There are four species of Gymnetron in China recorded to date including G. miyoshii Miyoshi, 1922, G. villosipenne Roelofs, 1875, G. auliense Reitter, 1907 and G. vittipenne Marseul, 1876, of which the last two are new country records. The pre-imaginal stages including eggs, mature larvae and pupae of G. miyoshii, G. auliense and G. vittipenne are described and illustrated. In addition, their diagnostic characters (larvae and pupae) are discussed and differentiated, and notes on some of their biological parameters are provided. Potential ecological impacts between Gymnetron weevils and their host Veronica spp. also are provided.

The establishment rate of invasive alien insect species has been increasing worldwide during the past century. This trend has been widely attributed to increased rates of international trade and associated species introductions, but rarely linked to environmental change. To better understand and manage the bioinvasion process, it is crucial to understand the relationship between global warming and establishment rate of invasive alien species, especially for poikilothermic invaders such as insects. We present data that demonstrate a significant positive relationship between the change in average annual surface air temperature and the establishment rate of invasive alien insects in mainland China during 1900–2005. This relationship was modeled by regression analysis, and indicated that a 1°C increase in average annual surface temperature in mainland China was associated with an increase in the establishment rate of invasive alien insects of about 0.5 species year⁻¹. The relationship between rising surface air temperature and increasing establishment rate remained significant even after accounting for increases in international trade during the period 1950–2005. Moreover, similar relationships were detected using additional data from the United Kingdom and the contiguous United States. These findings suggest that the perceived increase in establishments of invasive alien insects can be explained only in part by an increase in introduction rate or propagule pressure. Besides increasing propagule pressure, global warming is another driver that could favor worldwide bioinvasions. Our study highlights the need to consider global warming when designing strategies and policies to deal with bioinvasions.

Spodoptera frugiperda is a serious agricultural pest native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas. It has a broad host suitability range, disperses rapidly, and has now invaded nearly 100 countries around the world by quickly establishing in the novel ecologies. Based on the native occurrence records and environmental variables, we predicted the potential geographic distribution of S. frugiperda in Central Asia using the MaxEnt model and the ArcGIS. Irrigation is considered to be the main factor for the maize crop production in the Central Asia; therefore, we sought to map the potential spread of S. frugiperda using two modeling approaches together with adjusted rainfall indices and environmental data from this region. The results showed that both approaches (MCP and Obs) could predict the potential distribution of S. frugiperda. The Observation points (Obs) approach gave predicted more conservative projections compared with the Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) approach. Areas of potential distribution that were consistently identified by the two modeling approaches included Western Afghanistan, Southern Kazakhstan and Southern Turkmenistan. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve test presented herein provided reliable evidence that the MaxEnt model has a high degree of accuracy in predicting the invasion of S. frugiperda in Central Asia.

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren is a serious invasive insect that is native to South America. Its presence was officially announced in mainland China in Jan 2005. To date, it has been identified in 4 provinces in mainland China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Fujian) in a total of 31 municipal districts. The total area reported to be infested by S. invicta in late 2006 was about 7,120 ha, mainly in Guangdong Province (6,332 ha). Most of the reported human stings are in the heavily infested area around Wuchuan City. The most commonly reported reactions have been abnormal redness of the skin, sterile pustules, hives, pain, and/or fever. It has been predicted that most of mainland China is viable habitat for red imported fire ants, including 25 of 31 provinces. The probable northern limit of expansion reaches Shandong, Tianjing, south Henan, and Shanxi provinces. Traditional and new insecticides including the bait N-butyl perfluorooctane sulfonamide and the contact insecticide Yichao... Résumén La hormiga brava roja, Solenopsis invicta Buren es un serio insecto invasor nativo de América del Sur. Su presencia se detectó en el territorio continental de China en 2005. Hasta el momento, se lo identificó en cuatro provincias (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Fujian) en un total de 31 distritos {municipal}. El área total infestada con S. invicta a fines de 2006 era aproximadamente de 7,120 ha, principalmente en la provincia de Guangdong (6,332 ha). La mayor parte de las picaduras a seres humanos fueron informadas en un área altamente infestada en los alrededores de la ciudad de Wuchuan. Las reacciones más comúnmente informadas han sido enrojecimiento de la piel, pústulas, ronchas, dolor y/o fiebre. Se estima que la mayor parte del territorio continental de China es un ambiente apropiado para las hormigas bravas, incluyendo 25 de las 31 provincias. El límite norte probable de expansión llega a las provincias de Shandong, Tianjing, sur de Henan y Shanxi. Insecticidas tradicionales y nuevos incluyendo ...

The subfamily Entiminae is the largest group in the family Curculionidae, and it has long represented a challenge in traditional and molecular classification. Here, we analyzed intra- and interspecific genetic distances of 621 public COI barcode sequences (658bp) from 39 genera and 110 species of Entiminae, to determine parameters most congruent in retaining established species. We found that the mean intraspecific genetic distance (3.07%) was much smaller than the mean interspecific one (21.96%), but there is a wide range of overlap between intra- and interspecific genetic distances (0.77–18.01%), indicating that there is no consistent, universal barcoding gap. Specifically, DNA barcoding gap analysis for morphospecies revealed that 102 of 110 morphospecies had barcoding gaps, and 9.18% was the optimum threshold of genetic distances for 97 species delimitation. We further confirmed this threshold with barcodes from 27 morphologically identified specimens (including 21 newly reported barcodes) sequenced from five genera and seven species. We also identified thresholds to delimit congeneric species within 14 selected genera (species > 2), which varied from 7.42% (Trichalophus) to 13.48% (Barypeithes). We herein present optimal parameters for species identification in the Entiminae. Our study suggests that despite no universal genetic distance threshold value in subfamily Entiminae, 9.18% is optimal for most species. We recommend a wider sampling of geographic populations to better account for intraspecific distance variation, and that genetic distance thresholds for species delimitation should be refined at the genus level.