Diverse systems with distinctive approaches characterized the presentations in the Insect Gut Physiology and Nutrition Symposium, held during the Fourth International Conference in Africa for Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry at Mara, Kenya, in July 2008. Within the broad topic of insect nutrition, symposium talks examined the feeding behaviour and plant preference of mosquitoes, the effects of dietary levels of protein on grasshopper reproduction and longevity, and the dependence of honeybee survival on certain dietary components. Gut physiology was represented by a sophisticated study of membrane potential in the springtail, the gut as a point of infection for Sindbis virus in mosquito, and a study of the gut transcriptome and proteome of a coleopteran storage pest. A study of chemical ecology described methods currently being used in Kenya to control locust damage to crops. These presentations provided unique perspectives of insect nutrition and gut physiology as related to insect control or improved understanding of beneficial insects.

A simplified, rapid protocol for screening maize genotypes for grain weevil resistance is required, therefore some modifications to the standard method (Dobie 1974) were appraised. The optimum oviposition period and minimum number of randomly selected weevils (Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky) from a laboratory culture (without the procedure of sexing) to achieve similar progeny emergence to the standard method were determined under laboratory conditions. While results confirmed the effectiveness of the standard method in discriminating genotypes according to resistance, some modifications significantly reducing labour and level of skill required in implementing a rapid screening protocol were identified. Sex ratios in random samples of 10–50 weevils from a large laboratory culture were not significantly different from the 1:1 expected ratio (P >0.05) and therefore sexing of the populations was discarded. Infestation of grain with 32–50 weevils resulted in progeny emergence and kernel damage similar to the standard. Therefore, 32 weevils were recommended to infest grain for 10 days, without prior conditioning of insects to the test grain. Standard control hybrid varieties were also effectively validated. The modified procedure took 45–56 days to complete compared to about 90 days for the standard and did not sacrifice selection efficiency.

One hundred and six individuals of red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea) were examined for chewing lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) in Senegal. Chewing lice were found on 91 (86 %) birds examined. Three species of chewing lice were identified; they had the following prevalences and mean intensities: Brueelia queleae n. sp. (81 %; 5.3 lice), Myrsidea queleae (37 %; 1.7) and Machaerilaemus plocei (9 %; 1.7). These are the first records of chewing lice from red-billed quelea from Senegal. A new species of Brueelia is described and illustrated. This is the first ischnoceran louse described from this host.

Within South Africa, millions of rands in revenue are generated annually from the export of fruit produce. Citrus fruits are exported mostly to the U.S.A., South Korea and China. These countries have strict biosecurity laws in place which prohibit the import of specific problem insects, including several species of mealybug (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). Although the adult females for most species of mealybug are routinely identified through morphological keys, eggs and nymphs (crawlers) are more problematic. As such, export consignments are regularly refused based on the presence of unidentifiable mealybug nymphs or eggs. The aim of this paper is to report an easy, user-friendly molecular laboratory technique to accurately identify mealybug eggs and crawlers to species level. We amplified and sequenced a 749 bp portion of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase subunit one (COI) gene. Phylogenetic trees indicated that the five species included here (Planococcus citri (Risso), Paracoccus burnerae (Brain), Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni-Tozzetti), Ps. calceolariae (Maskell) and Ps. viburni (Signoret)) are reciprocally monophyletic and follow the 10× rule where sequence divergences separating species are an order of magnitude larger than divergences within species. As such, DNA can be extracted from eggs, crawlers or adults; analysed and compared with reference data, and unequivocally assigned to one of the five species.

The pH and d-lactate of the haemolymph from the scorpion, Opistophthalmus latimanus, were measured at different ambient temperatures. The oxygen affinity and molecular cooperativities of haemocyanin in its native and dialysed form were determined when exposed to different ambient temperatures. D-lactate concentration in native haemolymph increased significantly from 0.31 mmol/l at 7 °C to 1.93 mmol/l when haemolymph was exposed to 25 °C for 6 hours but decreases to 0.32 mmol/l at 37 °C The extinction coefficients of O. latimanus haemocyanin at 240 nm and 278 nm were 2.41 and 11.26, respectively, and correspond well with similar data on the crustacean Limulus polyphemus. The subunit cooperativity (n₅₀) of the native haemocyanin molecule increased linearly from n = 3.00 to n = 5.34 at 37 °C. A d-lactate effect on n₅₀ between pH 7.40 and 7.87 could be demonstrated while the heat of oxygenation (ΔH) was -127.64 kJ/mol between 17 °C and 25 °C Like other scorpions investigated, haemocyanin of O. latimanus exposed to wide temperature regimes show a strong temperature dependence of oxygen affinity (as P₅₀) and cooperativity (as n₅₀).

