on the development regulation of early embryo of the silkworm.

To identify the nucleotide sequence of ubiquitin cDNA in Spodoptera exigua, a 513 bp cDNA fragment encoding ubiquitin-53aa extension protein from S. exigua lipid was amplified with 3'RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) PCR with primers designed on the N-terminal amino acid sequence of S. frugiperda biquitin extension gene, and the amplified fragment was cloned and sequenced. The ubiquitin-53aa extension gene (ubi-53) in S. exigua was 513 bp in length, includeing 123 bp of 3'untranslated region and 390 bp of encoding region. The encoding region encoded a peptide of 129 amino acid residues, in which there was an ubiquitin fused with a ribosomal L40 protein. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with those of Bombyx mori, S. frugiperda, Drosophila melanogaster, Homo sapienes, SeNPV and BmNPV showed that the amino acid homology rates were 96.9%，98.5%，95.3%，93.0%, 78.8 % and 77.2% respectively. This suggests ube genes in eukaryotes may have a different evolution way from its host viruses. The fragment containing ubi-53 gene was inserted into pET-28a expressive vector, and the expression was induced by IPTG in E. coli BL21(DE3). The fusion protein was identified by Western blot using a mouse monoclonal antibody against bovine ubiquitin.

After salting out with ammonium sulfate, chromatography with DEAE-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-200, SOD was purified from royal jelly of the Italian worker bee, Apis mellifera with purification factor of 104.00, and the specific activity 53.05 U/mg proteins. The obtained enzyme showed a single band on SDSPAGE. The effect of temperature on SOD activity was studied, and it was found that the enzyme was very stable. The contents of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn was also studied, and it was found that the enzyme contained Cu and Zn. Circular dichroism spectrum was investigated and it was found that the proportion of α-helix,β-sheet and random coiling form of proteins was 26.1%,53.8% and 22.0% respectively. The isoelectric focusing of SOD indicated that pI of the enzyme contained intrachain disulfate bond. The amino acid composition was investigated and it was found that the enzyme contained 402 amino acid residues. The enzyme had relatively high content of Asp, Gly, Leu, Ala, Glu and Val. Both urea and BrAc could inhibit enzyme activity, lead the change of ultraviolet absorption and induce the decrease of fluorescence emission. DTT could lead the change of enzyme activity, the increase of ultraviolet absorption and the decrease of fluorescence emission.

Contents of total carbohydrate, trehalose, glycogen in diapausing larvae of the wheat midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Gehin) in various periods were examined, respectively. Results showed that there was no significant difference in the contents of total carbohydrates between 1st and 2nd year diapausing larvae. There were obvious differences in the content of total carbohydrates among larvae from the various seasons. The content of total carbohydrates in the mature larvae living on the wheat head was higher than that of larvae in the soil. Based on the change of total carbohydrate contents in the diapausing larvae, its development could be divided into two stages: Stage 1, from June to October; and Stage 2, from November to April of next year. There was lower content of carbohydrates in Stage 1 than that in Stage 2. Change trends of carbohydrate content in both cocooned and noncocooned larvae were similar in various periods. Content of trehalose in cocooned larvae in whole diapause period was kept on a higher level, and therefore the type of carbohydrate-alcohol accumulation of cocooned larvae of the wheat midge in diapause periods belongs to trehalose accumulation. The increasing content of glycogen was possibly related to diapause termination or change of diapause intensity in autumn and spring.

The kinetic properties of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) from Semiothisa cinerearia Bremer et Grey, a forestry insect, were studied after the enzyme was partially purified by 40% saturated (NH₄)₂SO₄ and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. The results showed that the 6.96fold purification was achieved from the crude enzyme. The affinities of PPO with the substrates pyrogallol, catechol and Ldopamine (LDOPA) were not different significantly, and the K_m with the three substrates was 0.23 mmol/L, 0.48 mmol/L and 0.49 mmol/L, respectively. The optimum pH was 7.0 and the best temperature was 37℃ for the tested PPO. The effects of two compounds as inhibitors of the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme were also tested. Those results indicated that quercetin could inhibit the PPO activity through competitive inhibition and thiourea could also inhibit the enzyme activity but through noncompetitive reaction.

The effects of botanical alkaloids pesticide matrine on inward sodium channel gating properties of the central neurons isolated from the thoracic and abdominal ganglia of the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera（Hübner）were studied using wholecell patch clamp technique. It was found that matrine inhibited TTXsensitive sodium current (I_na) in a concentration dependent manner. Matrine at 1, 10 and 100 μmol/L decreased peak I_na by （12.49±1.67）%, （18.79±2.16）% and （43.15±8.17）% (n=8, P<0.05), respectively in 5 minutes after matrine was added to the external solution. Matrine shifted up the currentvoltage relation (I-V) curve, without changing the active and peak current potential and the shape of I-V curve. The results demonstrated that matrine could inhibit Ina, which may partially explain the mechanism of its toxicity effects.

