In order to analyze the antifungal activity and immunogenicity of antifungal peptide Drosomycin（Drs） and its isoforms, Drs-lC and Drs-lE, from Drosophila melanogaster, their antibodies were prepared by two ways. In the first way, Drs, Drs-lC and Drs-lE were respectively fused with afgf gene. In the second way, Drs and Drs-lE were respectively linked into multi-copy genes of Drs and Drs-lE tandem in the same direction. The recombinant plasmids pET-afgf-Drs, pET-afgf-C and pET-afgf-E were constructed through the first way, while pRSET-2Drs, -4Drs, -6Drs and pRSET-2E, -4E, -6E were constructed through the second way. They were then transformed into E. coli BL21（DE3）plysS. After purification, the fused proteins afgf-Drs, afgf-C, afgf-E and the concatamer proteins of 4 Drs, 4 Drs-lE were used for preparation of the antiserums by immunizing mice. The results of Western-blot immunogenicity showed that Drs and its isoforms had strong antigen immune reactions with their according antiserums. Cross-reactions between them were also found. These results suggested that they might have the similar main antigen sites. We so inferred that there is no relationship between the main antigen sites and activity sites. The small difference of their structures may be the main  mechanism causing the functional divergence of their antifungal activity.

Total RNA was isolated from the fully resistant silkworm (Bombyx mori) strain Qiufeng against BmDNV-Z, the highly susceptible silkworm strain Huaba and near-isogenic line BC₈ which was bred by using Qiufeng to cross with Huaba followed by successive backcrossing to Huaba till the eighth generation, respectively, and then subjected to fluorescent differential display reverse transcription PCR (DDRT-PCR). A full-length cDNA of B. mori carboxylesterase was obtained. Its expression in the midgut of the susceptible strain and the resistant strain against BmDNV-Z was analyzed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR at 12 h, 36 h and 72 h after administration with BmDNV-Z. The results showed that: (1) cDNA quantity of carboxylesterase in the midguts of the resistant strains reached the peak 12 h after infection. The cDNA quantity in the resistant strains BC₈ and Qiufeng were 17.714 and 3.602 times respectively that in the susceptible strain Huaba. (2) Within the same strain, there existed a remarkable difference in the detected carboxylesterase cDNA quantity at 12 h between the infected group and the control group. The expression in the resistant strains BC₈and Qiufeng were 15.08 and 3.39 times respectively that of the control group. On the other hand, the expression of carboxylesterase was quite low in the susceptible strain Huaba of both the infected group and the control group. (3) The expression of carboxylesterase varied at different time after infection. Expression in the resistant strains BC₈ and Qiufeng reached its peaks 12 h after infection, remarkably higher than those at 36 h and 72 h. There was no significant difference of the expression in the susceptible strain Huaba infected for 12 h, 36 h and 72 h. The results suggested that the expression of carboxylesterase in B. mori might be related to its resistance against DNV.

Egg parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma are widely used as inundative controls of Lepidopteran crop pests, and their adult longevity after emergence in the field is a significant factor for the success of Trichogramma inundation. Survival time of female Trichogramma dendrolimi, which were held in ventilated plastic tubes (5 cm in diameter and 10 cm long) attached to peach tree branches, were investigated directly under field conditions, and the influencing factors (food availability and climatic factors) were analyzed. The results showed that the median survival time of the parasitoid was significantly different in different cover crops (lucerne and natural weeds) and different trial dates (31 May, 5 June, 17 July, 24 July, 24 August and 30 August). The median survival time of female T. dendrolimi in the area covered by lucerne was significantly longer than that in the area covered by natural weeds. In all trial dates, the median survival time of the trials on 31 May and 5 June was the longest, and that on 17 July and 24 July was the shortest. The median survival time was inversely correlated with the mean temperature and relative humidity for all treatments, and it was influenced more greatly by the mean temperature. The median survival time of honey-fed parasitoids was significantly longer than that of the parasitoids not fed with honey. The presence of a peach leaf within the tube also increased survival time of honey-fed parasitoids but did not increase adult longevity of the parasitoids not fed with honey. It is so concluded that temperature and food availability are the main factors influencing longevity of female T. dendrolimi under field conditions.

A total of 22 species (representing 10 subfamilies and 16 genera) and an outgroup species, Filchnerella sunanensis, were sampled in this study. A 585 bp sequence of COⅡ gene was amplified using PCR, and then sequenced directly through cycling sequencing method. Several statistical approaches were used to test the phylogenetic signal in the DNA sequence data sets and three partition data sets, which were defined based on different codon positions. Phylogenetic analyses by the Neighbor Joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP), maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) were employed to reconstruct the phylogeny. The results indicated that the COⅡ gene sequences of 22 species were highly A+T biased. All of the different data sets contained strong phylogenetic signal. It can be found from the consensus tree that: (1) the relationships among Calliptaminae, Cyrtacanthacridinae, Eyprepocnemisinae and Catantopinae are close. (2) The relationship between Caryandinae and Oxyinae is also close. It is so reasonable to include the subfamily Caryandinae into the subfamily Oxyinae, with Spathosterninae as sister group. (3) Melanoplinae should merge with Podisminae into one subfamily. (4) The relationships of species and genera within Coptacrinae, as well as its relationships with other subfamilies were not resolved. (5) The relationship between Melanoplinae and Podisminae is close, and both are distant to other subfamilies here studied. The results prove that COⅡ gene is a useful marker to infer phylogenetic relationships among species and genera within a subfamily.

