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After a century since the erection of the genus Manipuria from India, its type species M. dohertyi Jacoby was discovered in Yunnan Province of China. A new Manipuria species, M. yuae sp. nov., is described from Tibet and Yunnan, China. The new species differs from M. dohertyi by its larger size, unicolored elytra, and absence of a tooth-like prolongation in front of the mandible. Additional data is provided for M. dohertyi based on new material from China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracellular bacteria of the genus Wolbachia (α-Proteobacteria) are the most widespread endosymbionts of insects. Host infection is usually associated with alterations in reproduction, such as cytoplasmic incompatibility, the induction of parthenogenesis and offspring sex ratio bias: all phenomena that may influence host speciation. In the present study, by using well-established molecular tools, we investigated the presence of Wolbachia in leaf beetles of the genus Crioceris and their host plants, which are various species of Asparagus. Multilocus sequence typing of bacterial genes showed that despite their occurrence in the same habitat and feeding on the same plant, two species of Crioceris, C. quinquepunctata and C. quatuordecimpunctata, are infected by two different strains of Wolbachia. C. asparagi, C. paracenthesis and C. duodecimpunctata, which are sympatric with the infected species, do not harbour the bacterium. Interestingly, DNA of Wolbachia was detected in host plant tissues that are exploited by the beetles, providing evidence for the horizontal transmission of the bacterium between beetles and their host plants. Moreover, Wolbachia was detected in species of Crioceris that are not closely related.

Species diversity of chrysomelid beetles (Coleoptera) was studied in forest ecosystems of Guilan province, northern Iran. Sampling was conducted by sweep net, aspirator and Malaise trap during 2009-2012. A total of 15 species in five subfamilies- Bruchinae (2 species), Cassidinae (3), Criocerinae (2), Donacinae (3) and Galerucinae (5) were identified. Among the collected species 12 are new records for the Chrysomelidae fauna of Iran: Bruchidius canescens (Motschulsky, 1874), B. fulvescens (Baudi di Selve, 1886), Cassida flaveola Thunberg, 1794, C. inquinata Brullé, 1832, C. stigmatica Suffrian, 1844, Crioceris quatuordecimpunctata (Scopoli, 1763), Oulema tristis (Herbst, 1786), Donacia clavipes clavipes Fabricius, 1792, D. simplex Fabricius, 1775, D. tomentosa Ahrens, 1810, Galerucella calmariensis (Linnaeus, 1767) and Exosoma flavipes (Heyden, 1878). All the species are presented with data on their general distribution and the material examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The spotted asparagus beetle, Crioceris quatuordecimpunctata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is one of the most devastating pests of asparagus in China. Sprayed synthetic pesticides have been used to control C. quatuordecimpunctata damage, but they pose problems because of residues and harm to natural enemies. Neither the microbial coleopteran-specific toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis tenebrionis, Cry3Aa, nor the fungal pathogen Beauveria bassiana have sufficient activity to effectively control C. quatuordecimpunctata damage to asparagus. However, second instar C. quatuordecimpunctata larvae exposed to a sublethal dose of Cry3Aa toxin demonstrated significantly higher larval mortality when exposed to B. bassiana. Our results suggest that a combination of Cry3Aa and B. bassiana may be effective in reducing damage by C. quatuordecimpunctata larvae to asparagus. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

BACKGROUND: Biopesticides containing Cry insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis ( Bt) are effective against many lepidopteran pests, but there is a lack of Bt-based pesticides for efficient control of important coleopteran pests. Based on the reported increase in Bt toxin oligomerization by a polypeptide from the Cry3Aa receptor cadherin in Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), it was hypothesized that this cadherin peptide, rTmCad1p, would enhance Cry3Aa toxicity towards coleopteran larvae. To test this hypothesis, the relative toxicity of Cry3Aa, with or without rTmCad1p, against damaging chrysomelid vegetable pests of China was evaluated. RESULTS: Cry3Aa toxicity was evaluated in the spotted asparagus beetle ( Crioceris quatuordecimpunctata), cabbage leaf beetle ( Colaphellus bowringi) and daikon leaf beetle ( Phaedon brassicae). To assess the effect of rTmCad1p on Cry3Aa toxicity, neonate larvae were fed Cry3Aa toxin alone or in combination with increasing amounts of rTmCad1p. The data demonstrated that Cry3Aa toxicity was significantly increased in all three vegetable pests, resulting in as much as a 15.3-fold increase in larval mortality. CONCLUSION: The application of rTmCad1p to enhance Cry3Aa insecticidal activity has potential for use in increasing range and activity levels against coleopteran pests displaying low susceptibility to Bt-based biopesticides. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the spotted asparagus beetle, Crioceris duodecimpunctata. The genome complement, gene order, and nucleotide composition of this beetle’s mitochondrial genome were found to be typical of those reported for other insects. Unusual features of this genome include the substitution of UCU for GCU as the anticodon for tRNASer, an unusual TψC loop for the tRNAIle gene, and the identification of a putative ATT start codon for cox1. The utility of complete mitochondrial genome data for phylogenetic inference of the insect orders was tested, and compared to that of cox1 and combined mitochondrial ribosomal DNA sequences. Even though the number of insect orders represented by complete mitochondrial genomes is still limited, several well-established relationships are evident in the phylogenetic analysis of the complete sequences. Monophyly of the orders Diptera, Lepidoptera, and Coleoptera were consistently recovered. Monophyly of the Holometabola was also observed in some (though not all) analyses. The accumulation of complete mitochondrial sequences from a broader array of insect orders holds the promise of clarifying the early diversification of insects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]