Toxicity of emamectin to larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, at different temperatures was surveyed, and the effects on survivors of parent generation treated with sub-lethal dosage of the insecticide at 25℃ were studied with life table method. The results showed that the toxicity of emamectin against the insect was increased as the temperature was enhanced in the temperature range tested: the contact toxicity of the insecticide wasincreased by about 10fold, and the ingestion toxicity by about 1 000-fold when the temperature was enhanced from 16℃ to 31℃. Emamectin showed an extremely high ingestion toxicity. The life table was established after the insect was treated with the insecticide in sub-lethal dosage. The insecticide had some adverse effects on the survival and reproduction of the insect. The life parameters of the treated population were lower compared with the control population: the survival rate was 3.7% and 35.5% in the treated population and in the control, respectively; the fecundity 92.4 and 148.3; the index of population trend 1.8 and 27.4; the net reproductive rate (R₀) 3.66 and 33.81; and the innate capacity for increase (r_m) 0.0665 and 0.0978, respectively.

The fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in response to the stress of Bt-transgenic cotton was estimated among the different symmetric characters in the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera, CB) and the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis, ALB) populations in the laboratory. The CB was reared on transgenic Bt cotton and the ALB was reared on aphids (Aphis gossypii) feeding on transgenic Bt cotton. The results indicated that FA was found in fore femur, mid femur, hind femur, two vein sections L1 and L2 in fore wing and hind wing of the CB. The values of FA of fore femur and hind wing were higher than those of the control population. Egg hatchability and adult longevity of the CB were significantly lower than those of the control population. The fitness and predatory function of the ALB were not affected by feeding on aphids on transgenic Bt cotton. FA in hind wing of the ALB was not significantly different with the control population. The investigation showed some positive relationship between FA and fitness of CB and ALB, but more studies will be needed to establish the correlation between FA and fitness of these species. The possibility using FA as a sensitive indicator of the ecological risk of genetically modified crops was discussed.

Jasmonic acid (JA) is a group of important signal molecules carrying information about injury in plants. Application of exogenous jasmonic acid to plants can induce them to produce various defense responses, such as changes in composition of volatiles, which in turn affect phytophagous insects and their natural enemies. We report here the effects of Chinese cabbage and common cabbage volatiles induced by exogenous jasmonic acid on the host searching and selection behavior of a hymenopteran parasitoid Cotesia plutellae. For both Chinese cabbage and common cabbage JA-treated plants produced volatiles more attractive to adult females than untreated plants. Compared with untreated plants, the number of Plutella xylostella larvae parasitized by C. plutellae on JA-treated plants of Chinese cabbage was significantly higher. These results demonstrate that application of exogenous jasmonic acid on Chinese cabbage and common cabbage can make these plants more attractive to the parasitoid, and thereby promote its efficiency of host foraging.

he functional response of the lady beetle, Menochilus sexmaculata （Fabricius） predating on the chrysanthemum aphid, Macrosiphoniella sanborni （Gillete） old nymphs fitted the model of HollingⅡ type well. However, the predation was affected by temperature, vessel space and prey density. In the same temperature treatment, the higher of prey density was, the larger of predation number was found and the lower of finding efficiency was observed. In the range of 15℃-25℃, the predation number increased with the increasing temperature. However, in the range of 25℃-35℃, the predation number decreased with the increasing temperature. At 25℃, predation number was the highest, which was 392.1 capita with anaverage number of 95 capita per day. The relationship between predation number and temperature was fitted by quadratic regression equation. Intraspecific interference was found in the experiment. The average predation number and predation rate of M. sexmaculata decreased with the increasing of its density. The relationship between predation ratio (E) and natural enemy density (P) was described by equation of E=0.9003P^-0.9816. Searching constant (Q) is 0.9003, and disturbing coefficient (m) is 0.9816.

Life tables of laboratory population of the Chinese chive maggot, Bradysia odoriphaga were constructed at four temperatures. The results showed that the developmental rate increased with the temperature increasing from 15℃ to 30℃. The longest duration of the generation was 72.4 days observed at 15℃, the shortest was 21.2 days at 30℃, and in between 27.3 days and 23.9 days at 20℃ and 25℃ respectively. The threshold temperatures and the effective accumulated temperatures required for egg, larva, pupa and wholegeneration were 5.9℃, 8.7℃, 3.3℃, 7.8℃ and 77.7, 267.2, 75.7, 418.2 degree-day respectively. The lifespan was shortened with the temperature increasing. The longest lifespan of female was 11.7 days at 20℃, and the shortest was 4.1 days at 30℃. In general, the adult longevity of female was longer than that of male. The maximum number of eggs laid per female was 159.9 at 20℃, while the least was 114.7 at 30℃. It could be concluded from the results that temperature had great effect on the development of B. odoriphaga. The most suitable temperature range was 20℃ to 25℃, during which there were longer longevity of the adult，higher oviposition and the highest population trend index. Too high or too low temperatures would be adverse to the establishment of the maggot population.