Morphological variation of eight aphid species feeding on the leaves of bamboos, viz. Astegopteryx bambusifoliae (Takahashi), Astegopteryx minuta (van der Goot), Cerataphis bambusifoliae Takahashi, Ceratovacuna silvestrii (Takahashi) and Chaitoregma tattakana (Takahashi) of Hormaphididae, Melanaphis bambusae (Fullaway) of Aphididae, and Takecallis arundinariae(Essig) and Takecallis taiwanus (Takahashi) of Drepanosiphidae, were studied based on morphometric data of 34 morphological characters, of which 28 characters were statistically analysed. The results indicated that some characters, such as body, siphunculi and antennae, were very different among the three families, but some others, such as the ultimate rostral segments, tarsal segmentsⅠ, tarsal segmentsⅡ and claws, were similar. The variations of the following characters within species were quite small: ultimate rostral segments (CV=3.73%-7.59%), tarsal segmentsⅠ(CV=4.16%-12.05%), tarsal segmentsⅡ (CV=3.10%-8.39%) and claws (CV=2.60%-11.68%). Principal component analysis filtered the first principal component, which included the characters of ultimate rostral segments, tarsal segmentsⅠ, tarsal segmentsⅡ and claws. The bivariate plots (ovals in plots were 95% confident elipses for every species) of these characters showed steady ranges. The results showed that the characters, such as ultimate rostral segments, tarsi and claws, which are related to aphid feeding behavior and adhesion on the surfaces of plants, were obviously similar among different taxa. These suggested that convergent adaptation occurred in these characters of the aphid species on the leaves' surfaces of bamboos. Combined with biological data of these aphids, the mechanism of morphological adaptation in these species was tentatively discussed.

The genus Xenapatidea Malaise, 1957 is reviewed and 6 species are recorded in China. Among them, X. reticulata sp. nov. is described as new to science and X. rufoscutellata Koch, 1996 is firstly recorded from China. The unknown female of X. rufoscutellata Koch, 1996 is reported and described. A key to the eight known species of the genus is provided. Type specimens of the new species are deposited in Insect Collection of Central South Forestry University.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) receptor is very important to the toxicity expression of Bt in insects. Change in binding ability between this receptor and Bt insecticidal proteins may be the main mechanism of Bt resistance. In this paper, the types, structure, binding characteristics of the insect receptors, including aminopeptidase N, cadherin-like protein, alkaline phosphatase and glycolipids, the expression of genes of insect receptors in endogenous cells, and the relationships between Bt resistance and receptor are reviewed.

Since 1978, characterization of the homeotic bithorax mutations of Drosophila has led E.B. Lewis to presage the growth of work on comparative developmental genetics, which focuses mainly on Hox genes, and afterward greatly adds to our understanding of the genetic basis of morphological evolution. Here, we reviewed the latest progress in the origin of insect wing and work on developmental genetics underlying wing modification. According to fossil records, primary insects bear appendages (including wings) on all thoracic and abdominal segments, while modern insects evolve to bear only two pairs of wings on T2 and T3, due to Hox suppression to wing development in other segments. Of the ten arthropod Hox genes known, Ubx has hindwing identity, and regulates its targets to make the fore-and hind-wing different in morphology. We especially compared Hox expression pattern of insects with most modified wings in three orders: Coleoptera (forewing to elytra), Diptera (hindwing to haltere) and Strepsiptera (forewing to haltere). Recent studies show that function of Ubx in beetle hindwings represents a previously unknown mode of wing diversification in insects. However, more study on Strepsiptera is necessary.

A full cDNA encoding an acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC3.1.1.7) from the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Homoptera: Delphacidae) was cloned and characterized. The complete cDNA (2 467 bp) contains a 1 938 bp open reading frame encoding 646 amino acid residues (GenBank accession no.AJ852420). The complete amino acid sequence of AChE deduced from the cDNA consists of 30 residues for the putative signal peptide and 616 residues for the mature protein with a predicted molecular weight of 69 418 D. The three residues (Ser242, Glu371 and His485) that putatively form the catalytic triad and six Cys that form intra-subunit disulfide bonds are completely conserved, and 10 out of the 14 aromatic residues lining the active site gorge of the AChE are also conserved. The deduced amino acid sequence is most similar to AChE of Nephotettix cincticeps with 83% amino acid identity. Phylogenetic analysis based on 30 AChEs from 23 insect species showed that the deduced AChE formed a cluster with 6 AChE2s. Additionally, the hypervariable region and amino acids specific to insect AChE2 also exist in N. lugens AChE. The results indicate that the AChE gene cloned in this work belongs to insect AChE2 subgroup, which are homologous to Drosophila AChE2.

An important invasive insect pest, locust gall midge Obolodiplosis robiniae (Haldemann) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), was newly discovered from China. Native to North America, this species attacks leaf of black locust tree, Robinia pseudoacacia L. As one characteristic of infestation, its larvae (usually 3-8 individuals) gregariously feed inside the longitudinal rolling gall along the edges of leaf. In Qinhuangdao City of Hebei Province and Jinzhou, Anshan, Huludao and Chaoyang cities of Liaoning Province, its attacking rate on black locust trees were about 100%. The pest threats the health of R. pseudoacacia which has been planted in large areas in China. Strict quarantine, study on its biology and control measures are necessary in order to block its spread and damages.