Abstract Basic characteristics of species assemblages are frequently related to temperature variables recorded at a coarse‐grained scale. In this study, 15 min instant‐measurements of environmental and soil temperatures were recorded during 1 year in six Atlantic Forest sites of southern Brazil, ranging from 250 to 1,630 m a.s.l. These measurements were used to examine the comparative explanatory capacity of several temperature variables in predicting species richness and total or specific variations of dung beetle abundance. The results suggest that temperature measurements obtained during the survey period have the highest explanatory capacity. Furthermore, average temperature values seem to have a relatively higher explanatory capacity than absolute minimum or maximum values reflecting extreme conditions. In general, there is no rule in selecting a temperature variable when the objective involves explaining the variation in species abundances. Both soil and air variables can have similar explanatory capacities. The present results should be considered when designing future ecological studies in Neotropical conditions.

Abstract The tryphonine parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) of a serious pest of beech trees, Fagineura crenativora Vikberg & Zinovjev, 2000 (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae, Nematinae), are reviewed. Three species, Cteniscus (Cteniscus) fagineurae sp. nov., Eridolius tanzawanus sp. nov. and Exyston elongatus sp. nov., are described. Key to main koinobiont parasitoids of F. crenativora is given.

Abstract A gynandromorph adult of the lawn ground cricket Polionemobius mikado (Shiraki, 1913) (Orthoptera: Trigonidiidae) was collected from a natural population. It had complete male forewings and a female ovipositor at the end of abdomen. A normal male that encountered the gynandromorph performed a courtship song and tried to transmit a spermatophore, whereas a normal female was indifferent to the gynandromorph. The gynandromorph showed aggressive behavior toward the normal male but not against the normal female. The gynandromorph raised its forewings immediately after the antenna touched the body of the normal male and female, but no sound was produced. Overall, the gynandromorph behaved as a male, but was courted by conspecific males. Thus, the sexual identity of the gynandromorph was masculine, but sexual attractiveness was feminine.

Abstract We collected colonies of Daulocoris formosanus from nests of the subsocial wood‐feeding cockroach Salganea taiwanensis ryukyuanus for the first time. To understand the ecology of D. formosanus, we observed and characterized their behavior in a laboratory setting. We provide the first detailed record of the habitat, colony structure and feeding behavior of D. formosanus.

Abstract The Cardiophorinae is consistently at the subfamily rank in recent classifications. Conversely, generic limits and relationships remain unstable. Here, we use two nuclear (18S and 28S) and three mitochondrial (rrnL, cox1–3′ and cox1–5′) markers to test phylogenetic hypotheses for the Cardiophorinae. We investigate the positions of Paracardiophorus buettikeri Chassain from the Arabian Peninsula and a simple‐clawed Argentinian Horistonotus Candèze species, neither of which matches the diagnoses of their assigned genera. Additionally, we test the monophyly of the widely defined Cardiophorus Eschscholtz by including representatives of Cardiophorus (Cardiophorus), Cardiophorus (Coptostethus Wollaston) and the former subgenus Zygocardiophorus Iablokoff‐Khnzorian and Mardjanian. Molecular analyses recover three clades, which are also supported by morphological traits. Using inferred relationships we propose three new genera: Arandelater Douglas and Kundrata gen. nov., Chassainphorus Douglas and Kundrata gen. nov., and Huarpelater Douglas and Kundrata gen. nov. for Horistonotus canescens Steinheil, P. buettikeri and an undescribed species perhaps historically mistaken for H. canescens.Horistonotus tumidicollis Schwarz is synonymized under H. canescens.Coptostethus is raised from a subgenus of Cardiophorus to the genus level with revision of its definition. Eighteen Cardiophorus (Cardiophorus) and Dicronychus Brullé species are newly assigned to Coptostethus. All species currently included in Coptostethus are listed. All Coptostethus species from South Africa are transferred to Cardiophorus (Cardiophorus). Huarpelater cordobae Douglas and Kundrata sp. nov. is described, and Horistonotus quillu Aranda is transferred to Huarpelater gen. nov. The replacement name Coptostethus cobosi nom. nov. and comb. nov. is proposed for Cardiophorus inflatus Cobos. We provide diagnoses and illustrated descriptions for the new genera and their types.

