The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is a serious invasive species that significantly damages plants of approximately 60 families around the world. It is originally from North America and has also been introduced to other continents. Our goals were to create a current and future potential global distribution map for this pest under climate change with MaxEnt software. We tested the hypothesis of niche conservatism for P. solenopsis by comparing its native niche in North America to its invasive niches on other continents using Principal components analyses (PCA) in R. The potentially suitable habitat for P. solenopsis in its native and non-native ranges is presented in the present paper. The results suggested that the mean temperature of the wettest quarter and the mean temperature of the driest quarter are the most important environmental variables determining the potential distribution of P. solenopsis. We found strong evidence for niche shifts in the realized climatic niche of this pest in South America and Australia due to niche unfilling; however, a niche shift in the realized climatic niche of this pest in Eurasian owing to niche expansion.

The Madeira mealybug, Phenacoccus madeirensis Green, is a serious invasive pest that does significant damage to more than 120 genera of host plants from 51 families in more than 81 countries. However, the potential distribution range of this pest is unclear, which could hamper control and eradication efforts. In the current study, MaxEnt models were developed to forecast the current and future distribution of the Madeira mealybug around the world. Moreover, the future potential distribution of this invasive species was projected for the 2050s and 2070s under three different climate change scenarios (HADGEM2-AO, GFDL-CM3, and MIROC5) and two representative concentration pathways (RCP-2.6 and RCP-8.5). The final model indicates that the Madeira mealybug has a highly suitable range for the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa, as well as South America and North America, where this species has already been recorded. Potential expansions or reductions in distribution were also simulated under different future climatic conditions. Our study also suggested that the mean temperature of the driest quarter (Bio9) was the most important factor and explained 46.9% of the distribution model. The distribution model from the current and future predictions can enhance the strategic planning of agricultural and forestry organization by identifying regions that will need to develop integrated pest management programs to manage Madeira mealybug, especially for some highly suitable areas, such as South Asia and Europe. Moreover, the results of this research will help governments to optimize investment in the control and management of the Madeira mealybug by identifying regions that are or will become suitable for infestations.

The papaya mealybug, Paracoccus marginatus, is an invasive pest species found all over the world. It is native to Mexico and Central America, but is now present in more than 50 countries and regions, seriously threatening the economic viability of the agricultural and forestry industry. In the current study, the global potential distribution of P. marginatus was predicted under current and future climatic conditions using MaxEnt. The results of the model assessment indicated that the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic ( ROC-AUC) was 0.949, while the TSS value was 0.820. The results also showed that the three variables with the greatest impact on the model were min temperature of coldest month (bio6), precipitation of wettest month (bio13), and precipitation of coldest quarter (bio19), with corresponding contributions of 46.8%, 31.1%, and 13.1%, respectively. The results indicated that the highly suitable areas were mainly located in tropical and subtropical regions, including South America, southern North America, Central America, Central Africa, Australia, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. Under four climate scenarios in the 2050s and 2070s, the area of suitability will change very little. Moreover, the results showed that the area of suitable areas in 2070s increased under all four climate scenarios compared to the current climate. In contrast, the area of suitable habitat increases from the current to the 2050s under the SSP370 and SSP585 climate scenarios. The current study could provide a reference framework for the future control and management of papaya mealybug and other invasive species.

