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Larvae of the common green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera :Chrysopidae) were fed with different densities of Hyalopterus pruni (Geoffer) (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Petri dishes under laboratory conditions. Functional response, developmental time, mortality rate and fecundity of the predator were measured. Treatments were carried out at 25±1°C, 65±5% RH and a 16L:8D photoperiod in a controlled temperature cabinet. Prey was given at densities of 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 and 250 aphids per larva per day and the number of consumed prey, developmental time and mortality rate of the predator were recorded daily. Larvae of C. carnea responded to increasing prey densities with increasing food consumption and older larval stages displayed a higher rate of predation than younger ones. The behaviour of each of the three larval stages matched Holling's type II functional response. Larvae were able to complete their development in each of the seven prey densities, although increased prey densities reduced developmental time and mortality rate. Increased prey consumption in immature stages resulted in a higher net reproduction rate (R 0 ) and the intrinsic rate of increase (r m ) of adult females.

The mealybug genus Ferrisia Fullaway is revised to include 18 species, based on morphological and molecular data. Wedistinguish the widespread pest species F. virgata (Cockerell) from morphologically similar species and provide a reviseddescription and illustration for the adult female of F. virgata. We resurrect Dactylopius dasylirii Cockerell stat. rev. fromsynonymy with Dactylopius virgatus Cockerell as Ferrisia dasylirii (Cockerell) and apply this name to many North Amer-ican and Caribbean populations previously recognised as F. virgata; F. dasylirii is the most difficult to distinguish mor-phologically from F. virgata and exhibits morphological and molecular variation among some populations. We designatea lectotype for D. dasylirii Cockerell. Eight new species of Ferrisia are described and illustrated based on the adult female,and named as Ferrisia colombiana sp. n., F. cristinae sp. n., F. ecuadorensis sp. n., F. kondoi sp. n., F. milleri sp. n., F.pitcairnia sp. n., F. uzinuri sp. n. and F. williamsi sp. n. The relationships of five of these new species and five namedspecies are discussed in relation to a previously published phylogenetic tree that was based on nucleotide sequence data.Taxonomically informative morphological features (such as the size, shape and position of discoidal pores associated withthe dorsal enlarged tubular ducts and the ventral oral-collar tubular ducts), identified for each of the genetic groups (clades)on the tree, are used to help to diagnose the species. We also describe and illustrate the adult female of a form of F. gilliGullan, found on Magnolia and some other host plants, that has numerous clusters of small ventral oral-collar ducts onthe body margins. For seven named species—F. claviseta (Lobdell), F. malvastra (McDaniel), F. meridionalis Williams,F. multiformis Granara de Willink, F. quaintancii (Tinsley), F. setosa (Lobdell) and F. terani Williams & Granara de Will-ink—we provide revised illustrations of the adult females as well as diagnostic morphological notes and information ondistribution and host plants. We also recognise Eurycoccus copallinae Ferris as a junior synonym (syn. n.) of Dactylopiusquaintancii Tinsley (now F. quaintancii) and designate a lectotype for E. copallinae. We include photographs of the liveappearance of the adult females of six Ferrisia species and also a key to all known species of Ferrisia based on the mor-phology of the adult females. We transfer the species currently known as Ferrisia floridana (Ferris) to a new monotypicgenus, Pseudoferrisia gen. n., as Pseudoferrisia floridana (Ferris) comb. n., and provide a description of the genus and its type species (Ferrisiana floridana Ferris), as well as a new illustration of the adult female.

The development, longevity, fecundity and life-table parameters of the endoparasitoid Anagyrus pseudococci (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), 15 d.o. (3rd-instar nymphs) and 21 d.o. (young adult females) of the vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) at 28 ± 1°C, 65 ± 10%RH and 16:8h L:D under laboratory conditions. The developmental time of female parasitoids within the host was 17.7 ± 0.39 days in 15 d.o. and 16.65 ± 0.25 days in 21 d.o. hosts; for males, development time was 16.85 ± 0.29 and 15.25 ± 0.09 days, respectively. The average number of offspring per female was 22.35 ± 1.68 in 15 d.o. and 34.8 ± 2.56 in 21 d.o. vine mealybugs. The longevity of female parasitoids was 14.8 ± 0.98 days in 15 d.o. and 15.65 ± 0.92 days in 21 d.o. mealybugs, respectively; for males, longevity was determined as 7.3 ± 0.43 and 6.7 ± 0.54 days, respectively. The mean time of pupation was 7.85 ± 0.003 days in 15 d.o. mealybugs and 8.65 ± 0.003 days in 21 d.o. mealybugs. The aggregate encapsulation rate in the parasitized 15 d.o. mealybugs was 49.73 and 60.36% in 21 d.o. mealybugs. Furthermore, effective encapsulation was 24.82% in 15 d.o. mealybugs and 37.50% in 21 d.o. mealybugs. Population growth rate (r m ) for A. pseudococci was 0.0999 female/female/days in 15 d.o. mealybugs and 0.1269 female/female/days in 21 d.o. mealybugs. The mean population generation time was 23.49 days for parasitoids reared in 15-days-old and 22.39 days when reared in 21 d.o. mealybugs.

Previous allozyme and DNA nucleotide sequence studies of the mealybug genus Ferrisia Fullaway (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), although limited, have suggested greater species diversity than is recognized by the current morphology-based taxonomy. Here we analyse nucleotide sequence data from one mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase I) and two nuclear (EF-1α and 28S D 2 D 3 ) genes and recover ten well-supported groups that allow us to reassess the taxonomic utility of morphological characters used for species recognition. We report on previously used morphological characters for which states are highly variable within genetic groups and identify new characters (of the wax-exuding cuticular ducts and pores) with taxonomically informative states. The widespread pest species F. virgata (Cockerell), commonly called the striped mealybug, should be diagnosed more narrowly. From samples identified as F. virgata, we recover six clades that we equate with species and that can be distinguished with the newly identified morphological characters. We determine that five of the 'electrophoretic species' identified informally by the late Uzi Nur based on electrophoretic mobility of 20 enzymes correlate with four of our genetic groups. This matching of Nur's putative species with ours was possible only because some of Nur's slide-mounted voucher specimens were deposited in a museum and thus available for morphological study. Species confused with F. virgata are either new to science or were placed erroneously in synonymy with F. virgata by earlier authors: they will be described elsewhere. The most important characters of the adult female for distinguishing these species from F. virgata are the positions and characteristics of minute discoidal pore(s) associated both with the ventral oral-collar tubular ducts and with the sclerotized area surrounding each dorsal enlarged tubular duct, and the number of sizes of the ventral oral-collar tubular ducts. In addition, we determine that adult females of F. gilli Gullan from different populations on different host plants vary substantially in the number and size of clusters of small ventral oral-collar ducts on the body margins -features previously suspected to indicate distinct species.