Vera Miskimen, Andrei Sourakov
This publication describes chalcoela moths, unusual predatory moths that occur across North America and the Caribbean. These moths are predators of paper wasps. They lay their eggs in wasp nests on wasp larvae and pupae. Immature moths spend all of their developmental stages inside paper wasp nests feeding on wasp larvae and pupae before pupating, themselves.
Rice Stink Bug, Oebalus pugnax (Fabricius) (Insecta: Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)
Carolina T. Camarozano, Julien M. Beuzelin
This publication describes the rice stink bug, Oebalus pugnax (Fabricius), a serious pest of a variety of crops, like many other stink bug species, but particularly rice plants. Rice stink bugs range throughout the southeastern United States, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. All O. pugnax stages prefer rice as a host plant, and from early nymphs to reproductive adults, this insect tends to abandon weedy host plants to go feed on developing rice kernels from heading rice plants, if the crop is found nearby.
Two-Spot Cotton Leafhopper Amrasca biguttula Ishida (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)
Hugh A. Smith, Yisell Velazquez-Hernandez, Alexandra M. Revynthi
Amrasca biguttula, Ishida (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), AKA the two-spot cotton leafhopper, became established in Florida in 2024. It damages a range of Florida’s ornamental and horticultural crops. Among those are okra (Abelmoschus esculentum L.), eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and various types of hibiscus (Hibiscus spp. L.). It also feeds on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Asia and poses a threat to cotton production in Florida and the US Southeast. Regulatory restrictions have been imposed on the shipment of leafhopper hosts from Florida to other states because of this threat. Therefore, the pest poses a regulatory burden, damages ornamental and vegetable crops, and threatens cotton in the Panhandle.
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