Abstract Community structures of aphids and their parasitoids were studied in fruit crop habitats of eastern Belgium in 2014 and 2015. Quantitative food webs of these insects were constructed separately for each year, and divided into subwebs on three host‐plant categories, fruit crop plants, non‐crop woody and shrub plants and non‐crop herbaceous plants. The webs were analyzed using the standard food web statistics designed for binary data. During the whole study period, 78 plant species were recorded as host plants of 71 aphid species, from which 48 parasitoid species emerged. The community structure, aphid / parasitoid species‐richness ratio and trophic link number varied between the two years, whereas the realized connectance between parasitoids and aphids was relatively constant. A new plant–aphid–parasitoid association for Europe was recorded. Dominant parasitoid species in the study sites were Ephedrus persicae, Binodoxys angelicae and Praon volucre: the first species was frequently observed on non‐crop trees and shrubs, but the other two on non‐crop herbaceous plants. The potential influence, through indirect interactions, of parasitoids on aphid communities was assessed with quantitative parasitoid‐overlap diagrams. Symmetrical links were uncommon, and abundant aphid species seemed to have large indirect effects on less abundant species. These results show that trophic indirect interactions through parasitoids may govern aphid populations in fruit crop habitats with various non‐crop plants, implying the importance for landscape management and biological control of aphid pests in fruit agroecosystems.

The application of next-generation sequencing technologies in the study of genomes of non-model insects is emphasized in this review. The study using appropriate next-generation sequencing methodologies can lead us to innovative discoveries in basic entomology, especially with a focus on the unique nature of non-model insects in the wild environments, which is not available for the model insects.

Abstract The invasion ofSolidagois one of the main threats to the biodiversity of natural meadows, leading to changes in animal and plant communities, as well as soil features. We compared effects of soil microclimatic conditions (temperature and moisture) and the availability of potential protein sources (dry mass of epigean invertebrates) on ants between meadows invaded bySolidago altissimaandS. canadensisand those uninvaded. Our results showed that the ant communities were different between the uninvaded and invaded meadows, with reduction of ant abundance and species richness in the latter.Myrmicaspp. were abundant in the uninvaded meadows, whereasLasius nigerwas the dominant species in the invaded ones. We found that the lower moisture negatively influenced the abundance ofMyrmicaspecies in theSolidago‐invaded meadows. Moreover, the epigean invertebrate dry mass, as an estimation of the availability of protein sources, varied between the two types of meadows, with a higher abundance in the uninvaded ones. The abundance ofMyrmicaants with narrower ecological requirements showed a positive correlation with the invertebrate biomass in the invaded meadows. In contrast, the abundance ofL. nigerwith broad ecological requirements was negatively correlated with the invertebrate biomass in the invaded meadows, possibly as a strategy to reduce interspecific competition. Our study showed that the invasion ofSolidagoplants caused changes in the abundance and species composition of ant communities through modification in microhabitat conditions, that is, decreasing soil moisture, reducing biomass and changing distribution of prey invertebrates.

Abstract South Korean species of the genus Eusterinx Förster are reviewed here. Nine species of the genus Eusterinx are found to occur in South Korea, and five species, Eusterinx (E.) elongata sp. nov., E. (Holomeristus) hirtis sp. nov., E. (Ischyracis) fulvipes sp. nov., E. (I.) petiolata sp. nov. and E. (I.) rufithorax sp. nov., are described. Four more species of Eusterinx from subgenera Divinatrix, Eusterinx and Holomeristus are recorded from South Korea for the first time. Hitherto, unknown male of the Eastern Palaearctic species E. (Divinatrix) kurilensis Humala is described. A key to all known species of the genus Eusterinx occurring in South Korea is provided.