The leafhopper genus Nicolaus Lindberg is recorded from India and Pakistan for the first time. Four new species, N. abuensis sp. nov., N. bidentatus sp. nov., N. cornutus sp. nov. and N. serratus sp. nov. are described and illustrated. N. bihamatus Xing & Li, earlier known from China is recorded from India and Pakistan. A key to the species of Nicolaus from the study area is provided.

As a result of an expedition to Ecuador in 2014, a new species of mite harvestman was discovered. This new species belonging to the genus Metagovea Rosas Costa, 1950 - Metagovealigiae sp. n. - is described, based on male and female specimens from Napo Province, Ecuador. This is the fourth species described for the genus and the second from Ecuador. A simple terminology is proposed for the micro...

Newly collected male and female specimens of the leafhopper Kolla albescens Jacobi, 1943 from the type-locality (Northeast China), are identified as Pagaronia albescens (Jacobi), comb. n. (Evacanthinae: Pagaroniini). A redescription of the species is provided together with habitus photographs of the male and female and illustrations of the male and female genitalia. P. continentalis Anufriev, 1...

In animals with active sensory systems, group size can have dramatic effects on the sensory information available to individuals. In "wave-type" weakly electric fishes there is a categorical difference in sensory processing between solitary fish and fish in groups: when conspecifics are within about 1m of each other, the electric fields mix and produce interference patterns that are detected by...

Overview Each year the commercial carrot crop in Wisconsin suffers losses from alternaria leaf blight, cercospora leaf spot, and aster yellows. The first two are diseases caused by fungi (Alternaria dauci and Cercospora carotae). The third is a disease caused by the aster yellows phytoplasma, a parasitic bacterium of carrot phloem tissue and also of the aster leafhopper (Macrosteles quadrilinea...

The leafhopper genus Takama Dworakowska & Viraktamath, 1975 is considered a junior synonym of Matsumurina Dworakowska, 1972, with seven known species all transferred to the latter. Another new combination is proposed: Matsumurina macra (Kuoh, 1982) n. comb. Seven additional species: Matsumurina abbreviata, M. angusta, M. furcata, M. longa, M. longissima, M. qini and M. serriformis spp. nov. are...

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 (possib...

Lime witches’ broom phytoplasma (16SrII, LWB) causes major losses to lime cultivation in Iran. The role of its immunodominant membrane protein (IMP) in the specific interaction with vector proteins was addressed. The carboxy terminal moiety of LWB IMP, coding the extracellular part of the protein, was expressed (LWB f∆IMP) as a tool to study IMP interactions with insect proteins. In preliminary...

Pathogens that rely upon multiple hosts to complete their life cycles often modify behavior and development of these hosts to coerce them into improving pathogen fitness. However, few studies describe mechanisms underlying host coercion. In this study, we elucidate the mechanism by which an insect-transmitted pathogen of plants alters floral development to convert flowers into vegetative tissue...

Tea green leafhopper is one of the most damaging tea pests in main tea production regions of East Asia. For lack of recognized morphological characters, the dominant species of tea green leafhoppers in Mainland China, Taiwan and Japan have always been named as Empoasca vitis Göthe, Jacobiasca formosana Paoli and Empoasca onukii MATSUDA, respectively. Furthermore, nothing is known about the gene...