In July 2017, in south-eastern Tunisia, larvae of Phycita diaphanawere observed on seedlings of castor bean. Infested pointed lobes of the leaves are characterized by the presence of shelters or nests ranging from oneto six shelters per leaf. The shelter area ranged from 1.01 to 28.27 cm2. In each shelter, we found from one to nine larvae. We conclude thatPh. diaphana spends the whole larval stage protected without changing its feeding habits.The leaf roll may reduce leaf toughness and lower levels of plant defensive chemicals, and hence provides a more easily and more safely eaten food. Larvae of Ph. diaphana use the pointed lobe to build its shelter. As Castor bean is used in several fields of economy, mainly the production of biodiesel fuel, the monitoring of this pest will be important and interesting. Thereby, studying the life cycle of pests constitute a significant element of phytosanitary control.
We report the discovery of Pseudotephritis millepunctata(Hennig, 1939) (DipteraUlidiidae) inEurope (centre of EuropeanRussia, Republic of Mordovia) for the first time. Information on identified specimens is giv-en and the habitat of the species is described.
The present paper reports cases of predation on two Italian species of stag beetles, Platycerus capreaand Platyceruscaraboides, by saproxylic Diptera of which preys were seldom reported or unknownin the litera-ture. Resulting from eight years of collections in many sites in northern Italy, the robber flies Laphria meridiona-lisandChoeradessp.eclosed inrearing boxes of P. caraboides, and the muscid fly Phaonia palpataemerged from deadwood inhabited byboth Platycerusspecies. These Dipteradeveloped in deadwood ofbroadleaves species,wherethey wereuncommon predators of Platycerusimmaturestages.Predator-prey interactions betweenAsilidaeandMuscidae larvae andPlatycerusimprove the knowledge on thecommunity of these species with hidden habitsin the saproxylic scene.
A female ofStrebloceramacroscapus(Ruthe)(Hymenoptera Braconidae Euphorinae) was captured on a yellow sticky trap during a monitoring survey aimed atstudyinginsectbiodiversityinViareggio district (Lucca, Italy). This is the first report ofthis species inItaly.Biological information onS. macroscapusand itsparticular ecological niche are reviewed,and images of the specimenare presented. The importance of urban gardens and their proximity to the surrounding wild areas is also considered.
The hitherto unknown oviparous females and apterous males of Brachycolus cucubali(Passerini,1863), living in pseudogalls on Silene vulgaris(Moench) Garcke, (1869) (Caryophyllaceae), are described based on material from the North-West of Iberian Peninsula (Province of León). Sampling and morphometric data are given for every morph. Also, field data of monitored Brachycolus cucubali colonies are reported and information of polyphenismin males is discussed.
