The top‐down and indirect effects of insects on plant communities depend on patterns of host use, which are often poorly documented, particularly in species‐rich tropical forests. At Barro Colorado Island, Panama, we compiled the first food web quantifying trophic interactions between the majority of co‐occurring woody plant species and their internally feeding insect seed predators. Our study is based on more than 200 000 fruits representing 478 plant species, associated with 369 insect species. Insect host‐specificity was remarkably high: only 20% of seed predator species were associated with more than one plant species, while each tree species experienced seed predation from a median of two insect species. Phylogeny, but not plant traits, explained patterns of seed predator attack. These data suggest that seed predators are unlikely to mediate indirect interactions such as apparent competition between plant species, but are consistent with their proposed contribution to maintaining plant diversity via the Janzen–Connell mechanism.

Although white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are considered rare in Atlantic Canada waters, recent sighting records indicate a potentially increasing presence. We combine sighting data with satellite telemetry tracks of large juvenile/adult white sharks tagged in U.S. (n = 9) and Atlantic Canada waters (n = 17) to show seasonal white shark presence and distribution in Atlantic Canada, returns by individuals over multiple years, and high site fidelity to the region. Telemetry data indicate that white sharks are a more common and consistent occurrence in Canadian waters than previously thought, presenting two potential scenarios: 1) tagging technology is revealing white shark presence that was historically cryptic, and/or 2) a northward range expansion of white sharks in the Northwest Atlantic, potentially due to climate change, population recovery, and/or increasing pinniped prey. Given combined sighting and telemetry data indicate a current need for proactive management of white sharks in Atlantic Canada waters, we propose the basis for a management action plan, addressing conservation priorities, management goals and research incentives while considering the potential for human-shark interactions.

Like their diurnal relatives, Megalopta genalis use visual information to control flight. Unlike their diurnal relatives, however, they do this at extremely low light intensities. Although Megalopta has developed optical specializations to increase visual sensitivity, theoretical studies suggest that this enhanced sensitivity does not enable them to capture enough light to use visual information to reliably control flight in the rainforest at night. It has been proposed that Megalopta gain extra sensitivity by summing visual information over time. While enhancing the reliability of vision, this strategy would decrease the accuracy with which they can detect image motion—a crucial cue for flight control. Here, we test this temporal summation hypothesis by investigating how Megalopta's flight control and landing precision is affected by light intensity and compare our findings with the results of similar experiments performed on the diurnal bumblebee Bombus terrestris, to explore the extent to which Megalopta's adaptations to dim light affect their precision. We find that, unlike Bombus, light intensity does not affect flight and landing precision in Megalopta. Overall, we find little evidence that Megalopta uses a temporal summation strategy in dim light, while we find strong support for the use of this strategy in Bombus.

The pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii Cano) is a destructive insect pest of field and greenhouse pepper crops across North America. Its management remains challenging with significant implications for pepper production, despite a documented presence in Central America, Mexico, the United States, and the Caribbean for approximately a century, and recently in Canada. Currently, the main tools and methods applied to manage pepper weevil populations in greenhouse peppers are the implementation of strict biosecurity protocols, diligent monitoring, physical and cultural management techniques, and chemical insecticides when necessary. However, these tools can be costly, labor-intensive, and insufficient, particularly when new outbreaks go undetected for prolonged periods. Additionally, the use of available insecticides is limited due to significant nontarget effects these have on biological control agents used to manage other important greenhouse pepper pests. Recently, research efforts have focused on developing better tools for pepper weevil management to mitigate a rising incidence of insecticide resistance and the spread of weevils into temperate regions, however, multiple constraints remain. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of the pepper weevil and identify information gaps, which future research should address to improve the targeted management of this pest in greenhouse pepper production systems.