Tomicus minor (Hartig) is one of major secondary pest insects of the Yunnan pine, Pinus yunnanensis Franchet. From the 1980's, the pine shoot beetle together with T. piniperda (L.) occurred in abundance in Yunnan, southwestern China, causing several hundred thousand ha Yunnan pine forests seriously damaged. The biology and behavior of the beetle were reported here, including its life cycle, development, shoot feeding, trunk attacking and reproduction. T. minor completed one generation a year, with consecutive two generations overlapping in winter and spring. Adults started to emerge in the mid April and ended in the late May. After emerged, T. minor flied to the crown and fed the shoots in nearby trees. The shoot feeding period lasted until the late November when adults got matured. Adults bored 4-6 shoots in total during the shoot feeding. T. minor flied to the trunk of Yunnan pine tree for reproduction after matured. The reproduction period lasted from the late November to March. T. minor mostly bred in the trees already attacked by T. piniperda. The attacking normally occurred one week later than T. piniperda, and focused on the mid and lower trunks. Since the beetle did its damages from the shoots to trunks, the damages to the host trees seemed more serious than that in other districts. Meanwhile, T. minor breeding in the trees attacked by T. piniperda would decrease the tree resistance, and so accelerate the host tree dying. The beetle's bionomics and behavior particularly showed in Yunnan were supposed to the major reason that the beetle occurred massively and caused serious damages to the Yunnan pine trees in southwestern China. A fungus Leptographium yunnanensis was detected from T. minor and its galleries, which was regarded as the fungus associated with T. minor. Frequencies of the beetle carrying the fungus were 11.5% in shoot feeding period, and 10%-26% in trunk attacking.

Five Anoplophora sibling species and eight geographical populations of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), Anoplophora glabripennis (Motsch.) collected from China and the USA were analyzed using the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method. A total of 51 random primers (20 OPH, 20 OPL, 11 OPQ kits) were selected,of the 40 primers used in primer group Ⅰ, 26 primers produced polymorphic bands in phylogeny analyses of Anoplophora species and A.glabripennis populations. In primer group Ⅱ, 19 of the 31 primers produced polymorphic bands in A. glabripennis population analyses. Based on the computer-generated RAPD cladogram using primer group Ⅰ, eight geographical populations of A. glabripennis and two populations of A. nobilis can be grouped in one phylogenic cluster that is different from the other Anoplophora species. Six geographical populations of A. glabripennis in China form a cluster branch, which can be divided into two sub-branches: one sub-branch consists of populations from the provinces of Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei, Nei Mongol, and Ningxia, and the other consists of A. glabripennis population from Gansu Province. The two A. glabripennis populations from New York and Chicago can be considered as an independent branch of a cluster with 0.2525 genetic distances between them. Similar results were also obtained with A. glabripennis geographical populations using primer group Ⅱ. These results indicated that the specimens of A. glabripennis populations collected from the USA were somewhat different genetically from specimens collected from some parts of China. The cladogram showed that A. nobilis populations from Gansu and Ningxia were mixed with the A. glabripennis cluster with little difference between the two species, which strongly supports the findings that the two may in fact be a single species.

Eight species and subspecies of Dendrolimus, D. punctatus punctatus (Walker)，D. punctatus tehchangensis Tsai et Liu，D. Punctatus wenshanensis Tsai et Liu，D. kikuchiI Matsumura，D. spectabilis Butler，D. tabulaeformis Tsai et Liu，D. superans (Butler)，and D. houi Lajonquiere have been the most serious and economically damaging insect pests in Chinese pine forests in recent years. Twenty 10-oligonucliotide primers were initially screened. We used 13 primers, which produced 168 polymorphic molecular markers to analyze the phylogenetic relationship of the eight taxa of Dendrolimus in China. The pair-wise Nei's genetic distances (Nei's D) were estimated for the eight taxa of Dendrolimus. The pairwise Nei's D varied in the range of 0.3780－0.7360. D. p. tehchangensis Tsai et Liu, and D. p. wenshanensis Tsai et Liu，which are two subspecies of D. punctatus traditionally, have nearer genetic distances with D. p. punctatus. The detailed phylogenetic relationship among the eight species and subspecies of Dendrolimus based on UPGMA should be as the following: (D. superans (D.tabulaeformis (D. wenshanensis (D. tehchangensis, D. punctatus)(D. kikuchii (D. spectabilis, D. houi)).

