To isolate the differentially expressed genes in brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Homoptera: Delphacidae) responding to host rice resistance, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was carried out using the 4th instar larvae of brown planthopper feeding on the susceptible rice Taichung Native 1 (TN1) and the highly resistant rice B5 seedlings at the 3rd leaf stage for 24 h. A forward and a reverse subtracted cDNA libraries specific to host rice resistance were constructed, followed by differential screening by dot blot hybridization. The clones representing the regulated genes were sequenced and evaluated by nucleotide blast analysis in the GenBank. Expression of the clones highly homologous to the known genes in the database was further verified by Northern blot hybridization. The results showed that 92 out of 98 clones were identified as non-redundant expressed sequence tags (ESTs) by dot blot analysis, among which 25 ESTs had high homology (E value<0.01) to known genes in the GenBank. Northern blot hybridization analysis demonstrated that 11 of the 25 genes were induced and 8 were repressed by rice resistance, suggesting that these genes may play an important role in response of brown planthopper to resistant rice. The data obtained in this work will help to clone the full-length cDNA sequences of the novel genes and reveal their functions involved in rice resistance.

Prophenoloxidase (PPO) is a key enzyme of insect immunity. In this study, the nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence of PPO cloned from the larvae of Ostrinia furnacalis were analyzed and predicted by the tools of bioinformatics in the following aspects: the composition of nucleotide sequences and amino acid sequences, signal peptide, trans-membrane topological structure, hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, secondary structure, tertiary structure, etc. The results showed that the full-length cDNA of O. furnacalis PPO (Of-PPO) consisted of 2 686 bp, containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 2 079 bp. Based on the 693 deduced amino acid sequences of Of-PPO, a putative thiolester site and two distinct copper binding regions were found, which included six histidine residues. Of-PPO belongs to the PPO2 group, and there is no signal peptide in the N-terminal region of the polypeptide chain. No possible transmembrane protein model was found. There was no O-glycosylation site in Of-PPO predicted with DictyoGlyc. Forty-four phosphorylation sites were predicted in the whole peptide by NetPhos 2.0 Server. Two regions of Of-PPO could form coil structures, and five regions were found with significant hydrophobic characteristics. The proportions of α-helix and random coil in the secondary structure of Of-PPO were 22.54% and 56.79%, respectively. The comparative modeling method was used to calculate the tertiary structure of Of-PPO, and the result showed that it was the “roller” shape, which belongs to the α/β type. The catalytic activity may relate with a large vacant space in Of-PPO structure analyzed by the RasMol software. This study may provide valuable information for further research on Of-PPO.

Diptericin gene is a member of the antimicrobial peptide family, and plays a key role in insect innate immune system. In this study, a cDNA of 410 bp encoding for a diptericin was cloned from housefly (Musca domestica) by RACE based on dbEST information, which contains a 300 bp open reading frame (ORF) and was named Md-Diptericin (MdDpt) with the GenBank accession no. FJ794602. The C-terminal of the deduced peptide consists of a glycine-rich domain, while the N-terminal consists of a proline-rich domain. The result of sequence alignment analysis showed that this gene shares 74% identity with Stomoxys calcitrans. In addition, the phylogenetic analysis also indicated that the diptericin from housefly was in the same branch with those of other species, suggesting that they originated from the same ancestor and belong to Attacin_C superfamily. Analysis of quantitative RT-PCR indicated that, after challenged with Escherichia coli, the mRNA level of MdDpt in fly larvae was up-regulated and significantly higher than that of the blank control at 6 h to 12 h post-challenge. These results suggest that MdDpt plays an important role in fly defensive system.

To augment the databases of Mermithidae mitochondrial genome, to study the mitochondrial genome characteristics and phylogenies of the nematodes, and to provide the theoretical information for the biological control, we carried out the research on the entomopathogenic nematode Ovomermis sinensis. The characterization of mitochondrial genomes from individual O. sinensis nematodes showed that numerous mtDNA haplotypes, ranging in size from 16.5 to 24.5 kb. To understand the molecular basis of this hypervariation, complete nucleotide sequences of two O. sinensis mtDNA haplotypes were determined by two-step long-PCR, with the length of 18 864 and 16 777 bp, respectively. Our data revealed that O. sinensis mtDNA can be divided into a constant region and a hypervariable region. The hypervariable segment, residing between ND2 and ND4, contributes exclusively to O. sinensis mtDNA size variation. Within this region, mtDNA coding genes and putative nonfunctional sequences are duplicated and rearranged to varying extents. Based on the above analysis and the comparison of the mitochondrial genomes of O. sinensis and other six species of Mermithidae, the following characteristics of the mitochondrial genomes of Mermithidae were summarized: firstly, the gene orders of mitochondrial genomes in Mermithidae are different; secondly, the frequency of gene duplication is variable among some species; and thirdly, the sizes of complete mitochondrial genomes are different.

