Lygus lineolaris (Heteroptera: Miridae) adults and nymphs were collected weekly from April to September in 2000 and 2001 from three alfalfa fields in central Iowa. From mid-May to June each year, L. lineolaris were also collected in three strawberry fields. In 2000 and 2001, patterns of seasonal abundance of L. lineolaris were similar at two of the three alfalfa sites. When the alfalfa was cut the number of L. lineolaris declined. In strawberries, the number of L. lineolaris decreased after the fruits had formed. Peak populations in 2001 (20 L. lineolaris per 20 sweeps) were approximately 2.5 times the population in 2000 (8 L. lineolaris per 20 sweeps). No parasitoids were reared from L. lineolaris collected from strawberries in either year. In 2000, four unidentified parasitoid cocoons and one parasitoid larva were reared from 1326 L. lineolaris collected in alfalfa (seasonal parasitism = 0.3%). The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana (Hyphomycetes: Moniliales) infected one adult L. lineolaris collected in September 2000. In 2001, 42 unidentified parasitoid larvae and six cocoons were observed from 1267 dissected or reared L. lineolaris individuals (seasonal parasitism = 4%).

The seasonal occurrence and distribution of the eggplant flea beetle (EFB), Epitrix fuscula Crotch, were monitored on eggplant in south central Arkansas during 1997, 1998, and 1999 and northwestern Arkansas during 1998 and 1999. In south central Arkansas, average numbers of EFB/plant were 11.9, 5.2 and 1.9 in 1997, 1998 and 1999, respectively. EFB numbers per plant decreased during the study in northwestern Arkansas from 13.3 in 1998 to 7.2 in 1999. This decline in numbers of EFB may be related to hot and dry weather during the spring and early summer months of the previous year and differences in transplant dates.

Mapping the distribution of the foliar feeding by EFB indicated that the highest damage ratings (4 and 5) were recorded for eggplants on the north side of the south central field. Also, damage decreased rapidly on interior plants away from the north edge. First or edge plants in rows had damage ratings of 3.9; second and third plants averaged 2.6 and 2.1, respectively; and fourth to tenth plants had values less than 2.

Additional insects encountered during eggplant sampling included the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say); the green tortoise beetle, Nuzonia pallidula (Boh.); the pepper weevil, Anthonomus eugenii Cano; Euphoria sepulcralis (Fabricius); the eggplant lace bug, Gargaphia solani Heidemann; and the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie). With the exception of sporadic damage by the Colorado potato beetle at the southern Arkansas location, damage from these insects was low.

The nesting behavior of Megachile prosopidis Cockerell, Megachile chilopsidis Cockerell, and Megachile discorhina Cockerell was studied in trap nests placed near Tucson, Arizona. Quantitative differences among the five distinct nest plugs made by M. prosopidis are described. The nest plugs fall into three structural types. The first layer of capping material deposited in the first structural type is sand and an unidentified oral secretion mixed to form a hard layer. In the second structural type, the first layer is made of soft resin mixed with sand or organic matter. A third, less common, structural type includes those nests capped with pure resin. The dominant pollen host plant species was identified as Cercidium microphyllum (Torr.) Rose and Johnston (Fabaceae). Two other legumes, Prosopis velutina Wooton and Olneya tesota A. Gray, became important pollen sources late in the nesting season. Resin samples taken from the nest caps were indistinguishable, by gas chromatography, from resin of Encelia farinosa A. Gray (Asteraceae). The following parasites and predators were reared from the nests: Tricrania stansburyi Haldeman (Coleoptera: Meloidae), Lecontella gnara Wolcott (Coleoptera: Cleridae), Anthrax cintalpa Cole (Diptera: Bombyliidae), Stelis (Dolichostelis) perpulchra Crawford (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), and Sapyga sp. Latreille (Hymenoptera: Sapygidae). New host records are reported for T. stansburyi, L. gnara, and A. cintalpa.

Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) are important generalist predators in a variety of habitats, where they prey on many kinds of pest insects. We used pitfall traps for weekly collections by Master Gardener volunteer researchers for 13 weeks in 1998 and 12 weeks in 1999 to assess species composition and temporal patterns of ground beetles in plots of potatoes in home gardens in Illinois and Indiana. Potato plots were either mulched with straw or were left unmulched, having bare soil between plant rows. A total of 82 individuals of 9 species was found in 1998 in mulched plots, versus 79 individuals of 10 species found in unmulched plots. In 1999, 639 individuals of 23 species were collected in mulched plots, versus 380 individuals of 31 species in unmulched plots. Significantly more Cyclotrachelus sodalis (LeConte) were found in mulched plots than in unmulched plots in 1999, whereas there were no significant differences between mulched and unmulched plots in numbers of Cyclotrachelus convivus (LeConte), Harpalus pensylvanicus DeGeer, Pterostichus permundus (Say) or Scarites subterraneus F. Species diversity, as measured by the Shannon Diversity Index, was significantly greater in unmulched plots than in mulched plots in 1999. Fourteen species collected in unmulched plots in 1999 were not found in mulched plots, whereas 6 species found in mulched plots were not found in unmulched plots. Although ground beetle assemblages differed as a function of habitat manipulation, exact diets of carabids need to be understood to know the potential to impact pest management in home gardens.

The larva and female adult of Paraleptophlebia calcarica are described for the first time, based on reared and additional material from Kansas. These new records represent the first report of P. calcarica since its original description from Arkansas. Paraleptophlebia calcarica larvae may be distinguished from congeners by characters associated with the mouthparts, abdominal gills, and caudal filaments. Larvae of P. calcarica inhabit intermittent streams. New Kansas records are noted for P. ontario and Leptophlebia intermedia, which may cohabit with P. calcarica.

A new species of the neotropical bee genus Andinaugochlora (Halictinae: Augochlorini) is described and figured. Andinaugochlora centralpina, new species, is the first species of the genus discovered outside of northern South America. The new species was discovered at altitudes ranging from 1250–1510 m in central Costa Rica.

Ten species of the heptagenine mayfly genus Cinygmula are recognized in North America. Two of these species were originally described from Colorado, C. mimus (Eaton) and C. ramaleyi (Dodds). Additionally, C. par (Eaton) and C. tarda (McDunnough) have been reported from the state. The purpose of this paper is to provide comparable descriptions of the adult males of the four species known from Colorado, providing illustrations of the male penes.

A new species of the fossil genus †Martynovia is described and figured from a specimen retrieved from the Lower Permian Midco Insect Beds of Noble County, Oklahoma. †Martynovia halli, new species, most closely resembles the Elmo (Dickinson County), Kansas species, †M. protohymenoides Tillyard, 1932, from which it is differentiated by wing shape and venational characters. Representatives of the fossil family †Martynoviidae (Insecta: †Diaphanotperodea) are quite rare in the fossil record, and are known only from the Wellington Formation of Kansas and Oklahoma in the U.S.A. and from the Permian deposits of the Lodéve Basin in southern France.

A new species of †Lophioneuridae Tillyard, 1921 is described and figured from a specimen of a nearly complete fore wing taken from the Lower Permian of Noble County, Oklahoma. †Cyphoneurodes patriciae, Beckemeyer n. sp., is closely related to the Elmo, Kansas Lower Permian species †Cyphoneurodes reducta (Carpenter, 1932) and †Cyphoneura permiana Carpenter, 1932. Originally placed in the order Psocoptera, the †Lophioneuridae are now considered to be related to the Thysanoptera.

Two new species of Bittacus are described from the collection of Utah State University: B. hansoni from Mexico and B. parkeri from Costa Rica. Locality-date information is given for 11 additional species.

Trigona (Tetragonula) sirindhornae new species is described on the basis of specimens from the Isthmus of Kra. It is most similar to the Bornean T. melanocephala Gribodo but is also similar to the wider ranging T. drescheri Schwarz; it differs most conspicuously from both in the contrast between the black scutum and the testaceous scutellum (^{Figs. 1–3}).