Phylogenetic analysis of 5 Chinese species of the genus Polyura was conducted based on mitochondrial COII sequences. The results showed that there were 11.4% polymorphic loci in 405 bp length of partial COII in 12 specimens of the 5 species of Polyura, and most of them were transformed through transition. The difference among individuals within species (0.5%-1.5%) was almost all lower than the difference among species (>4%), except that the difference between 2 individuals of P. athamas was higher than that between P. eudamippusand P. nepenthes. The dendrogram of the Chinese Polyura inferred by maximum likelihood method showed that there are 2 distinct clusters in the Chinese Polyura, in which one includes P. narcaea, P. eudamippus and P. nepenthes, and the other includes P. schreiber and P. athamas. The topological structure of the dendrogram is consistent with the morphological result. Therefore, the results of molecular phylogenetic analysis support the morphological results in genus Polyura.

Approximately 345 base pairs of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene from 6 species of Chinese grasshoppers (Catantopidae: Acridoidea) and one outgroup Oedaleus manjius were sequenced. Of 345 bp mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene sequences, A%+T% was 71.8%, and 88 nucleotide sites and 31 parsimony informative sites were substituted (about 25.5% and 8.9%, respectively). The molecular phylogenetic trees constructed by parsimony method and neighbor-joining method suggested that genus Oxya and Hieroglyphus were independent evolutionary branches. In the clade Oxya, the relationship between O. Chinensis and O. agavisa was much close, but was far to O. hyla, This result was identical with that of morphology. In the clade Hieroglyphus, H. tonkinensis was closely related to H. annulicornus, but was far to H. banian, and this result was not identical with that of morphology, and needs to be studied further.

Based on morphological studies, 25 characters of 5 species of Cotesia flavipes complex (as ingroup) and two genera Microplitis and Diolcogaster (as outgroup), and 24 characters of 5 species of Cotesia flavipes complex(as ingroup) and 3 species of the same genera (outgroup) were separately selected for cladistic analysis in an attempt to assess the phylogenetic relationships among the Cotesia flavipes complex. The results of cladistic analysis indicate that C. flavipes complex are a monophyletic group; C. chilonis and C. sesamiae are more closely related compared with other 3 species; C. chiloluteelli and C. hanshouensis is closely related with one another; C. flavipes is recognized as the independent placement. Whether using the related genera as outgroup or the congeneric species as outgroup in the cladistic analysis, the basically same scheme for classification of the five species of Cotesia flavipes complex was concluded.

An agroecosystem can be identified as an area which includes crop habitat and non-crop habitat adjacent to the targeted crop for research on integrated pest management. Insect movement from the crop habitat to the adjacent non-crop habitat can be related to natural dispersal, host alternation and shelter seeking due to lack of suitable food or cultivation-caused disturbances in the crop habitat. Many studies suggest that the vegetational settings and structure associated particular crop fields can influence the kind, abundance, and time of colonization of insect pests and their natural enemies. Compositions and characteristics of the vegetation around crop fields can therefore be modified to regulate interrelationships of the crop pests and their natural enemies in agroecosystems, and to enhance ecological functions of the enemies for pest management. A landscape rather than a single homogeneous field may often be the appropriate unit for research and implementation of integrated pest management since the spatial patterns of the landscape influence the biology of arthropods both directly and indirectly. Reintroducing a mosaic structure composed of various uncultivated plants or corridors into modern agricultural landscape can lead to the creation of multiple non-crop habitats for reproduction, feeding and shelter for a number of beneficial species of arthropods.

Electroantennogram (EAG) responses of female Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) to the single or mixture of volatile components of the wheat blossom were examined. For single compound or mixture compounds, there were no significant differences between EAG responses of virgin females and mated females (P=0.05). But, when heptanal was added in different concentrations of 1×10⁵－5×10⁵(V/V) to the mixture of greenleaf volatile compounds, the respondence of the antenna of mated female of cotton bollworm to the mixture of compounds was significantly higher than that of the virgin female (P<0.05).

A new Na₂S₂O₄ silver staining method is described for detecting the proteins of housefly separated by SDS-PAGE. In this staining method, besides the regents and steps are different from the classical silver staining method, fixation and ethanol washing are not necessary. Only twenty minutes were needed to complete the whole staining process. This method has a low demand for regents and manipulation, but can still reach the sensitivity level of nanogram.

Compared with the control experiment,in one day after Helicoverpa armigera was infected by Ovomermis sinensis, the total of free amino acids in the haemolymph of H. armigera decreased greatly. In 2－4 days after the infection, the total of free amino acids in the haemolymph of H. armigera infected by O. sinensis did not change much: some free amino acids increased, and the others decreased. In 5－6 days after the infection, the total of free amino acids and all kinds of free amino acids in the haemolymph of H. armigera infected by O. sinensis during increased rapidly. The results showed that the contents of free amino acids in the haemolymph of H. armigera infected by O. sinensis changed towards benefiting the growth of O. sinensis.