To provide theoretic basis for the scientific application of insecticides and resistance management, the resistance of Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) to seven insecticides and the sensitivity of N. lugens and Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) in two field populations collected from Hangzhou city and Ningbo city, Zhejiang Province in July 2008 to sixteen insecticides were evaluated with rice stem-dipping method. Compared with the relative susceptible strain of N. lugens, the Hangzhou and Ningbo populations developed resistance to imidacloprid, imidaclothiz, thiamethoxam, buprofezin and fipronil, with the resistance ratios （RR） to imidacloprid were 479.0-fold and 366.1-fold, to imidaclothiz were 81.1-fold and 50.9-fold, to thiamethoxam were 10.3-fold and 9.4-fold, to buprofezin and fipronil were 5.0-8.6-fold and 15.8-17.0-fold, respectively, while the two populations remained susceptible to nitenpyram and acetamiprid (RR<3-fold). The toxicity of sixteen insecticides to Hangzhou and Ningbo populations in N. lugens and S. furcifera was determined. The results showed the toxicity of thiamethoxam, buprofezin, nitenpyram, and chlorpyrifos was relative high to the two rice planthoppers. Therefore, thiamethoxam, buprofezin, nitenpyram and chlorpyrifos, instead of imidacloprid, imidaclothiz and fipronil, are recommended for controlling N. lugens and S. furcifera when they occur simultaneously.

To determine the relationship between the resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin and the detoxification enzymes of the common cutworm, Spodoptera litura (Fabricius), we investigated the resistance levels and activities of detoxification enzymes in lambda-cyhalothrin selected and non-selected populations based on a field population collected from Tai’an suburb with 543.7-fold resistance to lambda-cyhalothrin by topical application. The results indicated that the resistance of the original population decreased to 102.3-fold at F30- generation without exposure to any insecticide and increased to 3 049.3-fold at F30 generation after selection with lambda-cyhalothrin for 28 generations. When selection stopped from F15 generation, the resistance decreased again from 2 593.8-fold at F14 to 786.3-fold at F30 generation. Compared with the susceptible strain, the activities of esterase and glutathione S-transferase in midguts of the 5th instar larvae of the original field generation were significantly higher, while the activity of microsomal O-demethylase showed no significant difference. For the selected generations, the activities of esterase, glutathione S-transferase and microsomal O-demethylase were significantly increased. After selection stopped, the activities of three detoxification enzymes deceased significantly. For non-selected generations, the activities of esterase and glutathione S-transferase also decreased gradually, but were still significantly higher at F30 generation than those of the susceptible strain. The results suggest that the enhancement in activities of esterase, glutathione S-transferase and microsomal O-demethylase is an important mechanism for the resistance increase of S. litura to lambda-cyhalothrin

To clarify the ability of high temperature tolerance and thermoregulation behavior of the oriental migratory locust, Locusta migratoria manilensis, we adopted the methods of high-temperature breeding and offering radiant heat and wind to research the high temperature tolerance of the locust at different developmental stages, the relationship between body temperature (Tb) and air temperature (Ta) and radiant temperature (Tr), choosing behavior of locusts to radiant heat, the increasing velocity of Tb and the effects of radiant angle and wind power to Tb. The results showed that LT90 reached 326.4 h at 44℃ and 20.6 h at 50℃, respectively. In the condition without radiant heat, Tb increased with Ta. Locusts showed thermoregulation behavior when Ta was raised to 32℃. When Ta was raised at the velocity of 0.5℃/min, the percentage of individuals with temperature undulation was 53.7%, the average undulation range of Tb was 1.15℃, the average undulation time was 5.2 min and the average initiative undulation of Tb was 47.2℃. The lethal time of adults was longer than that of nymphs. In the condition with radiant heat, locusts inclined to choose the bottom of cage when the radiant temperature of the top was raised gradually; thermoregulation behavior was stronger than that in the condition without radiant heat. Under different radiant angles and different wind levels and illumination combinations, locusts displayed significant differences in Tb. The results indicate that Locusta migratoria manilensis has obvious high temperature tolerance and thermoregulation behavior which can adjust Tb to the best physiological condition.