Thirty-four fungal isolates of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hyphomycete: Deuteromycetes) and two isolates of Paecilomyces lilacinus were evaluated in vitro for their entomopathogenic activity against larval and adult house fly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae). Of the fungal isolates tested, B. bassiana isolates were pathogenic to adult flies, causing mortality levels of 30–100 % within six days. The P. lilacinus isolates were non-pathogenic towards adult flies. All the fungal isolates were marginally effective in controlling house fly larvae except isolates of P.lilacinus. Four B. bassiana isolates that caused mortality of 90 % or more within two days were subjected to dose-response mortality bioassays. The lethal concentration of B. bassiana isolates that caused 50 % mortality (LC₅₀) ranged between 10³–10⁵ conidia/ml. The lethal time to 50 % mortality (LT₅₀) values ranged between 0.44–1.3 days.

The seven species and one subspecies, at present attributed to Spilophorus in the Afrotropical region, are revised. One new species, Spilophorus pringlei sp. n., and one new subspecies, S. plagosus vrystaati subsp. n., are described. A key and illustrations to the species and subspecies are provided. The male of S. grandis Schein, 1949 is described for the first time. A new subgenus, Spilophorus (Prospilophorus) subgen. n., is established.

The Afrotropical representatives of the spider genus Simorcus Simon, 1895 are revised. The genus belongs to the subfamily Strophiinae and is known from the Afrotropical and the Oriental Regions. The genus Simorcus is redescribed and twelve species are keyed out, with six species known from one sex only. Nine species are described as new: S. cummingae (♀,♂), S. guinea (♀), S. haddadi (♀,♂), S. hakos (♀), S. itombwe (♂), S. kalemie (♂), S. lotzi (♂), S. okavango (♀) and S. vanharteni (♀,♂). Of the four previously known species, three are redescribed: S, capensis Simon, 1895, S. coronatus, Simon, 1895 and S. cotti Lessert, 1936. The male of S. cotti is described for the first time and S. zuluanus Lawrence, 1942 is recognized as a junior synonym of S. cotti and a new lectotype for S. capensis is designated.

Even though several methods are used to sample and monitor canopy arthropods, there are no studies to indicate which of these methods is more effective. We compared the efficacy of the beating and canopy fogging methods in collecting beetles that inhabit Acacia drepanolobium (Harms) tree canopies at Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia district, Kenya. These trees grow naturally on the black cotton soils of the Laikipia ecosystem, accounting for more than 98 % of the overstorey at the study site, and are important for local cattle and wildlife production. The ultimate objective of this study was to determine the effect of differential grazing and browsing pressure from large mammalian herbivores on the beetle communities of A. drepanolobium. Seven hundred and twenty trees 1.0–2.5 m tall were sampled using each method, making a total of 1440 trees. Sampling using the two methods was done concurrently and repeated quarterly over a period of 14 months. In total, 4320 individuals were collected, 1456 by beating and 2864 by fogging. The methods jointly yielded beetle specimens from 13 families and 55 morphospecies. Fogging collected significantly more beetle morphospecies than beating, and there was a significant interaction effect between method and sampling date. We found that numerically Anthicidae and Curculionidae responded positively to the presence of cattle. We also found that Anthicidae sp. A and Myllocerus sp. A numbers significantly increased in plots where livestock were grazed.

