Jan Havelka

Review of invasive grapevine aphid, Aphis Illinoisensis shimer, and native parasitoids in the mediterranean (Hemiptera, Aphididae; Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae)

A summary of the study of Aphis illinoisensis Shimer on grapes, Vitis vinifera in the mediterranean area brings references and new findings on its distribution in Crete/Greece, turkey, Northern Cyprus, malta, Israel, montenegro, tu- nisia, Algeria and libya. Parasitoids of A. illinoisensis were only occasionally found (Aphidius matricariae Hal. - Cyprus, turkey, Greece; Aphidius colemani viereck - libya; Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cress. - Algeria). Of the native species, i.e. A. colemani, and others similar to the native species, L. testaceipes seem to be a promising biocontrol agent within the frame- work of an ecologically friendly management in the area. Given the evidence of its expansion, A. illinoisensis is expected to expand further in several directions from the recently documented invaded area to all the grape-growing areas of the mediterranean and even those of South-e astern and Central e urope.

Review and Key to the World Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of Aphis ruborum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Its Role as a Host Reservoir

ABSTRACT A review and illustrated key of the aphidiine parasitoids of Aphis ruborum (Börner and Schilder) are presented including their distribution. The parasitoid spectrum of A. ruborum in the West Palaearctic is rich, composed of Aphidius colemani Viereck, Aphidius matricariae Haliday, Binodoxys acalephae (Marshall), Binodoxys angelicae (Haliday), Ephedrus persicae Froggatt, Lipolexis gracilis Förster, Lysiphlebus confusus Tremblay and Eady, Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall), and Praon abjectum (Haliday), and supplemented by the introduction of Lysiphlebus testaceipes (Cresson). In the Americas the parasitoid complex of A. ruborum consists of A. colemani, Aphidius ervi Haliday (South America), and L. testaceipes (South and North America). Furthermore, the reservoir role of A. ruborum in various ecosystems was investigated in Europe (France) and South America (Chile). Faunal peculiarities and relationships of the parasitoid taxa are discussed together with a synopsis of their potential as biocontrol agents.

Review and Key to the World Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of Greenideinae Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae), Including Notes on Invasive Pest Species

ABSTRACT A review and illustrated key of the aphidiine parasitoids of Greenideinae aphids is presented including their distribution. Fissicaudus thailandicus Starý & Rakhshani sp. nov. from Thailand is described and figured. Parabioxys songbaiensis Shi & Chen is redescribed based on reared specimens from North Korea. Faunal peculiarities and relationships of the taxa are discussed together with a synopsis of their potential as biocontrol agents.

Russian Wheat Aphid, Diuraphis noxia in the Czech Republic – cause of the significant population decrease

Diuraphis noxia is a newly established alien pest in the Czech Republic. There were two population explosions during the period 1993–2012. A successful overwintering of the anholocyclic populations of D. noxia was the cause of a population explosion in the oncoming growth season. Viviparous parthenogenetic females of the anholocyclic populations and diapausing eggs of holocyclic populations could overwinter at the same time. Analysis of the course of winter temperatures showed that a complete winter mortality of anholocyclic populations depended mainly on the duration of the freezing period, when temperature dropped below −5°C, and on the intensity of the frost. We proposed the cumulative effective freeze (in minus degree days) as a key parameter for the aphid anholocyclic populations mortality during overwintering. This parameter equalled −10.1 degree days for relatively warm winter period 2006–2007, whereas in the relatively cold winter period of 2009–2010, this parameter reached −87.1 DD, which caused complete mortality of anholocyclic populations. A cumulative effective freeze could be used for short‐time prognosis of D. noxia population explosion.

Taxonomic review of the genus Aulacorthum (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae) for the Korean peninsula, with the description of one new species

Twelve species of the genus Aulacorthum Mordvilko 1914 (Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae) are recognized from the Korean Peninsula. One new species, Aulacorthum ixeridis n. sp., is described for apterous and alate viviparous females on Ixeris chinensis var. graminifolia (Ledeb.) H. C. Fu and Lactuca indica L. (Asteraceae). From the allied species, Aulacorthum nepetifolii Miyazaki 1968, Aulacorthum ixeridis n. sp. is distinguished by the relatively short ultimate rostral segment (0.83–1.07 × as long as the second segment hind tarsus), the dense spinules on head and the triangular short cauda. Host plants of the Korean Aulacorthum are reviewed and the identification key to subgenera and species is also presented.