The Phyllocephalini is a group of herbivorous insects in Pentatomidae, which lack distinctive morphological characteristics and systematic studies. Up to now, there are only two complete mitochondrial genomes of Phyllocephalini have been reported. In this study, we sequenced and analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes of three Phyllocephalini species, Gonopsis coccinea, Gonopsimorpha nigrosignata, and Chalcopis glandulosus, which were 16,534, 16,531, and 16,534 bp in length, respectively. The mitochondrial genomes contained 37 genes, including 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. The gene arrangement was consistent with that of the putative ancestral insect, with no rearrangement. The cox1 gene of Pentatomidae showed the lowest evolutionary rate among the protein-coding genes, the mean genetic distance of species, genera, and subfamilies of Pentatomidae increased hierarchically based on cox1 gene. The 16S rRNA of Pentatomidae was more conserved than 12S rRNA in sequence and secondary structure. All tRNAs could be folded into a typical cloverleaf structure except trnS1. The stem region was more conserved than the loop region in the secondary structure of tRNAs within Pentatomidae. Gonopsis coccinea and Gonopsimorpha nigrosignata had one type of tandem repetition unit in the control region, while C. glandulosus had two types. The heterogeneity analysis of Pentatomidae showed that Phyllocephalinae was the most heterogeneous. Phylogenetic trees based on the newly obtain mitochondrial genomes along with other 50 mitochondrial genomes of Pentatomidae using Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood strongly supported the following three relationships: (((Anaxilaus + (Plautia + Glaucias)) + (Nezara + Palomena)) + (Eysarcorini + Carpocorini)), (Hoplistoderini + (Menidini + Asopinae)), and ((Sephelini + Halyini) + (Caystrini + (Cappaeini + (Placosternum + Phyllocephalini)))). The relationships within Phyllocephalini were (Chalcopis + (Dalsira + (Gonopsimorpha + Gonopsis))). Our results provide valuable molecular data for further phylogenetic analyses of Pentatomidae.

As one of the high-incidence diseases in the world, pharyngitis seriously affects the lives of those with the condition. Qingguo Wan is a herbal medicine used for treating pharyngitis, and its quality evaluation is currently only accomplished via traditional identification. However, precise identification becomes challenging with fake products on the market or fungal contamination during the production process. This study used the Illumina NovaSeq platform for targeting the ITS2, psbA-trnH, matK, and rbcL sequences to survey the species composition of lab-made and commercial samples. The results showed that a total of 34.56 Gb of raw data that was obtained represented more than 0.23 billion reads. After assembly, annotation, and operational taxonomic unit clustering, 103, 12, 10, and 12 OTUs were obtained, which belonged to the ITS2, psbA-trnH, matK, and rbcL sequences of the mock lab-made and commercial samples. The analytical results indicated that the sequences of all the prescription ingredients were successfully obtained in the two lab-made samples. The positive control medicinal Panax quinquefolius L. sequence was obtained in HSZY175, while Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Lonicera japonica Thunb. Menispermum dauricum DC. and Paeonia lactiflora Pall. were detected in the three commercial samples. The detection results of the other four herbs in different fragments were not all the same. In addition, a total of 28 fungi OTUs, representing 19 families and 20 genera, were obtained from both the commercial and mock lab-made samples. Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium dominated among the 20 genera. This study demonstrated that the shotgun metabarcoding method is a powerful tool for the molecular identification of the biological ingredients in Qingguo Wan. It can be used to effectively supplement traditional methods while providing a new technique for the quality evaluation of Qingguo Wan.

In order to explore the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship of the genus Menida Motschulsky, 1861 and reveal the molecular evolution of the family Pentatomidae, subfamily Pentatominae, complete mitochondrial genomes of three species of Menida were sequenced, and the phylogenetic relationships of tribes within the subfamily Pentatominae were studied based on these results. The mitochondrial genomes of Menida musiva (Jakovlev, 1876), M. lata Yang, 1934, and M. metallica Hsiao & Cheng, 1977 were 16,663 bp, 16,463 bp, and 16,418 bp, respectively, encoding 37 genes and including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. The mitochondrial genome characteristics of Menida were compared and analyzed, and the phylogenetic tree of the Pentatominae was constructed based on the mitochondrial genome datasets using Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (MI) methods. The results showed that gene arrangements, nucleotide composition, codon preference, gene overlaps, and RNA secondary structures were highly conserved within the Menida and had more similar characteristics in Pentatominae. The phylogenetic analysis shows a highly consistent topological structure based on BI and ML methods, which supported that the genus Menida belongs to the Pentatominae and is closely related to Hoplistoderini. The examined East Asian species of Menida form a monophyletic group with the internal relationships: (M. musiva + (M. lata + (M. violacea + M. metallica))). In addition, these results support the monophyly of Eysarcorini and Strachiini. Placosternum and Cappaeini are stable sister groups in the evolutionary branch of Pentatominae. The results of this study enrich the mitochondrial genome databases of Pentatominae and have significance for further elucidation of the phylogenetic relationships within the Pentatominae.