OBJECTIVETo study the biological characteristics of Dorysthenes hydropicus in the farm of Cirtus grandis, and offer scientific evidence for prevention and controlling of D. hydropicus.

METHODIndoor-rearing and light trap were applied to study the biological characteristics, development course and harmful effect of D. hydropicus.

RESULTD. hydropicus reproduces one generation in 1-2 year in Guangdong province, and overwinters in the form of larvae. Its imago comes out of the earth mainly in late May after mature. The body length has great individual diversity normally ranged from 25-60 cm, It also shows strong phototaxy. One lamp can trap more than 2 000 of them per night. Female imago has a large egg load with the maximum amount of 543. The eggs hatching is in depth of 1-3 cm soil. The dominant hatching period of egg is from late June to early July, and hatchability is over 85%. The living space of larva ranges from 15-60 cm in soil. D. hydropicus has caused serious harm and lead to thousands of Cirtus grandis trees death every year.

CONCLUSIONDorysthenes hydropicus showed serious threat to the growth of Cirtus grandis and should be prevented and controlled.

Animals ; Citrus ; parasitology ; Coleoptera ; physiology ; Insect Control ; Larva ; physiology ; Ovum ; physiology ; Plant Diseases ; parasitology

With the deterioration of environment, and the excessive collection of wild resources, the wild populations of Myla- bris phalerata Pallas are less and less, almost extincted in many traditional distribution areas. It is necessary to breed M. phalerata artificially for sustainable utilization. Food preference of adult M. phalerata is the key to its provenance screening and domestication in the artificial breeding. In this paper, the food preference of 3 geographical populations of M. phalerata was studied. The results showed that the food preferences of adult M. phalerata in different geographical populations were different. The adult M. phalerata in Wuming preferred cucumber flowers, gourd flowers and melon flowers. The adult M. phalerata in Tianlin preferred cowpea flowers. And the adult M. phalerata in Guangzhou preferred cowpea flowers and gourd flowers. Gourd flowers were the most attractive food for the adult M. phalerata of 3 geographical populations of M. phalerata.
Animals ; Averrhoa ; Breeding ; Coleoptera ; physiology ; Cucurbitaceae ; Flowers ; Food ; Food Preferences ; physiology ; Geography

OBJECTIVE: To document the arthropod succession pattern and to identify forensically important species in northeastern Egypt (32° 15' E and 30° 36' N) for the first time. METHODS: Carcasses were exposed in an open area for 60 days during summer season. Ambient daily temperature (maximum and minimum) and relative humidity (RH) were recorded and existing keys were used for identification of different species. RESULTS: During the period of study, the mean of maximum and minimum temperatures were 34.85 °C and 29.2 °C respectively, while the mean of RH was 53.5%. Four stages of decomposition were observed: fresh, bloat, decay and dry. The most abundant orders were found to be Diptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Arthropods were collected belonging to 4 families of Diptera: Muscidae, Fanniidae, Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae. While there were 2 families of Coleoptera: Dermestidae and Histeridae. Monomorium species was the only Hymenoptera family in this study. CONCLUSION The present work provided a basis for further studies dealing with insect colonization of carcasses in different seasons and locations in Egypt.
Animals ; Arthropods ; classification ; physiology ; Coleoptera ; Diptera ; Egypt ; Entomology ; Feeding Behavior ; Forensic Medicine ; methods ; Hymenoptera ; Insecta ; classification ; Rabbits ; Rats ; Seasons ; Temperature

OBJECTIVE: To study the succession of sarcosaphagous insects and their regular activity on carcass in Shijiazhuang area. METHODS: Nine rabbits were sacrificed and placed at the same site during June to September in 2007-2009. The common species of sarcosaphagous insects were observed. RESULTS: Nine main species could be identified belonging to 3 families and 4 genera from Diptera, including Musca domestica (Linnaeus), Muscina stabulans (Fall én), Hydrotaea (Ophyra) capensis (Wiedemann), Hydrotaea (Ophyra) spinigera (Stein), Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius), Boerttcherisca Peregrina (Robineau-Desvoidy), Parasarcophaga crassipalpi (Macquart) and Helicophagella melanura (Meigen). Eleven main species belonging to 4 families from Coleoptera include Nicrophorus concolor (Kraatz), Silpha carinata(Herbst), Nicrophorus fossor (Eneshas), Ptomascopus morio (Kraatz), Eusilpha bicolor (Fairmaire), Scarabaeus rugosus (Hausmann), Harpalus rufipes (DeGeer), Dolichus halensis (Schaller), Goncephalum pusillum (Fabricius), Cafius seminitens (Horn) and Aleochara pacifica (Casey). Two main species from 2 families were Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus) and Vespa velutina(Lepeletier). CONCLUSION It is evident that the succession of sarcosaphagous flies in Shijiazhuang with its unique geographical features. It may be used for estimating postmortem interval in Shijiazhuang area.
Animals ; Coleoptera/physiology* ; Diptera/physiology* ; Entomology ; Feeding Behavior ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Insecta/physiology* ; Larva ; Postmortem Changes ; Rabbits ; Seasons ; Species Specificity ; Temperature ; Time Factors