Vol 98, No 6 (2018)

The paper presents the results of experimental assessment of the quality parameters of wheat grain infested with the rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae and of flour and bread produced from this grain. The most important and the least stable parameters were the flour yield, ash content, whiteness, and fat acidity value. The infested grain had higher densities of micrococci, yeast, Aspergillus glaucus, and A. candidus.

Karyotypes of two gall-inducing species of the chalcid family Eulophidae which are invasive pests of eucalypts in the Sochi region of Russia, namely Ophelimus maskelli (Ashmead, 1900) (subfamily Opheliminae, 2n = 20) and Leptocybe invasa Fisher et La Salle, 2004 (subfamily Tetrastichinae, 2n = 12), were studied for the first time. The results, including the first karyotypic data for Opheliminae, the least advanced group of all Eulophidae, suggest that the chromosome set of O. maskelli is close to that ancestral to Eulophidae.

Data on distribution of Lasius neglectus Van Loon et al. in Crimea are reported. The structure of foraging areas of 111 monocalic and polycalic colonies, the daily activity rhythm, and the visiting of 26 species of trees by L. neglectus workers were studied; over a third of the visited tree species were conifers. Most colonies of L. neglectus in Crimea are monocalic. No replacement of the 12 native ant species present in the territories of the monocalic and polycalic colonies of L. neglectus was observed. Invasion of L. neglectus to Crimea probably started in the early 1970s.

The paper presents the first data on the life histories of the larvae of five species of the genus Sphegina Meigen, 1822 (Diptera, Syrphidae) and their habitat associations with other xylobiont larvae of ambrosia insects: xylomycetophagous bark beetles (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae), flies of the families Axymyiidae and Syrphidae (Diptera), and other insects. The biotopes of Sphegina larvae are divided into two types: the main biotope where larval development takes place and the additional biotope where pupation occurs.

A review of geographic distribution, phylogenetic relationships, and evolutionary trends of six species of the South Palaearctic genus Haslundichilis Wygodzinsky is performed for the first time. Bristletails of the genus Haslundichilis are common in temperate forest and steppe open landscapes in the foothills and mountains of the East Caucasus, Central Asia, Northwest and East China, and South Korea. The genus originated in the forest landscapes of the West Stenopean (mixed) province wherefrom its representatives spread as far eastwards as South Korea and as far westwards as the mountains of Central Asia and the East Caucasus. The new species Haslundichilis daghestanicasp. n. is the closest to H. afghani, from which it differs in a greater body size, narrower eyes, and more developed sensory fields on the fore femur of the male.

A new species, Rynchobanchus trjapitzinisp. n., named after the prominent hymenopterologist Vladimir Aleksandrovich Trjapitzin, is described from the Russian Far East based on the material of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. A new record of R. niger Sheng, Li et Pang, 1997 from Russia (Khabarovsk Territory) and a key to the Russian species of this genus are given.

The status of the Palaeotropical genus Bathycentor Saussure, 1892 and its taxonomic position in the tribe Rhaconotini are discussed; the first full descriptions of this genus and its type species B. kraesselini Saussure, 1892 are provided. The new species, Bathycentor trjapitzinisp. n., from the Republic of Congo is described. The genus names Epirhacon Belokobylskij, 1990, syn. n. and Sinaodoryctes Chen et Shi, 2004, syn. n. are synonymized with Bathycentor Saussure, and new combinations, Bathycentor laetus (Belokobylskij, 1990), comb. n., and Bathycentor aurus (Chen et Shi, 2004), comb. n., are established. A key to the five known Bathycentor species is given.

A little known Neotropical species, Schizophragma saltensis Ogloblin, 1949 (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae), is transferred to the genus Anagrus Haliday, 1833 as Anagrus saltensis (Ogloblin, 1949), comb. n. Description of the previously unknown male of A. saltensis is given, and a new species related to it, Anagrus (Anagrus) vatrjapitzinisp. n., is described from a female collected in Argentina. Both taxa belong to the stethynioides species group of the nominate subgenus Anagrus to which a key is given.

A new species of the subgenus Planempis Frey, 1953 (Diptera: Empididae), Empis (Planempis) gussakovskiisp. n., is described from Tajikistan, being the first record of the subgenus from Middle Asia. The relationships of the new species within the subgenus Planempis are shortly discussed. An updated check-list of Planempis species is provided.