Family Pentatomidae Research Articles

Vertical Transmission of a Pentatomid Caeca-Associated Symbiont

We present molecular data for an endosymbiont of the insect family Pentatomidae, located in the gastric caeca ofNezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) stink bugs. Restriction fragment length polymorphism and polymerase chain reaction analysis suggest that this bacterium is consistently present in caeca of N. viridula from a variety of geographic locations. The bacterium is present in different midgut sections in nymphs versus adults. The bacterium also was detected on eggshells after nymphs had hatched but not in ovarioles, suggesting oral rather than transovarial transmission. Surface sterilization of egg masses generated aposymbiotic insects. Aposymbiotic indi- viduals reached the adult stage, females laid viable eggs, and the offspring remained aposymbiotic in the following generation. No clear Þtness decrease was observed in aposymbiotic individuals over two generations. Phylogenetic analysis of a partial 16S rRNA data set with 21 Gammaproteobacteria suggested the inadequacy of neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony models to account for ho- moplasy apparent in a molecular data set, including a range of insect endosymbionts. Maximum likelihood-based analysis suggests that the N. viridula endosymbiont is closely related to a caeca- associated symbiont found in another stink bug family (Plataspidae). The high AT content of the symbiontOs 16S rRNA in relation to other insect endosymbionts, its location in the midgut of the host insect, oral transmission, and survival of aposymbiotic individuals suggest this symbiosis may be recently established.

STUDY ON THE KARYOTYPES OF THREE SPECIES OF GENUS CARBULA (HETEROPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE)

Abstract The karyotypes and meiotic behaviors of three Carbula species (Carbula obtusangda Reuter, C. putoni (Jakovlev)and C. sinica Hsiao et Cheng) were studied. Karyotype analyses using specific software were made and model karyotype chart was presented. All three species have the typical diploid Chromosome number of 14 for the family Pentatomidae and X‐Y sex chromosomal mechanism, but the behavior of autosomes and sex‐chromosomes during meiosis among three species are different, and one or two supeeruumerary chromosomes were detected in C. putoni. These characteristics may provide some useful clues on the study of pentatomid taxonomy and phylogeny.

Skin Lesions Caused by Stink Bugs (Insecta: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae): First Report of Dermatological Injuries in Humans

Hemipterans of the family Pentatomidae (stink bugs) have large populations found mainly in tropical regions.1 They are easily recognized by their shield-like shape in dorsal view, showing a triangular mark, and by the noxious odor they eject (Figure 1). Some species are phytophagous, and others are predators. Recently, the predators have been used in agriculture as biological controllers,2 thus potentially increasing the exposure to human populations. The glands that produce the secretion are found in the thorax in adult stink bugs and in the lateral part of the abdomen in nymphs. The secretion is a minimally studied mixture of hydrocarbonates and other derivatives that function as a repellent and can cause paralysis in prey.3,4 The secretion can be expressed actively by the stink bug or by applying pressure on the organism.

Songs of Holcostethus strictus (Fabricius): a different repertoire among landbugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)

Songs emitted during mating by male and female Holcostethus strictus were recorded as substrate vibrations. Spectra of the vibrational signals have a dominant frequency peak between 100 and 260 Hz and in this respect reflect the general characteristic of the family Pentatomidae. Songs of H. strictus differ from the song repertoire of the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula (L.) (Pentatomidae) in many respects. The female calling and courtship songs differ in echeme and phrase duration. The male calling song is composed of spectrally different subunits. The male courtship song is characterised by three types of spectrally and temporally different echemes. The male copulatory song is composed of echemes of two types, which constitute a phrase of less regular temporal structure. In H. strictus, males start to sing first and female songs are less complex than in N. viridula. The female calling song is evoked by male calling and does not trigger male response. The female and male courtship song phrases are superimposed on one another and we have not observed any obvious regularity in their exchange. The possible role of different songs in H. strictus is discussed and compared with that in other pentatomide landbug species.

Chromosomal Studies in Seven Species of Family Pentatomidae (Heteroptera)

SUMMARYChromosome numbers and meiosis of 7 species of family Pentatomidae are reported. In 6 species belonging to 5 genera a diploid number of 14 chromosomes is recorded, while Megymenum inerme deviates from them in having 18 chromosomes in its diploid complement. All the 7 species exhibited an X-Y sex chromosome mechanism. Metrical study of chromosomes has been undertaken to examine possible interspecific chromosomal homology. A type number of 14 chromosomes for the family Pentatomidae is agreed upon. The role of fragmentation and fusion, polyteny and interchromosomal rearrangements in the evolution of karyotypes in this family has been emphasized.

