Onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman, an economically important onion pest in India, poses a severe threat to the domestic and export supply of onions. Therefore, it is important to study the distribution of this pest in order to assess the possible crop loss, which it may inflict if not managed in time. In this study, MaxEnt was used to analyze the potential distribution of T. tabaci in India and predict the changes in the suitable areas for onion thrips under two scenarios, SSP126 and SSP585. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values of 0.993 and 0.989 for training and testing demonstrated excellent model accuracy. The true skill statistic value of 0.944 and 0.921, and the continuous Boyce index of 0.964 and 0.889 for training and testing, also showed higher model accuracy. Annual Mean Temperature (bio1), Annual Precipitation (bio12) and Precipitation Seasonality (bio15) are the main variables that determined the potential distribution of T. tabaci, with the suitable range of 22–28 °C; 300–1000 mm and 70–160, respectively. T. tabaci is distributed mainly in India's central and southern states, with 1.17 × 10⁶ km², covering 36.4% of land area under the current scenario. Multimodal ensembles show that under a low emission scenario (SSP126), low, moderate and optimum suitable areas of T. tabaci is likely to increase, while highly suitable areas would decrease by 17.4% in 2050 20.9% in 2070. Whereas, under the high emission scenario (SSP585), the high suitability is likely to contract by 24.2% and 51.7% for 2050 and 2070, respectively. According to the prediction of the BCC-CSM2-MR, CanESM5, CNRM-CM6-1 and MIROC6 model, the highly suitable area for T. tabaci would likely contract under both SSP126 and SSP585. This study detailed the potential future habitable area for T. tabaci in India, which could help monitor and devise efficient management strategies for this destructive pest.

A study was conducted to identify a resistance source against sesame leaf webber and capsule borer,Antigastra catalaunalis (Dup.) among 43 sesame genotypes under field and laboratory conditions. The reaction of genotypes was categorized using 0 to 9 scoring methodology. The genotypes KMR 14 and TKG 22 were found as moderately resistant with the score of 3 and grade 5 while SI 250, ES 22 and UMA were rated to be resistant with the score 1.6 and grade 3. Among 23 genotypes tested for biophysical (non-preference) and biochemical basis (antibiosis) of resistance three genotypes viz., ES 22, UMA, SI 250 and KMR 14 were identified as less preferred for oviposition with the lowest number of eggs laid on UMA. The egg laying of A. catalaunalis was positively correlated with the trichome density on the leaf. The low growth index of A. catalaunalis in the resistant genotypes ES 22, SI 250 and UMA indicates the presence of antibiosis mechanism in the genotypes. Hence, these genotypes could be used as resistant source in hybridization programmes for transferring leaf webber and capsule borer resistance. Key words: Sesame genotypes, screening, non-preference, antibiosis, Antigastra catalaunalis.

Carboxylesterase-mediated insecticide resistance was studied in Spodoptera litura Fab with three different populations from Varanasi, Delhi and Sonepat. The level of susceptibility to pyrethroid insecticides (cypermethrin and bifenthrin), activity of carboxylesterase (CarE) and amino acid substitutions in esterase gene of each population were investigated. Insecticide bioassay revealed that Sonepat and Delhi populations of S. litura were 2.2- and 2.1-fold resistant to cypermethrin and bifenthrin, respectively. Delhi and Sonepat populations had elevated activity of enzyme level of 26.47±0.21 and 28.02±0.05, respectively. The Varanasi population (10.09 ± 0.10 μmol/min/mg of protein) exhibited lowest CarE activity. The CarE gene of 500 bp fragment that encodes 167 amino acid residues was characterised in all populations. Cluster analysis of gene sequences revealed that all three populations were 92 to 95% identity and were closely related to other Spodoptera spp. Among the 167 amino acid residues, 27 were id...

The Indian stingless bee Tetragonula iridipennis (Hymenoptera: Apidae), popularly recognized as the Indian dammer bee, is an economically important and widely distributed non-Apis bee species in India. The taxonomic gaps, systematics, evolutionary puzzles, and structural motifs within the mitogenomes of this species have rarely been examined and are not fully understood. Next-generation sequencing was employed to decipher the complete mitochondrial genome of T. iridipennis (15,045 bp). De novo genome assembly revealed that it encompasses 34 genes: protein-coding genes (13), transfer RNA (tRNAs) genes (19), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes (2). Additionally, genome organization, including gene content, nucleotide composition, codon usage, and gene rearrangement, was investigated to better comprehend, utilize, and conserve this germplasm resource. The average gene length was 400 bp; maximum and minimum lengths were 1,530 bp (cox1) and 57 bp (tRNA-S1), respectively. Phylogenetic analysis has suggested that T. iridipennis is mostly closely related to T. pagdeni and Lepidotrigona species. All the stingless bee species (Meliponini) formed a distinct clade that shared a closer relationship with bumble bees (Bombini) than honey bees (Apini). The nucleotide composition of T. iridipennis was biased toward A+T, which accounted for 75.95% of the whole mitogenome. Length and compositional differences between T. iridipennis and other bees were detected, and gene order was compared. The mitogenome of T. iridipennis showed the highest gene rearrangement score (78), suggesting this species has a hyperactive evolutionary history. The variations of gene positions and gene rearrangement in the mitogenome could also aid in resolving the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history in Meliponini. Additionally, this is the first report of a complete mitochondrial genome sequence of T. iridipennis.