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Aphids in the pine-feeding Nearctic genus Essigella (Sternorrhyncha, Aphididae, Lachninae) have been introduced in Europe, North Africa, Oceania, and South America. Mitochondrial, nuclear, and endosymbiont DNA sequences of 12 introduced populations from three continents confirm they all belong to Essigella californica (Essig, 1909). Intron sequence variation of the nuclear gene EF-1α has revealed the existence of four distinct groups. Group I gathers one population from China, where the species is newly reported, and several from Europe (France and Italy); Group II is represented by one population from Argentina; Group III includes two populations from Southern Australia with one from New Zealand; and Group IV corresponds to five populations from Eastern and South-Eastern Australia. These results indicate that introduced populations of E. californica have at least four source populations. They also show that intron variation of EF-1α can be a method to discriminate populations of asexually reproducing aphids., (© The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The corticoid fungus, Amylostereum areolatum, is deposited in pine trees by the woodwasp, Sirex noctilio, at the time of oviposition. This fungus is essential in S. noctilio larval growth and it is also a food source for Beddingia siricidicola, the nematode used for S. noctilio biological control. In recent years, the historically successful biological control programme has been disrupted in Australia by the bark beetle, Ips grandicollis. This study investigated whether the mechanism of this disruption involves a fungus, Ophiostoma ips, which I. grandicollis introduces into trees. In artificial and wood media, A. areolatum was unable to grow in areas occupied by O. ips. The latter fungus was faster growing, especially at 25 °C rather than 20 °C. Larval galleries of S. noctilio in field-collected samples were strongly associated with wood infested by A. areolatum and absent from areas affected by O. ips. The nematode failed to survive and reproduce on O. ips as it can on A. areolatum. Competitive interactions between O. ips and A. areolatum within the trap trees are demonstrated to be key factors in the negative effect of I. grandicollis on S. noctilio biological control programmes., (© 2013 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.)