Spiders are important natural enemies of rice pests. Studying the effects of herbivore-induced rice volatiles on spider attraction and predation ability may lead to safer methods for pest prevention and control. In this study, four-arm olfactometer, predation ability experiment, and field trapping experiment were used to evaluate the effects of herbivore-induced rice volatiles on Pirata subpiraticus Bösenberg et Strand (Araneae: Lycosidae) and Pardosa pseudoannulata Bösenberg et Strand (Araneae: Lycosidae). The 0.5 μg/μL linalool concentration was attractive, and also shortened the predation latency in male P. subpiraticus and female P. pseudoannulata. The 0.5 μg/μL linalool concentration increased the daily predation capacity of female P. pseudoannulata. Male P. pseudoannulata were attracted to 1.0 g/L methyl salicylate, which also shortened their predation latency. In field experiments, methyl salicylate and linalool were effective for trapping spiders. Herbivore-induced rice volatiles attract rice field spiders and affect their predatory ability. These results suggest that herbivore-induced rice volatiles can be used to attract spiders and provide improved control of rice pests.

Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is a devastating invasive pest worldwide. The abamectin and chlorantraniliprole complex have become an alternative option for chemical control because they can enhance insecticidal activity and delay increased drug resistance. Notably, pests are inevitably resistant to various types of insecticides, and compound insecticides are no exception. To identify potential genes involved in the detoxification of abamectin and chlorantraniliprole complex in T. absoluta, PacBio SMRT-seq transcriptome sequencing and Illumina RNA-seq analysis of abamectin and chlorantraniliprole complex-treated T. absoluta were performed. We obtained 80,492 non-redundant transcripts, 62,762 (77.97%) transcripts that were successfully annotated, and 15,524 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs). GO annotation results showed that most of these DETs were involved in the biological processes of life-sustaining activities, such as cellular, metabolic, and single-organism processes. The KEGG pathway enrichment results showed that the pathways related to glutathione metabolism, fatty acid and amino acid synthesis, and metabolism were related to the response to abamectin and chlorantraniliprole complex in T. absoluta. Among these, 21 P450s were differentially expressed (11 upregulated and 10 downregulated). The qRT-PCR results for the eight upregulated P450 genes after abamectin and chlorantraniliprole complex treatment were consistent with the RNA-Seq data. Our findings provide new full-length transcriptional data and information for further studies on detoxification-related genes in T. absoluta.

Pardosa pseudoannulata (P. pseudoannulata) is an essential natural predatory enemy in rice ecosystems. The fluctuating climate may cause them to experience heat stress, whereas heat shock proteins (HSPs) and antioxidant enzymes help resist heat damage. Herein, we cloned and characterized the full-length genes PpHSP27, PpHSP60, and PpHSC70 from P. pseudoannulata. Changes in gene expression levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione transferase (GST) activities in adult male and female P. pseudoannulata were measured at different stress exposure times and temperatures. We found that the abovementioned HSP genes belong to the sHSP, HSP60, and HSP70 families. The expression of the three HSP genes and the activities of SOD, CAT, and GST were significantly upregulated with the increasing stress temperature and time. The knockdown of the three HSP genes via RNA interference significantly decreased the survival rate of male and female P. pseudoannulata during high temperature stress. Thus, PpHSP27, PpHSP60, and PpHSC70 play an important role in the heat tolerance of P. pseudoannulata, and SOD, CAT, and GST enable recovery heat stress-induced oxidative damage. Their changes and regulation during high temperature stress can improve spiders’ adaptability in the field and enhance the biological control of environmental pests.

Gloydius shedaoensis is an insular and vulnerable pitviper that is endemic to Snake Island, northeastern China. In this study, we successfully sequenced mitochondrial genomes of two individuals of G. shedaoensis. The complete mitochondrial genomes of G. shedaoensis are circular molecular with 17 222 and 17 221 bp in length respectively, which both contain 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, an origin of light-strand replication (OL) and two non-coding control regions. Compared with previously published mitochondrial genomes of Gloydius species, the base composition and gene arrangement are rather conservative. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree using the complete mitochondrial genomes of all viper species available showed a consistent result with previous studies.

Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is an important invasive pest that seriously affects the yield and quality of tomatoes. In this study, based on the previously obtained transcriptome data, a total of 25,123 SSR loci and 332,537 SNP loci were identified. The identified SSRs had occurrence and appearance frequencies of 28.62% and 40.60%, respectively. SSRs with a length equal to or greater than 12 bp constituted 58.25% of the total SSR loci. Through the analysis of GO, COG annotations, and the KEGG pathway database, it was revealed that the majority of SSR-transcripts were involved in fundamental cellular metabolic functions. In addition, the frequency of SNP occurrence was approximately one SNP locus per 175 base pairs (bp), and the transition type was the main variant type. The functional annotations of SNP-transcripts were primarily concentrated in biological synthesis pathways such as peroxisome, RNA transport, carbon metabolism, and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. These synthesis pathways are involved in the detoxification mechanism of T. absoluta and contribute to its enhanced survival under pesticide susceptibility. These findings provide valuable data for constructing genetic maps, assessing genetic diversity, and determining functional orientation in insects, and they also provide basic data for the molecular mechanism of T. absoluta ‘s response to pesticide susceptibility.