Four new species of Zeugodacus Hendel are described from India viz., Zeugodacus momordicae David & Ajaykumara, sp. nov. from Arunachal Pradesh infesting male flower buds of Momordica dioica, Zeugodacus nasivittatus David & Abhishek, sp. nov. from Meghalaya, Zeugodacus (Sinodacus) sinuvittatus David & Abhishek, sp. nov. from Himachal Pradesh and Zeugodacus (Zeugodacus) umiam David & Kennedy, sp. nov. from Meghalaya. An illustrated key to all species of Zeugodacus from India is also included. Bactrocera (Parazeugodacus) abbreviata (Hardy) and Dacus (Mellesis) vijaysegarani Drew & Hancock are recorded for the first time from India.
Three new species of Campiglossa Rondani are described from India: adults of both sexes and third instar larvae of C. ialong David, Salini & Hancock, sp. nov. and C. sherlyae David & Hancock, sp. nov., plus an adult female of C. shaktii David, Sachin & Hancock, sp. nov., are described and illustrated. Postabdominal structures, cephalopharyngeal skeleton, and anterior and posterior spiracles of C. gemma (Hering, 1939) and C. sororcula (Wiedemann, 1830) are illustrated. DNA barcode sequences of C. ialongsp. nov., C. sherlyaesp. nov., and C. gemma were obtained and reported. Records of C. absinthii (Fabricius, 1805) and C. iracunda (Hering, 1938) are regarded as misidentifications of C. lyncea (Bezzi, 1913) and C. shaktiisp. nov., respectively, and excluded from the Indian fauna. A key to the known species of Campiglossa from India is provided. Results of preliminary phylogenetic analysis using COI revealed that C. ialongsp. nov. is paraphyletic to the Campiglossa misella group and C. C. sherlyaesp. nov. is a sister species of C. deserta.
The aphid lion, Chrysoperla zastrowi sillemi (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) is a highly effective beneficial predator of many agricultural pests and has developed resistance to several insecticides. Understanding the molecular mechanism of insecticide resistance in the predators is crucial for its effective application in IPM programs. Therefore, transcriptomes of imidacloprid-resistant and susceptible strains have been assessed using RNA-seq. Cytochrome P450 is one of the important gene families involved in xenobiotic metabolism. Hence, our study focused on the CYP gene family where mining, nomenclature, and phylogenetic analysis revealed a total of 95 unique CYP genes with considerable expansion in CYP3 and CYP4 clans. Further, differential gene expression (DGE) analysis revealed ten CYP genes from CYP3 and CYP4 clans to be differentially expressed, out of which nine genes (CYP4419A1, CYP4XK1, CYP4416A10, CYP4416A-fragment8, CYP6YL1, CYP6YH6, CYP9GK-fragment16, CYP9GN2, CYP9GK6) were downregulated and one (CYP9GK3) was upregulated in the resistant strain as compared to the susceptible strain. Expression validation by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) is consistent with the DGE results. The expansion and differential expression of CYP genes may be an indicator of the capacity of the predator to detoxify a particular group of insecticides.
A new genus and species of fruit fly, Dacimita curvifasciatus David & Hancock, gen. et sp. n. is described from Meghalaya, India. It morphologically resembles Ichneumonopsis Hardy and Monacrostichus Bezzi, the former of uncertain tribal placement and the latter included in tribe Dacini. Phylogenetic analysis based on morphological and molecular characters revealed Dacimita curvifasciatus to be best placed in tribe Gastrozonini in subfamily Dacinae.