Vol 98, No 2 (2018)

The exo- and endogenous water content in the honeybee body was studied in relation to age, season, and the physiological state of the bee colony. The water content in the carbohydrate food consumed by the bees was shown to affect brood production in the colony. The behavior of the bees supplying the colony with water was investigated and the amount of water used for larval food dilution and nest cooling was estimated. Seasonal interruption and resumption of the reproductive functions of the queen were shown to depend on the dynamics of the water content in the digestive tract of worker bees.

New data are presented on the distribution of Histeridae and Scarabaeidae in Russia and Kazakhstan. Three species, Pholioxenus schatzmayri J. Müller, 1910, Mendidaphodius linearis (Reiche et Saulcy, 1856), and Onthophagus ponticus Harold, 1883, are recorded from Kazakhstan for the first time, and one species, Atholus scutellaris (Erichson, 1834), is new to the fauna of Russia. The distribution ranges are refined for Microsaprinus therondianus (Dahlgren, 1973), Hypocacculus biskrensis (Marseul, 1876), Paravolvulus refector (Reitter, 1904), Hister megalonyx Reichardt, 1922, Bodilus longipennis (Rakovič, 1984), Protaetia cyanescens jacobsoni (Kiseritzky, 1910), and Valgus hemipterus (Linnaeus, 1758). All these species are distributed mainly in the four zoogeographical regions: Hesperian, European, Saharo-Gobian (Sethian), and Scythian.

The species composition and seasonal dynamics of ectoparasites of the pygmy shrew Sorex minutus L., 1756 were studied in coniferous and mixed forests of the Ilmen-Volkhov Lowland (Novgorod Province of Russia) in 1999–2003. Examination of 265 specimens of the pygmy shrew revealed 670 specimens of ectoparasites that belonged to 13 species: 8 species of fleas, 2 species of ixodid ticks, 1 species of gamasid mites, and 2 species of myobiid mites. In total, 55.8% of shrew specimens were infested with ectoparasites. No more than 4 species of ectoparasites were found simultaneously on one host, and most of the examined shrews (64.8%) were infested with only 1 ectoparasite species. The pygmy shrew had lower infestation intensity and species diversity of acarines and fleas as compared with those of the common shrew Sorex araneus L., 1758 and the bank vole Myodes glareolus (Schreber, 1780) (13 vs. 23 and 29 species, respectively). Unlike these two other hosts, the prevalent ectoparasite of the pygmy shrew was the tick Ixodes trianguliceps Birula, 1895.

Tshurtshurnella bicolorata sp. n. and T. curtulum sp. n. are described from Elazığ and Malatya provinces of Turkey. T. bicolorata sp. n. is well distinguished from the other species of the genus by the presence of two color forms in males and females and T. curtulum sp. n., by darkly colored females and pale males. Also these new species differ from the other species of the genus in the characters of the structure of the male genitalia.

The insect order Thysanoptera is one of the less known in Kaliningrad Province. In the course of investigations, plants were collected in May–September of 2013–2016 in the motley-grass communities from 22 localities in different landscape regions of Kaliningrad Province. From the plants in the laboratory a total of 1362 adults of 29 thrips species from three families of two suborders were collected. Thirteen species are recorded from Kaliningrad Province for the first time: Dendrothrips saltatrix, Mycterothrips consociatus, Odontothrips loti, O. meliloti, O. confusus, Platythrips tunicatus, Sericothrips bicornis, Thrips brevicornis, Th. nigropilosus, Th. pillichi, Th. trehernei, Haplothrips niger, and H. leucanthemi. Most of the species revealed are hortobionts, except for Mycterothrips consociatus and Dendrothrips saltatrix which live on deciduous trees. All the species are known from Poland; M. consociatus, O. meliloti, and Th. pillichi are not known from Lithuania. The largest numbers of the species are associated with the plant families Fabaceae, Asteraceae, and Apiaceae; the most widely distributed in Kaliningrad Province are Thrips major, Th. tabaci, Th. fuscipennis, and Frankliniella intonsa.

Three species of the gelechiid moth genus Photodotis new to science are described from central Laos: P. daedalea sp. n., P. lurida sp. n., and P. reclinata sp. n.

A new Palaearctic genus, Neopsilocurusgen. n., is erected for Psilocurus negrus Lehr, 1974 (type species) and Ps. hypopygialis (Paramonov, 1930). A detailed comparative characteristic of the two Neopsilocurus species is given with descriptions of their external structures and photographs of the male genitalia. A key to species of the new genus is compiled based on the original and literature data.

A new species of dance flies (Diptera, Empididae) of the Empis subgenus Pachymeria Stephens, 1829, E. (P.) roditakisi sp. n. from Greece is described and illustrated.

A chigger mite species, Neotrombicula absoluta Schluger, 1966, previously known only from its type locality in Transcarpathian Region of Ukraine, was found in the vicinity of Kurgolovo Village (Kingisepp District, Leningrad Province, Russia). A single specimen of this species was collected off the common shrew Sorex araneus L. This is the first record of the genus Neotrombicula (which includes the most usual causative agents of trombiculiasis of humans and domestic animals in Europe) in the northwestern part of European Russia.