[Study on standard of safe application of thiamethoxam on GAP of Lonicera japonica]

The paper is aimed to establish a method of residue analysis for thiamethoxam and to study its degradation dynamic and final residue and its standard of safe application of thiamethoxam on Lonicera japonica. Samples extracted with methanol by ultrasonication were purified with dichloromethane by liquid-liquid extraction and SPE column and analysed by HPLC-UV. The results showed that average rate was 84.91%-94.44% and RSD 1.74%-4.96% with addition of thiamethoxam in respectively diverse concentration, which meets inspection requirement of pesticide residue. Two kinds of dosages of thiamethoxam were treated- varying from recommended dosage (90 g x hm(-2)) to high dosage (135 g x hm(-2)), Results of two years test showed that thiamethoxam was degraded more than 90% seven days after application and the half - life period of thiamethoxam was 1.54-1.66 d. The digestion rate of thiamethoxam was fast in the L. japonica. The recommended MRL of thiamethoxam in the L. japonica is 0.1 mg x kg(-1), the dosage of 25% thiamethoxam WDG from 90-135 g x hm(-2) is sprayed less than three times a year on L. japonica and 14 days is proposed for the safety interval of the last pesticide application's and harvest's date.

Evidence for facilitation of Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) life history traits by the nonnative invasive shrub Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)

Mosquitoes are one of the most globally important insect pests and vectors of human pathogens, and their populations may be facilitated or inhibited by anthropogenic environmental change. Invasive plant species are an important management concern and environmental modifier in many ecosystems; these plant invasions have the potential to exacerbate or diminish mosquito populations. The purpose of this study was to assess potential effects of a highly invasive plant, Lonicera maackii, on a common mosquito species Culex pipiens L., which is an important pathogen vector in the United States. Three microcosm assays were conducted to determine the responses of C. pipiens life history attributes of larval survivorship, growth, and pupation when subjected to leachate from two native plant leaves (Platanus occidentalis and Acer saccharum) and both the leaves and flowers of L. maackii. Only C. pipiens larvae exposed to L. maackii leachate pupated and emerged as adults. However, in all three assays there were statistically significant differences in survivorship and body size change among treatments, and in each assay the highest survivorship and maximum larval size was found in the L. maackii leachate treatments, suggesting positive effects on certain life history traits. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the potential facilitative effect of this invasive plant species on an insect vector and suggests that plant invasion could have positive feedbacks into mosquito population dynamics and, ultimately, human disease.

[Population dynamics and control techniques of aphids on honeysuckle]

The objective of this study is to define the population dynamics of Semiaphis heraclei in the main-producing district of Lonicera japonica in Shandong, and screen for highly efficient, safety control technique. Through fixed field investigation, we tested the toxicity of eight kinds of insecticides by using dipping methods, and carried out the field experiment. The results showed that the aphids' emergence peak appeared in May. The aphids on the Sijihua variety of L. japonica was more susceptible and the peak was also seven days earlier than Damao variety of L. japonica. The aphid populations on Sijihua were 1 fold than those on the Daomao in happened peak. Comparing the eight kinds of insecticides, the LC50 of lambda-cyhaothrin, abamectin, imidacloprid and pyrethrin to wingless aphids were 1.494, 1.690, 2.840, 2.861 mg x L(-1), respectively, whose toxicity were higher, the toxicity of matrine, pymetrozine and azadirachtin were also high. The field efficacy trials indicated that during the period of aphids occurred, 25% imidacloprid wettable powder, 1.8% abamectin missible oil, 2.5% lambda-cyhaothrin missible oil, 25% pymetrozine wettable powder, 5% pyrethrin missible oil, 1% matrine water aqua were sprayed at concentrations of 20,000, 2,000, 2,500, 5,000, 500 and 50 times, respectively,the control effect achieved 91.69%, 98.90%, 96.18%, 95.06%, 99.24%, 90.10%, respectively, after 5 days. During the growing period of L. japonica in spring, application of thiamethoxam, thiacloprid, pymetrozine and imidacloprid, all of the control effect against aphids achieved above 98.88% after 50 days. The result indicated that May was the S. heraclei Takahashi's emergence peak in Pingyi, Shandong. The efficient safety and environmentally friendly insecticides by spraying and systemic insecticide of pymetrozine and imidacloprid by root application were all efficient controlled aphids. These insecticides were long for controlling S. heraclei Takahashi and worthy of being widely applied.

A NOVEL PREFERENCE FOR AN INVASIVE PLANT AS A MECHANISM FOR ANIMAL HYBRID SPECIATION

Homoploid hybrid speciation--speciation via hybridization without a change in chromosome number--is rarely documented and poorly understood in animals. In particular, the mechanisms by which animal homoploid hybrid species become ecologically and reproductively isolated from their parents are hypothetical and remain largely untested by experiments. For the many host-specific parasites that mate on their host, choosing the right host is the most important ecological and reproductive barrier between these species. One example of a host-specific parasite is the Lonicera fly, a population of tephritid fruit flies that evolved within the last 250 years likely by hybridization between two native Rhagoletis species following a host shift to invasive honeysuckle. We studied the host preference of the Lonicera fly and its putative parent species in laboratory experiments. The Lonicera fly prefers its new host, introduced honeysuckle, over the hosts of both parental species, demonstrating the rapid acquisition of preference for a new host as a means of behavioral isolation from the parent species. The parent taxa discriminate against each other's native hosts, but both accept honeysuckle fruit, leaving the potential for asymmetric gene flow from the parent species. Importantly, this pattern allows us to formulate hypotheses about the initial formation of the Lonicera fly. As mating partners from the two parent taxa are more likely to meet on invasive honeysuckle than on their respective native hosts, independent acceptance of honeysuckle by both parents likely preceded hybridization. We propose that invasive honeysuckle served as a catalyst for the local breakdown of reproductive isolation between the native parent species, a novel consequence of the introduction of an exotic weed. We describe behavioral mechanisms that explain the initial hybridization and subsequent reproductive isolation of the hybrid Lonicera fly. These results provide experimental support for a combination of host shift and hybridization as a model for hybrid speciation in parasitic animals.