A new parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of the invasive bamboo aphids Takecallis spp. (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Western Europe

ABSTRACT A long-term survey of tritrophic (plant–aphid–parasitoid) associations in the urban ecosystems of Lleida (Catalonia) and Paris (France) resulted in the detection of associations of two bamboo aphids, Takecallis arundinariae (Essig) and Takecallis taiwanus (Takahashi), respectively, with a new aphid parasitoid species. Trioxys remaudierei Starý & Rakhshani sp. nov. is described and illustrated as a unique parasitoid of Takecallis aphids outside the area of their origin. The new species is easily distinguishable from its congeners in having the ventral prongs of the abdomen fused over two-thirds of their length, then bifurcated towards the tip. The only morphologically similar species is Trioxys betulae (Marshall), which exhibits a clearly different prong shape (and has a different host range, Symydobius Mordvilko and Clethrobius Mordvilko). The new species is compared with allied taxa associated with bamboo aphids. The occurrence of Takecallis taiwanus on bamboo is recorded in France for the first time. www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:ED15BA16-E8A9-4CEA-BDA7-FBAB02FEB091

New information on the invasive to Europe aphid species Brachycaudus divaricatae Shaposhnikov, 1956 (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Brachycaudus divaricatae (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a recent invader to Europe, has already reached Czech Republic. Partial sequences of mitochondrial COI and nuclear EF-1α genes have been analysed across the sixteen Czech samples of B. divaricatae, together with morphometric analysis of the same samples based on eighteen morphological characters of the apterous viviparous females. For comparative studies, thirteen samples from the Eastern Baltic region of Europe (Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) were used. All sampled populations appeared similar in their genetic and morphological characters studied. One haplotype of mitochondrial COI gene was predominant; it was characteristic for all samples from Czech Republic and 8 out of 13 samples from Eastern Baltic region. Two other haplotypes were found in the Eastern Baltic region only. Four different haplotypes of EF-1α gene were detected. Most of the samples (except one sample from the Eastern Baltic region and two samples from Czech Republic) had the same haplotype. Out of remaining three haplotypes, one was unique for the Eastern Baltic region, whilst two were found in Czech Republic only. For the present, Moravia is the southernmost region in Europe, where B. divaricatae has been already reported. Presumably, this invasive aphid species has entered the Czech Republic from the north via the Moravian Gate, a natural pass formed by the depression between the Western Carpathians and Eastern Sudetes.

The genus Uroleucon (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from the Korean Peninsula. Part I. The nominotypical subgenus Uroleucon with descriptions of three new species.

Abstract Ten species of Uroleucon (Uroleucon) Mordvilko, 1914 are recognized from the Korean Peninsula, among which three species, U. (Uroleucon) exiguum, U. (U.) asteriae and U. (U.) leontopodiicola are described as new to science. U. (U.) cichorii is recorded for the first time from the Korean Peninsula. A key to the subgenera of Uroleucon and species of the subgenus Uroleucon occurring in Korea is presented.

Interference of Field Evidence, Morphology, and DNA Analyses of Three Related Lysiphlebus Aphid Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae)

ABSTRACT. This study provides evidence on integrating the morphological, field, and laboratory data, and application of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding gene to the three asexual or sexual Lysiphlebus spp., i.e., Lysiphlebus cardui (Marshall), Lysiphlebus confusus Tremblay and Eady and Lysiphlebus fabarum (Marshall) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae). New aphid—invasive plant association, Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemipreta: Aphididae) on Impatiens glandulifera Royle, has been used in the same model area in the Czech Republic under the same sampling and rearing method for several consecutive years and throughout the season. For molecular identification of these three species, we used DNA sequences of the barcoding region of the mitochondrial COI gene. Although our results confirmed ecological and morphological differences among L. cardui, L. confusus, and L. fabarum, genetic analysis on the basis of COI mitochondrial barcoding gene does not support species status of the mentioned Lysiphlebus taxa. The level of morphological differentiation in these Lysiphlebus Förster species is in accordance with the usual species variability within subfamily Aphidiinae. However, it should be examined how appearance of asexual lineages affects the morphological or genetical variability.

A New Species of the Genus Aulacorthum (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from the Korean Peninsula and Its Discrimination from a Closely—Related Species using Morphological and Molecular Characters

Aulacorthum sp. collected on Artemisia princeps and Artemisia stolonifera (Asteraceae) in the Korean Peninsula was compared with the eight Aulacorthum species using molecular and morphological characters. In the sequence analysis, the genetic divergences of two mitochondrial genes, COI and CytB, between Aulacorthum sp. and the congeneric species were higher than those among the congeneric species. In the morphometric analysis, principal components analysis using 13 morphological characters reveals that Aulacorthum sp. is distinguished from the congeneric species, especially Aulacorthum albimagnoliae, which is morphologically most similar to Aulacorthum sp.. Based on these results, we propose a new species, Aulacorthum (Aulacorthum) artemisiphaga Lee, Havelka, and Lee sp. nov., with a description of apterous and alate viviparous females and an identification key to species in the genus Aulacorthum in the Korean Peninsula based on apterous viviparous females.