Austral Entomology最新文献

Karl von Frisch's ground-breaking research first demonstrated visual learning in the European honey bee (Apis mellifera). The study of Australian native bees and their cognitive abilities, however, is still a relatively new and emerging field. Here we examined visual cognition in the Australian stingless bee, Tetragonula carbonaria. First we tested for any colour preferences in T. carbonaria. Then we set stingless bees with three simple visual discrimination learning tasks using distinct colours (blue or yellow), oriented gratings (horizontal or vertical) and patterns (radial or concentric). In the colour preference task, we found evidence of a weak colour preference, with bees preferring colours blue and purple. In the visual discrimination task, T. carbonaria learned all three tasks in just 10 training trials. Bees learned equally well across the colour, orientation and pattern conditions, suggesting rapid visual learning. Future research should focus on closing knowledge gaps in Australian native bee cognition research, building upon the results of this study and exploring more complex non-elemental learning.

The Andean caddisfly genus, Eosericostoma Schmid, 1955, was previously known from two species endemic to Chile and Argentina. In this study, a new species of Eosericostoma was discovered six decades after the last description of a species in the genus. Eosericostoma opposita Desidério, Sganga & Hamada, sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on a single specimen collected close to the Lake Nahuel Huapi, Río Negro Province, in the Valdivian Forest of Argentine Andes. It can be recognised on a combination of abdominal characters, mainly in the tergum X and the inferior appendage. Additionally, a key to identify males of the three species in the genus is provided. Finally, a brief discussion of the biogeography of Eosericostoma is presented.

No abstract is available for this article.

Hoplopeza pulcherrima (Bezzi, 1909) is recorded from New Zealand through photographs posted on the website iNaturalist, corresponding to the first record of the genus Hoplopeza for this country. Furthermore, we redescribed H. pulcherrima through specimens collected near the type locality in New South Wales, Australia. An updated key for the genera of Ocydromiinae from the Australasian Region is also provided.

Serpentine leaf miner, Liriomyza huidobrensis, invaded New South Wales and Queensland late 2020. Overseas, L. huidobrensis has a history of developing insecticide resistance and, since its Australian discovery, has caused significant control issues in Australian horticultural industries. Here, we developed bioassay methods to test the response of L. huidobrensis larvae to spirotetramat and L. huidobrensis adults to dimethoate, imidacloprid and chlorantraniliprole. Against two New South Wales and one Queensland collected strains, we found a 33-fold elevated response against dimethoate and 200-fold more against imidacloprid than the field-recommended field rates. Furthermore, we found that a maximum rate of 64-fold the field-recommended rate of chlorantraniliprole controlled only 94% of one tested population. Similarly, the maximum rate of spirotetramat tested (64-fold the field-recommended rate) only achieved 84%–94% mortality for the same populations. Prior to our study, the efficacy of chlorantraniliprole and spirotetramat against Liriomyza was poorly studied, with only a few reports with chlorantraniliprole against Liriomyza trifolii. Consequently, none of the tested insecticides in this study will likely control Australian invasive L. huidobrensis at the field-recommended rates. Our results presented here highlight the need to identify and study alternative chemical and biological products and natural enemies for the control of L. huidobrensis in Australian horticulture.

The bogong moth, Agrotis infusa, an endemic noctuid moth of Australia, is known for its extensive long-distance movement and summer aestivation in the Australian Alps. Recent studies have focused on moth activity in the Alps, but there are limited data for other regions. This study aims to build on the current understanding of bogong moth movement and breeding patterns using unpublished historical data across eastern Australia. We analysed historical data from moth traps in Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA) from the 1960s to early 1990s. The study employed the HYSPLIT model for trajectory analysis of moth flight paths and DARABUG2 for phenological modelling. We examined moth catches across different seasons to infer movement patterns, breeding sources and over-summering activity. Our findings question several long-standing assumptions about the spatial ecology of the bogong moth. The trajectory analysis suggests that many aspects of A. infusa movement can be explained via dynamic migration, without fully relying on inherent navigation abilities. Important breeding areas may be beyond the self-mulching clays of NSW and southern Queensland and include far western NSW, south and central SA and southern Victoria. Substantial moth activity during summer in many traps suggests alternative over-summering strategies including local breeding or even aestivation in areas other than the Alps. Furthermore, the autumn and winter data imply return migrations from diverse source areas and potential local breeding, expanding the understanding of the moth's life cycle beyond a univoltine pattern. In conclusion, the bogong moth appears to exhibit a more complex and adaptable migration and breeding strategy than previously understood, utilising a range of habitats across eastern Australia for breeding and possibly aestivation. This underscores the need for a revised understanding of bogong moth ecology, which is crucial for its conservation and management, especially considering its recent classification as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.

Pterocomma (Hemiptera: Aphidinae) are large aphids found across the northern hemisphere on various willow (Salix) and poplar (Populus) trees. We provide the first records of the Poplar Bark Aphid, Pterocomma populeum in Australia from Tasmania and New South Wales, a potential pest of poplar trees. Morphological character measurements and DNA (cytochrome oxidase subunit 1) sequences are provided along with discussions around difficulties in species separation.

With higher frequency and intensity of droughts predicted for many tropical forests, understanding the responses of plants and animals to changed climatic conditions will be increasingly important. Ants are considered ecosystem engineers in tropical rainforests due to their abundance and the diversity of functional roles they perform. Function in animals is often dictated by diet, with diets of rainforest ants ranging from purely carnivorous to mostly plant based. Stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon have been utilised to infer information on diets, and more broadly on changes in ecosystem dynamics and water-use in plants. We used stable isotopes to investigate the potential effects of drought on the diets of two dominant ant species (Anonychomyrma gilberti and Oecophylla smaragdina) in an in-situ through-fall experiment in lowland rainforest. We observed a significant and sustained increase of δ¹⁵N in both ant species in the drought experiment and during the dry season in the control treatment. We also detected elevated although much smaller levels of δ¹⁵N values in leaves of some drought-stressed plant species. There was no detectable difference of the experiment for ant or plant δ¹³C values. We conclude that the observed elevation in ants' δ¹⁵N in response to drought may be partly caused by a drought-induced shift in δ¹⁵N in plants. Although, with average nitrogen enrichment values of 2.7‰ and 3.2‰, for A. gilberti and O. smaragdina, respectively, it is consistent with these ants deriving nitrogen largely from prey. Because ants are such dominant species in rainforests, even small trophic shifts in response to climate change if widespread could have broad implications for species interactions and food webs. Importantly, it is possible that such a change could potentially mediate the effects of drought on tropical forests if herbivory on drought-stressed plants is diminished by ant predation.