Motivation: Here, we make available a second version of the BioTIME database, which compiles records of abundance estimates for species in sample events of ecological assemblages through time. The updated version expands version 1.0 of the database by doubling the number of studies and includes substantial additional curation to the taxonomic accuracy of the records, as well as the metadata. Moreover, we now provide an R package (BioTIMEr) to facilitate use of the database.Main Types of Variables Included: The database is composed of one main data table containing the abundance records and 11 metadata tables. The data are organised in a hierarchy of scales where 11,989,233 records are nested in 1,603,067 sample events, from 553,253 sampling locations, which are nested in 708 studies. A study is defined as a sampling methodology applied to an assemblage for a minimum of 2 years.Spatial Location and Grain: Sampling locations in BioTIME are distributed across the planet, including marine, terrestrial and freshwater realms. Spatial grain size and extent vary across studies depending on sampling methodology. We recommend gridding of sampling locations into areas of consistent size.Time Period and Grain: The earliest time series in BioTIME start in 1874, and the most recent records are from 2023. Temporal grain and duration vary across studies. We recommend doing sample‐level rarefaction to ensure consistent sampling effort through time before calculating any diversity metric.Major Taxa and Level of Measurement: The database includes any eukaryotic taxa, with a combined total of 56,400 taxa.Software Format: csv and. SQL.

Morphometric studies of five allopatric parasitoid populations (genusPsyttaliaWalker) from coffee plantations in Cameroon (Nkolbisson), Ghana (Tafo) and Kenya (Rurima, Ruiru and Shimba Hills) and one non-coffee population (from Muhaka, Kenya) were compared with individuals ofPsyttalia concolor(Szépligeti), a species released in several biological control programmes in the Mediterranean Region since the 20th Century. Analyses of wing vein measurements showed the second submarginal cell of the fore wing and its adjoining veins had the heaviest principal component weights and served as the main contributing variables in the diagnostic differentiation of the populations. Two populations (Rurima and Ruiru) were found to be the closest to each other and with the strongest phenetic affinity towardP.concolor(and forming one cluster). Populations from Shimba Hills (of unknown identity), Nkolbisson (P. perproximus(Silvestri)) and Tafo formed a second cluster and were separated fromP. concolor. Comparison using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) also showed the Shimba, Nkolbisson and Tafo populations forming a cluster in a dendrogram generated from their genetic distances, with the Shimba and Tafo populations placed as the most closely related species. Based on consistent morphological similarities, morphometric and ecological data coupled with the genetic evidence from AFLP data, the Shimba population is suggested as belonging to theP. perproximusgroup and, thus, represents a new occurrence record in Kenya. Our results also support earlier conclusion from cross mating data that populations from Rurima and Ruiru belong to thePsyttalia concolorspecies-group.

The life cycle of the invasive alien insect pest, fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), was studied using a colony established from field-collected larvae. Eggs, neonate larvae, and newly emerged adult moths were used in experiments to investigate the basic biology of the FAW. Adult females laid up to 1184 eggs with a mean of 46922 eggs per female. The incubation period of eggs and percentage hatchability were 2-3days and 8087, respectively. The mean larval lengths from the first to the sixth instar were 4.63, 6.60, 9.76, 15.86, 25.13, and 27.81mm, respectively. The mean larval weights were 0.003, 0.019, 0.045, 0.050, 0.060, and 0.067g, respectively, for the six instars. The mean width of the head capsule of the sixth instar larva was 2.76mm. The total larval duration throughout the six instar stages was 1618days, while the mean pupal weight was 0.250.001g and 0.350.011g for males and females, respectively. The mean pupal length was 14.30.16mm for males and 17.20.14mm for females. Pupal duration ranged from 8 to 14days, with a mean of 10.350.26days, while the pupal emergence rate ranged from 60 to 94, with a mean of 80.251.28. The life cycle of males lasted 3344days and that of females lasted 3649days under laboratory conditions. Adult copulation occurred between 8 and 11 pm, with the peak occurring at 9 pm. This study provides baseline information about the biology of the FAW. Apart from being an important reference point for future research on the FAW, the data provided would aid FAW management decision-making.

The seasonal abundance of African Invader fly, Bactrocera invadens and the influence of temperature and rainfall on fly catches was determined in two agro ecological zones; moist semi-deciduous forest area and the coastal grassland area of the Volta Region of Ghana for year of mango production. Traps containing methyl eugenol were used in monitoring the abundance of the Africa invader fly, Bactrocera invadens where data on both temperature and rainfall were collected from Meteorological Services of Ghana in Volta region. A total of 49,322 organisms captured, 45,829 were identified as Bactrocera invadens and 3493 were non-fruit fly. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the number of Bactrocera invadens captured between the agro ecological zones with relative fly densities of 5.06 F/T/D in moist semi deciduous forest area and 2.38 F/T/D in the coastal grassland zone. The result shows that climatic factors affected Bactrocera invadens differently in different agro ecological area. There was negative correlation and highly significant (p < 0.001) correlation between fruit flies and temperature whereas there was negative correlation and high significant (p < 0.01) difference between rainfall in the moist semi deciduous forest area. In the coastal grassland area, there was negative correlation and highly significant (p < 0.001) between Bactrocera invadens for both rainfall and temperature. Bactrocera invadens activities peaked differently during the study period due to favourable climatic conditions. The activities of Bactrocera invadens peaked during weeks 7 and 29 in the moist semi deciduous forest area while their activities peaked during weeks 3 and 24 for the coastal grassland areas. Both agro ecological zones recorded the presence of Bactrocera invadens, their number and proportion varied considerably with associated effects of the weather parameters on their abundance. The effect of weather parameters on the abundance of bactrocera invadens requires the development of degree day models to manage them.