日本産カメムシ上科の幼期に関する研究

Lagynotomus and Aelia which belong to the Family Pentatomidae (s. str.) are represented in Japan each by one species, Lagynotomus elongatus (DALLAS) and Aelia fieberi SCOTT. The former species is one of the most important pests of the rice and other cereal plants. The latter is also known to attack sometimes these plants. Lagynotomus is closely related to Aenarai which is represented in Japan by only one species, Aenaria lewisi (SCOTT), the larval stages of which were already reported by the author in 1958. The developmental stages of the two species, Lagynotomus elongatus (DALLAS) and Aelia fieberi SCOTT, together with their ecological notes, are given in this paper.The diagnoses of the Genus LagynotomusEgg: Short-elliptical, slightly depressed, pale yellow or yellowish white at first. Chorion pale white, subhyaline, surface with microscopically granulous structures which are connected by irregular lines. Micropylar projections nearly subhyaline, rather short-capitate. Egg-burster blackish brown, well-chitinized, T-shaped, with membraneous appendages which are mostly dark except the transparent centre. Operculum distinct. Eggmass ordinarily consisting of about 10∼16 eggs, arranged in one or two, rarely three rows.Larvae: Stigmata placed interior to connexiva of abdominal segments from second to eighth, the eighth pair conspicuously smaller than the others. Body nearly short-ovoid in the 1st instar, ovoid in the 2nd, elongate-ovoid in the 3rd, fusiform in the 4th and 5th instars. Head short, arched in the 1st instar, rather long in the 2nd to 5th instars; median lobe considerably wide and longer than lateral lobes in the 1st and 2nd instars, comparatively wide and almost as long as lateral lobes in the 3rd, rather narrow and more or less shorter than lateral lobes in the 4th, considerably narrow and shorter than lateral lobes in the 5th instar; lateral lobes not angular apically, more or less produced laterally in front of eyes in the 2nd to 5th instars. Abdominal dorsal plates absent in the first and second segments; the plate of the anterior odoriferous gland orifices wider than the other of the median orifices, fusiform, and conspicuously constricted medially in the 1st instar, while the former is rather narrower than the latter, fusiform, and considerably constricted centrally in the 2nd to 5th instars. Lateral margins of thorax serrated, clearly in the 2nd to 4th instars, slightly in the 5th instar. Body sparsely with short hairs. Head and thorax very sparsely with black punctures in the 1st instar, rather sparsely with fuliginous or black punctures in the 2nd and rather densely with black or fuliginous punctures and reddish dots in the 3rd to 5th instars except the lateral parts of thorax in the 4th and 5th instars. Abdomen through all instars samely punctate as thorax and in the 2nd to 5th instars scattered with reddish dots. Body without conspicuously coloured markings.The diagnoses of the Genus AeliaEgg: Elliptical, somewhat wider towards above, very light brown at first. Chorion extremely light brown, with a brownish reticulation which is furnished with light brown or darkish small spines. Micropylar projections white except the bases which are nearly subhyaline, rather short-capitate. Egg-burster well-chitinized, T-shaped, mostly black except the brownish superior portion of axis, with membraneous appendages which are mostly transparent except the dark inferior ends. Egg-mass ordinarily consisting of about 12 eggs, arranged in two rows.Larvae: Stigmata placed interior to connexiva of abdominal segment from second to seventh. Bodies rather long-elliptical in the 1st to 3rd instars, rather fusiform in the 4th and 5th instars, and with a luster and short hairs sparsely through all instars. Head wide, lunate in the 1st and 2nd instars, semicircular in the 3rd instar, rather conical in the 4th and 5th instars

Contribution to the knowledge of Australian Hemiptera. No. II. A revision of the subfamily Graphosomatinae (family Pentatomidae)

Contribution to the knowledge of Australian Hemiptera. No. II. A revision of the subfamily Graphosomatinae (family Pentatomidae)

The Sudan Millet Bug, Agonoscelis versicolor, F.

The Sudan dura (millet) bug, Agonoscelis versicolor, F., a member of the family Pentatomidae, Hemiptera Heteroptera (Rhynchota), is an important pest of millet. Its depredations vary from year to year, depending chiefly upon the rainy season, but every few years it causes serious losses of millet (Sorghum vulġare and Sorghum sp.), which is the main food crop of the Northern Sudan.This bug is widely distributed in Africa, but so far as the writer is aware, it is only in the Sudan that it occurs as a serious pest of grain, or, indeed, as a serious pest at all. In view of this, and the little work that has been done upon it, it was felt advisable, when a severe outbreak took place in 1927, not only to concentrate upon the control but also to effect as complete a study as possible of the bionomics and essential morphology of the bug.Upon completion of the work it was found better to publish the results as two separate papers : (1) A Sudan Government Entomological Bulletin, giving an account of the bug as a pest in the Sudan, the control measures carried out, the bionomics and parasites ; and (2) a paper for publication in a scientific journal giving the results of the morphological studies, and their relation and application to the bionomics of the insect. The present paper is the result of the latter study.