Afrotropical species of Axinota van der Wulp, a genus exhibiting extreme curvature of the upper thorax (hunchbacked), are reviewed. This genus currently comprises eight described species, two new species in the Oriental Region and one published record from Madagascar. One new and one previously described species are shown to be widespread in continental sub-Saharan Africa. The two syntypes of Diastata fuscipennis Macquart, 1844, were examined and a lectotype and paralectotype are designated. The species is formally transferred to the genus Axinota (Axinota fuscipennis (Macquart, 1844), comb, n.), and a second, closely-related new species, A. quasimodoi Kirk-Spriggs, sp. n., is described and figured. Together these two species comprise a fuscipennis species-group, being distinct from species of presumed Oriental origin (pictiventris species-group). Two further new species are described and illustrated: A. ahdabi Kirk-Spriggs, sp. n., from the highlands of Yemen, and A. kyphosis Kirk-Spriggs, sp. n. from Madagascar. An identification key is provided for the two species-groups and for species occurring in the Afrotropical Region and an annotated checklist of world species of Axinota is provided as an Appendix. Distribution maps are included for the four species, with a list of decimal coordinates used to plot these as Appendix II. Likely means of dispersal and species radiation of Axinota in the Afrotropical Region are discussed.

A new East Africa genus, Tigrisomyia Kirk-Spriggs gen. n., is described; being apparently restricted to high-elevation Afromontane forests associated with the Malawi Rift and Eastern Arc mountain group of Kenya and Tanzania. A diagnosis of the genus is provided and character states (synapomorphies) distinguishing the genus from other genera in the Curtonotidae are outlined. Four new species are described; and are illustrated using pen and ink drawings and light microscopy, namely T. amnoni Kirk-Spriggs, sp. n. (Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia), T. kinskii Kirk-Spriggs, sp. n. (Malawi), T. rhayaderi Kirk-Spriggs, sp. n. (Kenya and Malawi) and T. scoliosis Kirk-Spriggs, sp. n. (Tanzania); the first-named species being designated as type-species for the genus. An identification key to the four species is provided based on external characters. The distribution of the four species is mapped, indicating that T. rhayaderi sp. n. has a disjunct distribution on the Zomba Plateau (Malawi) and coastal forests of Kenya; T. kinskii sp. n. is apparently restricted to Ntchisi Forest (Malawi), and T. kinskii sp. n. to the Rebeho (Usagara) Mountains in the Eastern Arc group. Tigrisomyia amnoni sp. n. is more widely distributed occurring from the West Usambara Mountains in the north of Tanzania to the Zomba Plateau in the Shire District of southern Malawi (and some intervening relict forests). The historical biogeographical significance of the distribution of the four species is discussed in relation to historical pan-African forest cover in Africa.

Three species of Prosopistoma Latreille, 1833 are currently described from Africa. The immature nymph of Prosopistoma deguernei Vayssière, 1893 was described from Senegal, and the nymph and winged stages of Prosopistoma africanum Gillies, 1954 are known from Tanzania. The southern African species Prosopistoma crassi Gillies, 1954, initially described as a nymph from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has subsequently been collected in a number of South African rivers. Two further species from South Africa are described here, the nymph of Prosopistoma amanzamnyama sp. n., and the nymph and female subimago of Prosopistoma mccaffertyi sp. n.

Terminology for the lycaenid ground plan and wing pattern is examined. A terminology that can be used in both taxonomic and developmental work is suggested.

The taxonomy of the genus Erikssonia Trimen, 1891 is reviewed. Three species are recognized in the genus: E. acraeina Trimen, 1891, E. cooksoni Druce, 1905, and one species which is newly described from South Africa, namely E. edgei sp. n. Erikssonia alaponoxa Henning & Henning, 2001 is synonymized with E. acraeina Trimen, 1891. Biological information is provided for E. acraeina and E. cooksoni. The biogeography, evolution and conservation of the species are discussed.

Little local information is available on pomegranate cultivation, especially on the pests affecting production and fruit quality. An extensive survey of the arthropods associated with commercial pomegranates, Punica granatum (Lythraceae), was therefore conducted over a period of 20 months from September 2006 to April 2008 in selected production orchards. Twelve orchards in nine districts of the Western Cape Province were inspected monthly and two spot surveys were done in the other major pomegranate-growing areas of the Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces of South Africa. A total of 35 insects and one mite species of economic importance was recorded. Of these, the most serious pests were the false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick), which damaged the fruit, the long tailed mealybug, Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti), and various thrips species that affected both leaves and fruit. Small weevils of undescribed species were found to cause stunted growth due to larval and adult feeding on young shoots.