The inheritance of 31 amplicons from short and long primer RAPD was tested for segregating ratios in two families of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, and they were found to be inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion. These markers could now be used in population genetics studies of N. lugens. Ten populations of N. lugens were collected from five locations in Malaysia. Each location had two sympatric populations. Cluster and principal coordinate analyses based on genetic distance along with AMOVA revealed that the rice-infesting populations (with high esterase activity) at five localities clustered together as a group, and Leersia-infesting populations (with low esterase activity) at the same localities formed another distinct cluster. Two amplicons from primers OPD03 (0.65 kb) and peh#6 (1.0 kb) could be considered diagnostic bands, which were fixed in the Leersia-infesting populations. These results represent evidence of a sibling species in the N. lugens complex.
The leafhopper genus Dusuna Distant is revised to include seven species including one new species D. anacantha sp. nov. from China and one new combination D. distanti (Schmidt) n. comb. All species are described and illustrated. A checklist to species of the genus is provided together with a key to separate the two species known from the male. Figures of an unknown species from Malaysia (possibly new) are also included.
Two new monotypic spittlebug genera and their type species in the family Machaerotidae, subfamily Enderleiniinae, are described and illustrated: Labramachaerota korupa gen. & sp. n. (with type locality in Cameroon) and Kyphomachaerota maaia gen. & sp. n. (with type locality in Sarawak, Malaysia).
A new species, Busoniomimus umbellatus sp. nov. is described and illustrated from Malaysia. In addition the female of B. hainanensis Zhang & Li is described from China. A key is provided to males of this genus.
Species of Signoretia Stål from the Oriental region are reviewed and types of five species described by Baker, two species described by Distant and one species described by Schmidt are illustrated. A checklist of 20 species of the genus from the Oriental region including 9 new species is given. The new species described and illustrated are Signoretia dulitensis sp. nov. (Malaysia: Mt Dulit), S. lunglei sp. nov. (India: Mizoram), S. mishmiensis sp. nov. (Myanmar: Mishmi Hills), S. quoinensis sp. nov. (Malaysia: Quoin Hill), S. rubra sp. nov. (Thailand: Chiang Mai), S. sahyadrica sp. nov. (India: Kerala), S. similaris sp. nov. (Vietnam: Fyan), S. sinuata sp. nov. (India: West Bengal) and S. takiyae sp. nov. (India: Andaman Is.). Both S. aureola Distant and S. maculata Baker are redescribed and illustrated. Lectotypes are designated for S. greeni Distant and S. aureola Distant.
Direct amplified length polymorphism (DALP) combines the advantages of a high-resolution fingerprint method and also characterizing the genetic polymorphisms. This molecular method was also found to be useful in brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens species complex for the analysis of genetic polymorphisms. A total of 11 populations of Nilaparvata spp. were collected from 6 locations from Malaysia. Two sympatric populations of brown planthopper, N. lugens, one from rice and the other from a weed grass (Leersia hexandra), were collected from each of five locations. N. bakeri was used as an out group. Three oligonucleotide primer pairs, DALP231/DALPR'5, DALP234/DALPR'5, and DALP235/DALPR'5 were applied in this study. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram based on genetic distances for the 11 populations of Nilaparvata spp. revealed that populations belonging to the same species and the same host type clustered together irrespective of their geographical localities of capture. The populations of N. lugens formed into two distinct clusters, one was insects with high esterase activities usually captured from rice and the other was with low esterase activities usually captured from L. hexandra. N. bakeri, an out group, was the most isolated group. Analyses of principal components, molecular variance, and robustness also supported greatly to the findings of cluster analysis.
A new gall-inducing genus and species of felt scales (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) found on the leaves and twigs of Matayba guianensis (Sapindaceae) in Brazil is described: Bystracoccus Hodgson gen n. and B. mataybae Hodgson, Isaias & Oliveira sp. n. This is the first record of an eriococcid inducing leaf and stem galls on Sapindaceae and is only the second example of a member of the Eriococcidae to induce stem galls in which the insects diapause during the dry (winter) season. Only the adult female, second-instar female and crawler are known. The species overwinters as the first-instar nymph in pit galls on the twigs but spends the rest of the year associated with two-chambered galls on the leaves. It has recently become clear that South America has a rich felt-scale insect fauna many of which induce galls. It has proved very difficult to place this new genus in a family as it appears to fall between the Eriococcidae and Beesoniidae but is here placed in the eriococcids based on the similarity of the first-instar nymphs and the abundance of this family in the Neotropics. However, the dorsum of the abdomen of the mature adult female becomes heavily sclerotised, forming a round plug-like structure that completely fills the gall orifice. This structure shows remarkable morphological similarities to that of the beesoniid Danumococcus parashoreae Takagi & Hodgson found on Parashorea tomentella (Dipterocarpaceae) in Sabah, Malaysia, with which it is compared along with other eriococcid genera known from South America.