Bulb mites of the genus Rhizoglyphus (Claparède) (Acari: Acaridae) have been identified as pests of many crops and ornamentals in storage, in the greenhouse, and in the field. The most important hosts are species in the family Liliaceae (e.g. Allium spp.), but bulb mites will often attack other important crops such as potatoes (Solanum sp.) and carrots (Daucus carota). Despite their economic importance and broad distribution, the systematics of the genus remains in a state of confusion and is in need of a comprehensive revision. In addition, the field biology and ecology of these mites is not well understood, and methods for sampling, monitoring, and loss assessment are limited. Management of bulb mites is complicated by their short generation time, high reproductive potential, broad food niche, interactions with other pests and pathogens, and unique adaptations for dispersal. Historically, control of these acarine pests has relied on the use of synthetic miticides and insecticides, but this option is now limited due to documented resistance and withdrawal of registration of some products. Alternative control strategies, including cultural and biological control, have shown limited success, but need to be further developed and implemented.

54We urgently need a more resilient food supply system that is robust enough to absorb and 55 recover quickly from shocks, and to continuously provide food in the face of significant 56 threats. The simplified global food supply chain we currently rely upon exacerbates threats 57 to supply and is unstable. Much attention has been given to how producers can maximise 58 yield, but less attention has been given to other stakeholders in the supply chain. 59Increasingly, transnational food retailers (supermarkets) occupy a critical point in the chain, 60 which makes them highly sensitive to variability in supply, and able to encourage change of 61 practice across large areas. We contend that the concentration in the chain down to a few 62 retailers in each country provides an opportunity to increase resilience of future supply 63 given appropriate, scale-dependent interventions. We make ten recommendations aimed at 64 reducing variability in supply that can be driven by retailers (although some of the 65 interventions will be implemented by producers). Importantly, resilience in our food supply 66 requires the restoration and expansion of ecosystem services at the landscape-scale. Highlights 76 The global food supply system we currently rely upon is unstable. 77 Changes to production practices are necessary to increase resilience to threats. 78 Retailers are ideally placed to mandate for change across large areas. 79 Resilience in our food supply requires the restoration of ecosystem services.

A new species, Hericia sanukiensis, is described and illustrated from adults, phoretic deutonymphs and nonphoretic deutonymphs collected from sap flux on oak trees (Quercus acutissima Carruth.) in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Deutonymphs are phoretic on the sap flux inhabiting beetle Librodor japonicus (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae).

Lyctus brunneus(Stephens) is one of the most destructive and worldwide invasive pests of seasoned woods for wooden products. This and other pestLyctusspecies have had their distribution expanded by international and domestic human transportation of infested wood and wood products. Rapid detection and accurate identification ofLyctusspecies are effective tools for helping to eradicate them in new introduction sites. The accurate species-level identification of adults requires expert knowledge about their morphology. However, it takes much time and effort to recover suitable adult specimens because they are borers inside wood. Frass ofLyctusspecies can easily be detected and recovered in and around infested wood. Thus, frass was tested to see if it was a suitable sample to allow development of a rapid and technically easy molecular detection and identification method forL.brunneus.Species-specific primers were designed from the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I region ofL.brunneusand used in development and testing of methods for successfully identifying them from their frass using the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) or species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. The LAMP assay was faster and more sensitive for detecting the presence of DNA derived fromL.brunneusin their frass than the nested PCR assay. These methodologies will be applicable for the rapid detection and identification of other wood-boring invasive pests in regulatory applications.

To reduce the risk of zoonoses, it is necessary to understand the infection process, including the ecology of animals and vectors (i.e., the ‘One Health’ approach). In temperate climates, ticks are the major vectors of zoonoses, so factors determining their abundance, such as host mammal abundance and microhabitat conditions, should be clarified. Sika deer (Cervus nippon) are a major tick host and are rapidly expanding their distribution in Japan. We established 12 plots along a gradient of sika deer abundance in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. We monitored the occurrence of mammal species with camera traps and sampled questing ticks on a monthly basis by flagging along three transects (center of a trail, forest edge, and forest interior) at each site from April to November 2018. The camera traps recorded 12 mammal species, predominantly sika deer. Five Haemaphysalis species and three Ixodes species were sampled. The numbers of ticks sampled were explained by the photographic frequency of sika deer, and partly by that of other mammal species, depending on tick species and their developmental stages. The numbers of sampled adult and nymphal ticks were the highest at the forest edge, where vegetation cover was greatest. Thus, vegetation management in tick habitats and the control of sika deer populations may reduce tick abundance.