The pyralid moth Eldana saccharina Walker is an indigenous insect widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Studies have shown that populations from West Africa have distinct behavioural differences compared to populations from East and southern Africa. In addition, the parasitoid guilds attacking populations in these different regions are markedly different. This marked geographical variation evoked a hypothesis of genetic differentiation. To evaluate this hypothesis a molecular analysis was conducted on populations of E. saccharina from throughout much of the species’ range, using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) region of the mitochondrial genome. A minimum spanning network and a maximum parsimony tree separated the 21 specimens into three distinct groups. Results revealed the presence of substantial genetic differentiation that is related to geographic variation.

Eldana saccharina Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Gallerinae) occurs on many graminaceous crops and several wild grasses and sedges throughout Africa. It has been reared at the South African Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI) since the 1970s to study its biology and behavior, as a host for natural enemies and to provide insect material for the plant breeding program. Studies were completed on laboratory-reared E. saccharina of South African origin to assess fecundity, fertility and male and female mating frequencies. Mean fecundity of E. saccharina was 518 ± 27.5 (mean ± SE) eggs per female, up to a maximum of 798 eggs. Mean egg hatch (fertility) of E. saccharina was 63.2 ± 4.2%. In the laboratory, 56.7% of E. saccharina females mated only once but on average females mated 1.5 ± 0.1 times (maximum of 3). Males mated with a maximum of 6 females per male but on average males mated 3.3 ± 0.7 females. Most matings (93%) occurred on the first and second nights after male emergence, and the females o... Resumen Eldana saccharina Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Gallerinae) se presenta en muchos cultivos graminosos y varias hierbas y juncias silvestres en toda África. Se ha criado esta especie en el Instituto de Investigación de la Caña de Azúcar de Sudáfrica (SASRI) desde la década de 1970 para estudiar su biología y comportamiento, como un hospedero para enemigos naturales y para proveer material de insectos para el programa de fitomejoramiento. Se realizaron los estudios sobre especimenes de E. saccharina de origen sudafricano criadas en el laboratorio para evaluar la fecundidad, fertilidad y frecuencia de apareamiento de los machos y hembras. El promedio de la fecundidad de E. saccharina fue de 518 ± 27.5 (promedio ± DE) huevos por hembra, hasta un máximo de 798 huevos. El promedio de la eclosión de los huevos (fertilidad) de E. saccharina fue de 63.2 ± 4.2%. En el laboratorio, el 56.7% de las hembras de E. saccharina se aparearon sólo una vez, pero por lo general las hembras se aparearon 1.5 ± 0.1 vec...

It has been documented that the continual release of high numbers of biological control (biocontrol) agents for weeds increases the likelihood of agent establishment and has been shown to reduce the time between the first release and subsequent control of the target weed. Here we review the mass-rearing activities for weed biocontrol agents in South Africa between 2011 and 2020. Some 4.7 million individual insects from 40 species of biocontrol agent have been released on 31 weed species at over 2000 sites throughout South Africa during the last decade. These insects were produced at mass-rearing facilities at eight research institutions, five schools and 10 Non-Governmental Organizations. These mass-rearing activities have created employment for 41 fulltime, fixed contract staff, of which 11 are people living with physical disabilities. To improve the uptake of mass-rearing through community engagement, appropriate protocols are required to ensure that agents are produced in high numbers to suppress invasive alien plant populations in South Africa.

Currently, the systematics of the African noctuid stem borers of the subtribe Sesamiina, which include major pests of cereals, is confused. In addition, their ecology is poorly known, as are the factors influencing their evolution. In this paper, we address these shortcomings for two genera of the Sesamiina,SciomesaTams & Bowden andCarelisBowden. Mixed Bayesian phylogenetic analysis, which included their host plants and two mitochondrial genes, showed the genusSciomesato be polyphyletic. Two new genera were created,PirateoleaandFeraxinia. The genusCarelisproved to be paraphyletic and was subdivided into two sub-genera. The generaSciomesa,CarelisandPirateolea(named the ‘Sciomesagenus group’) share morphological traits, and the phylogenetic analysis showed that they had a common ancestor living on Cyperaceae and that they were distant from the genusFeraxiniabelonging to another clade which had an ancestor living on Poaceae. Seven new species were described:Sciomesa gnosiasp. n.,Sciomesia buasp. n.,Pirateolea nolagen. n, sp. n.,Feraxinia serenagen. n., sp. n.,Carelis australissp. n.,Carelis transversasp. n. andCarelis agnaesp. n. Ten species were sunk as synonyms:Sciomesa mesoscia(Hampson) syn. n.,Sciomesa mirificaLaporte syn. n.,Sciomesa constantiniLaporte syn. n. andSciomesa etchecopariLaporte syn. n. are synonyms ofSciomesa mesophaea(Aurivillius);Acrapex sparsipuctaLaporte syn. n. is a synonym ofSciomesa excelsa(Laporte) comb. n.;Acrapex congitaeLaporte syn. n.,Sesamia minutaLaporte syn. n. andSesamia minusculaLaporte syn. n. are synonyms ofSciomesa boulardi(Laporte) comb. n.;Acrapex bryaeLaporte syn. n. andAcrapex fayeiLaporte syn. n. are synonyms ofFeraxinia jemjemensis(Laporte) comb. n. Eleven new combinations were created:Sciomesa excelsa(Laporte) comb. n.,Sciomesa boulardi(Laporte) comb. n.,Sciomesa punctipennis(Krüger) comb. n.,Pirateolea piscator(Fletcher) comb. n.,Pirateolea argocyma(Fletcher) comb. n.,Pirateolea cyclophora(Fletcher) comb. n.,Pirateolea ochroneura(Fletcher) comb. n.,Pirateolea funebris(Krüger) comb. n.,Feraxinia nyei(Fletcher) comb. n.,Feraxinia jemjemensis(Laporte) comb. n. andCarelis biluma(Nye) comb. n.

Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is used as a classical biological control agent against Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), a serious exotic pest of cereal crops in eastern and southern Africa. This parasitoid has been introduced into several African countries for the control of C. partellus in maize, Zea mays L., and sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.), but it has never been released in Ethiopia. It is hypothesized that it spread into Ethiopia from populations released in Kenya and Somalia to become the predominant parasitoid of C. partellus in maize and sorghum fields of the country. In recent surveys conducted in Ethiopia, C. flavipes was recovered from C. partellus in sugarcane, Saccharum L. spp. hybrids, at a site >2,000 km from the nearest known release sites in Kenya and Somalia. These findings question published hypotheses that estimate the dispersal rate of C. flavipes to be 60 km per year in Africa, and they suggest that since its release in Africa this parasitoid has developed strains adapted to searching particular host plants infested by particular stem borers. The anomalies between our results and previous reports evoked the hypothesis that C. flavipes in Ethiopian sugarcane might be a different strain. To test this hypothesis, we compared partial COI gene sequences of C. flavipes collected from sugarcane in Ethiopia and those of specimens from other African countries to determine the origin of the Ethiopian population. In addition, COI sequences were obtained for C. flavipes from other continents. The C. flavipes population established in Ethiopian sugarcane is most closely related to the populations released against C. partellus in maize in other parts of Africa, which were derived from the original population imported from Pakistan. The dispersal rate of the parasitoid was estimated to be >200 km per year.