(991 speciesThe top family is the Eriophyidae, which alone accounted for nearly 15% of the total new species. Geographically, the new species were described from 92 countries and their distribution among these countries is highly uneven. The top 10 countries accounted for 62% of all the new species and the top country, China, alone accounted for 18% of the total. The average number of new species per country is 15 and no more than a fifth of the countries are above the average, and 40% of the countries have only 1-3 new species each. The top country for each continent is China (248 species) for Asia, Australia (166 species) for Oceania, Brazil (76 species) for South America, Kenya (51 species) for Africa, USA (51 species) for North America and Russia (42 species) for Europe. Increased efforts in discovering and describing new species are much needed for biodiversity-rich countries in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Two new mite species, Erythraeus (Erythraeus) hubeiensis sp. nov. and E. (Zaracarus) hainanensis sp. nov., are described and illustrated based on larvae parasitizing insects (Hemiptera) in Hubei and Hainan Provinces, China. An updated key to larval species of the genus Erythraeus of the world is presented.

Aspongopus chinensis Dallas is used as a traditional Chinese medicine. In China, clinical evidence suggests that it has anticancer activity. However, the anticancer active components are not fully elucidated. In the present study, we purified an anticancer active component (named CHP) from A. chinensis. To gain a comprehensive insight into the protein components, shotgun proteomic analysis was conducted. The anticancer active protein band was cut from the sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gel and digested with trypsin to generate peptide mixture. The peptide fragments were then analysed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry; 18 proteins were identified. In addition, we evaluated the effects of CHP on the proliferation and apoptosis of two human gastric cancer cell lines (SGC-7901 and BGC-823). The cultured cells were treated with CHP at concentrations of 20, 30, and 40 μg/mL. Inhibition of cell growth was determined by the MTT assay. Hoechst 33258 staining was adopted to detect apoptosis morphologically. Apoptotic cells were quantified by Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining and flow cytometry. Tumour growth was assessed by subcutaneous inoculation of 4T1 cells into BALB/c mice. There was a concentration- and time-dependent decrease in the proliferation of both cell lines at CHP concentrations of 20–40 μg/mL. Apoptotic characteristics, such as karyopyknotic pyknic hyperfluorescence bolus and nuclear fragmentation, were observed in both the cell lines by Hoechst 33258 staining. Flow cytometry showed that CHP induced significant (P < 0.01) concentration-dependent apoptosis of SGC-7901 cells. In vivo assay showed that CHP can partially inhibit tumour growth derived from 4T1 cells in vivo. The present study is the first to report that CHP in A. chinensis inhibits the proliferation of cancer cell lines via the suppression of cancer cell proliferation and acceleration of apoptosis.

Oligonychus pratensis (Banks, 1912) is redescribed based on adult females as well as immature instars collected from Imperata (Poaceae) in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province, China. The ontogenetic development of chaetotaxy in O. pratensis is the same as that in O. afrasiaticus (McGregor, 1939) and O. saccharinus Baker & Pritchard, 1960. Moreover, we remove O. shinkajii Ehara, 1963 from synonymy with O. modestus (Banks, 1900), due to significant differences in their aedeagal morphology.

The cotton mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is a highly invasive and harmful pest. It causes considerable loss of cotton crops in China, India and Pakistan. Little is known about its bionomics since it was first recorded in Pakistan and India in 2005. Rapid spread of this pest worldwide has accelerated research on its biology, ecology and management. The P. solenopsis has a short life cycle, and optimal temperatures lead to an increase in the number of generations per year, which is a serious threat to cotton crop production. Cotton mealybug is native to the USA, although it has now spread to >43 countries. Insecticidal control is the primary and dominant practice for this pest, and its resistance to commonly used insecticides is increasing. Biocontrol agents have strong potential for the management of nymphal instar stages. We read >250 articles related to our review title and finally reviewed recent advances in the understanding of P. solenopsis biology, ecology and control approaches, aiming to highlight integrated and biological management practices of this pest.