In this study, the longevity, reproduction and survival rate of Agasicles hygrophila adults under different high temperatures (37, 39, 41, 43 and 45±0.5℃) for 1 h were studied. The results showed that: (1) Adult longevity of A. hygrophila species was decreased with the temperature increasing. It was 37.4 d on average at 25℃ (control). However, it dropped to 20.0 d after exposure at 45℃ for 1 h. (2) Pre-oviposition period of female A. hygrophila prolonged significantly after exposure to high temperatures over 39℃ for 1 h. It was 4.1 d on average at 25℃ (control). It prolonged to 4.8 and 7.3 d after exposure to 39 and 45℃ for 1 h, respectively. (3) Number of eggs laid by individual A. hygrophila female decreased significantly with the heat-shock temperature increasing. It was 965.1 eggs on average at 25℃, but decreased to 638.7 eggs at 39℃ and less than 260 eggs at 45℃. (4) Egg viability and offspring emergence rate of A. hygrophila was also impacted significantly by heat-shock. With the temperature increasing, the egg hatching rate dropped from 95.4% to 89.2%, and the adult emergence rate of F1 generation decreased from 87.0% to 71.3%. These results indicate that brief high temperature exposure has adverse impacts on fecundity of A. hygrophila.

Sugar and pollen play an important role in the development and reproduction of bumble bees. The effect of feed combinations with different sugar and pollen on the reproduction of the bumblebee Bombus hypocrita Pérez was investigated by feeding micro-colonies of queenless workers. Two kinds of sugars ［sucrose (S) and honey (H)］ and five kinds of pollen ［rape (RP), apricot (AP), sunflower (SP), corn (CP) and tea (TP)］ were used in twenty-four treatments. The results showed that the workers just fed with sugar did not lay eggs with longevity significantly shorter than other treatments fed with sugar and pollen. Pollen also caused significant difference in the longevity of workers. The longevity of workers fed on corn pollen was significantly shorter than those of workers fed on other pollen. Pollen did not cause significant difference in worker’s pre-oviposition time and number of egg cups. However, feeds affected significantly the numbers of laid eggs, larval ejection, duration of male development and the number of progeny. Among all the treatments, S+AP treatment delivered the highest number of eggs, AP and TP treatments caused a lower number of larval ejection, RP and AP treatments led to shorter male development time, and AP treatment contributed to a higher number of progeny. The results suggest that the worker colony development is significantly affected by different feeds. We so suggest that different food for bumblebee colony should be provided at different developmental phases in artificial rearing of bumblebees.

In order to predict and analyse the potential geographical distributions of three important quarantine invasive pests, Dacus bivittatus, D. ciliatus and D. vertebratus, three ecological niche modeling techniques, BIOCLIM, DOMAIN and Maximum entropy nichebased modeling (Maxent) were implemented by using distribution records of the three fruit fly species and a set of environmental predictor variables. Differences in prediction performance of the three models with thresholds were observed. An evaluation using independent records of D. bivittatus showed that Maxent offers the most accurate predictions than two other models based on three values of ROC/AUC, Kappa, and TSS. Prediction outcomes made by Maxent revealed that the three fruit fly species have broadly similar potential ranges in Central American, South American, Southeast Asia, and Coastal areas of Australia in general. D. ciliatus has the comparatively widest potential range among the three species, including Coastal areas of Mediterranean Sea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and South Iran, suggesting that it may be tolerant of the widest range of climatic conditions among the three species. In China, while large areas of Yunnan and Hainan are very habitable for all the three fruit fly species, southern part of Guangdong and Taiwan are also their habitable areas. D. ciliatus has the widest potential distribution area, with southern part of Sichuan, Guizhou and Tibet plus the coastal areas of southern China all being its suitable areas. The risk of the three fruit fly species permanently establishing in Guangdong if introduced exist but low. Jackknife analysis revealed that temperature and its variation have comparative significant influence on the distribution patterns of three fruit fly species both in global and restricted regions.

The sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius), is a species complex that is considered an important agricultural pest because of its diversity in biotypes, capacity to transmit viruses, high resistance to chemicals and rapid physiological development. Its biotype status in Jiangsu, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces was determined by using mitochondrial DNA COI markers and correlated with their host plants and locations. Results indicated that, in Guangdong and Yunnan, the local unresolved biotypes and the already known biotypes of B. tabaci (B and Q) coexist, the former is relatively more dependent on its host plants than the invasive biotypes. No Q biotype of B. tabaci has been found in Guangdong and no local biotype has been found in Jiangsu in this study. Multitudinous host plants and the inherent polyphagous characteristics enhance the wide invasion of B and Q biotypes in different counties.

This paper describes 3 new tribes (Bienkoini tribe nov., Genimenini tribe nov. and Plotnikovini tribe nov.) and a new genus (Eozubovskya gen. nov.) of the subfamily Conophyminae, and provides a key to the tribes and genera of the subfamily from Eurasia. Three genera Khayyamia Kocak, 1981, Conophymacris Willemse, 1933 and Zagrosia Descamps, 1967 are moved to the subfamily Podisminae based on the presence of the wings.

This paper deals with the phylogenetic systematics and taxonomic status of four Chinese genera of the tribe Platyscelidini based on defensive gland structure. We summarized the characteristics of the glands at the generic level and tribric level according to gland position, shape, length and width, the distance between the two glands, and gland surface decorated whorles and wrinkles. The SPSS 13.0 and Hennig 86 program (version 1.5) were used to analyze the selected characteristics of defensive glands, the former was the hierarchical analysis while the latter the evolutionary one, and both analysis results support the stability of the existing classification system of Platyscelidini. The latter analysis result suggests that the evolutionary relationship should be as (Myatis+Bioramix)+(Oodescelis+Platysceli).

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful molecular technique, and has been widely applied to researches on insects. The technique is largely employed to study functional genes and functional genomics, and so far has been applied in 19 species of several insect orders. There are several ways to obtain RNAi in insects, such as injection, soaking, feeding, developing transgenic organisms and virus mediation, of which feeding might be most applicable due to its simplicity in practice. Systemic RNAi has been observed only in some insects, and the RNAi signals were first considered to be transferred by sid-1 gene in insects, but the mechanism has not been fully elucidated. Transgenic plants producing dsRNA have showed a significant protection of plants from pest damaging, suggesting that the RNAi technique can be applied as a new strategy for improving pest management. The study on RNAi in insects is currently in the very beginning phase, and further work needs to be done to address the mechanism of RNAi in insects, especially the mechanism of systemic RNAi. The approaches to RNAi are expected to be improved in favor of application of RNAi technique to the function identification of insect genes and the practical management of insect pests, aiming at boosting the development of entomology.

Tuberculosis reestablishes as a predominant threat to human beings. Several factors including multidrug resistance, persistence and co-infection with HIV contributed to its rampancy. More sophisticated understanding of the basic biology of its pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the immune response of human beings will be the cornerstone of tuberculosis control and eradication. No single animal model can fully address the magnitudes of its pathogenesis. Integrating knowledge from diverse animal models can be insightful. Drosophila is ideal to address the innate immune response to tuberculosis. Immune response pathway, components of immune response pathway and related negative regulatory factors in Drosophila were reviewed. The major findings employing Mycobacterium infection, especially M. marinum, M. fortuitum and M. smegmatis to challenge Drosophila were summarized. Copious studies demonstrated that no antimicrobial peptides were significantly induced, and multiple host factors such as CD36 family member and ESCRT were involved in the host response. Beta-hexosaminidase related to killing Mycobacterium was identified. Energy metabolism related genes were differentially regulated during infection. These might be helpful to the identification of novel anti-tuberculosis drug targets and lead discovery via the facile Drosophila model.

In order to explore the quantitative index of aphid selection responses to different lights, bioassays on the phototactic response of alate and apterous Myzus persicae to different monochromatic lights were conducted using filter technology. The results showed that the alate aphids were significantly attracted by the monochromatic lights with the wavelength ranging from 490 to 550 nm. Among the spectra, the yellowish green light of the wavelength 538.9 and 549.9 nm elicited the strongest behavioral response of the alate aphids, with the mean displacements 25.29 and 22.97 cm respectively, and followed by blue green light (491.5 nm). But the yellow monochromatic light (576.0 nm) was unattractive to the alate aphids. There were no clear peaks in the phototactic response profile of apterous aphids whose maximum relative mean displacement was only 1.41. The results of behavior bioassays are roughly in accordance with previous electrophysiological bioassays, indicating that using displacement as the index of phototactic response of tiny insects is reliable.