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Journal of Pest Science
January 2020 , Volume 93, Issue 1, pp 171–182 | Cite as
Fundamental host range of Trissolcus japonicus in Europe
Tim Haye
Silvia T. Moraglio
Judith Stahl
Sara Visentin
Tommaso Gregorio
Luciana Tavella
Original Paper
First Online: 03 June 2019
The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, native to East Asia, is an invasive alien pest that arrived in Europe in the early 2000s and poses an imminent threat to a wide variety of crops. Adventive populations of the Asian egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus, the most promising agent for classical biological control of H. halys, have recently been detected in Italy and Switzerland. Its prospective fundamental host range in Europe was evaluated in behavioural no-choice tests, followed by large-arena choice tests presenting host plants with naturally laid egg masses of target and non-target hosts. Developmental suitability of European non-target host species for T. japonicus was demonstrated, via no-choice tests, by offspring emergence (successful parasitism) from eleven out of thirteen non-target species tested (85%). Whereas successful parasitism of most non-target species was significantly lower, acceptance of Arma custos, Palomena prasina, Pentatoma rufipes, and Rhaphigaster nebulosa was not significantly different from H. halys controls. When eggs of H. halys and non-target species were exposed in a semi-natural situation in large-arena choice tests, the degree of non-target parasitism was substantially reduced for three out of four tested species, whereas parasitism of Pa. prasina eggs was not. It remains unclear if there are behavioural barriers to parasitism that may exist and preclude excessive parasitism of potentially threatened species in the field, but field data from the invaded areas in Switzerland and Italy could contribute to a risk–benefit evaluation of releasing or re-locating adventive T. japonicus populations into other parts of Europe.
Biological control Egg parasitoids Non-target effects Risk assessment Halyomorpha halys
Communicated by M. Traugott.
The online version of this article ( https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-019-01127-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
The Asian egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus, the main antagonist of the invasive Halyomorpha halys, was recently discovered in Europe (i.e. Italy and Switzerland).
We investigated its fundamental host range in Europe in behavioural no-choice and large-arena choice experiments.
In no-choice tests, eleven out of thirteen non-target species were suitable for development and acceptance of four species was not significantly different from H. halys.
In choice tests, non-target parasitism was substantially reduced for three out of four tested species.
Field data from the invaded areas in Europe could contribute to a risk-benefit evaluation of releasing or re-locating adventive T. japonicus populations.
The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), native to East Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea), is an invasive alien pest that poses an imminent and serious threat to a wide variety of tree fruit, nut, vegetable, and field crops in Europe, due to its polyphagous behaviour (Leskey and Nielsen 2018). Invasive populations of H. halys were first detected in North America and Europe in the 1990s and 2000s, respectively (Hoebeke and Carter 2003; Haye et al. 2015a), and since its arrival in Europe, it has spread to 27 countries (Claerebout et al. 2018). Economic damage to agricultural crops occurs five to 10 years after establishing in locations where the pest is univoltine, whereas severe damage is often observed in less than 5 years after establishing in locations where the pest is bivoltine (e.g., Italy, Republic of Georgia). In the latter regions, it has had a particularly devastating economic impact in tree fruit (e.g., apples, peaches, pears), and nuts (hazelnuts) (Maistrello et al. 2017; Bosco et al. 2018). If spring and summer temperatures continue to increase due to climate change, H. halys has the potential to further expand its range throughout Europe (Kriticos et al. 2017) and become bivoltine in regions where it used to be univoltine, as observed in north-western Switzerland in 2018 (Haye, personal observation).
To date, the management of H. halys in Europe still relies on the application of broad-spectrum insecticides, but more environmentally friendly and self-sustaining control measures, such as biological control, are urgently needed for an area-wide control (Haye et al. 2015a). Native European egg parasitoids, such as Anastatus bifasciatus (Geoffroy) (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) can successfully develop on viable eggs of H. halys (Haye et al. 2015b; Roversi et al. 2016; Stahl et al. 2018), but their impact following inundative mass releases is currently considered insufficient to effectively suppress the pest. Other native European egg parasitoids in the genera Trissolcus Ashmead and Telenomus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) have been reported to oviposit in H. halys eggs, but their offspring are unable to develop on the exotic host (Haye et al. 2015b; Abram et al. 2017).
Whereas the impact of native natural enemies on invasive H. halys populations in Europe and North America is generally low (Abram et al. 2017; Costi et al. 2018), classical biological control using native natural enemies from the pest's origin seems to be more promising. In Asia, H. halys is attacked by more than ten species of parasitoids, mostly egg parasitoids, among which Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) was identified as the most promising biocontrol candidate, with reported parasitism levels ranging from 50 to 90% (Yang et al. 2009; Lee et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2017). Its natural geographic range comprises Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea, but adventive populations have been discovered in the eastern and western USA (Talamas et al. 2015; Milnes et al. 2016; Hedstrom et al. 2017), and more recently, in Canada (Abram et al. 2019a), southern Switzerland (Stahl et al. 2018), and northern Italy (Sabbatini Peverieri et al. 2018). Bioclimatic envelope models suggest that T. japonicus will follow its host H. halys, spreading naturally throughout Europe with the most suitable regions located in northern Italy, Georgia, northern Turkey, south-western France, Catalonia, and Croatia (Avila and Charles 2018).
In many countries, regulatory requirements have become more proscriptive, and approval for release of any classical biological control agent is based on a thorough risk assessment determined from a petition providing detailed information on the biology and ecology of the agent, and particularly its host range (Hunt et al. 2008). Ecological risk assessment in classical biological control estimates the likelihood that negative effects, such as the reduction of non-target populations, will occur after releases as well as the dimension and consequences of these effects (Heimpel and Mills 2017). The likelihood of potential negative effects is usually evaluated in a series of laboratory host specificity tests in which target versus non-target parasitism is compared under choice or no-choice conditions (van Lenteren et al. 2006). In the case of T. japonicus, previous laboratory host range studies on stink bugs in North America (Hedstrom et al. 2017) and from its native range in China (Zhang et al. 2017) indicate that this parasitoid has a broad fundamental host range within the family Pentatomidae. These studies were exclusively performed as black box experiments in small choice arenas, without direct observations of parasitoid behaviour to determine the relationship between levels of acceptance and levels of parasitoid development. In addition, the experiments lacked host findings cues, such as chemical footprints left behind by the stink bugs on plant surfaces and synomones emitted by plants due to oviposition and feeding by the bugs, which play an essential role in host egg location of Trissolcus parasitoids (Colazza et al. 2004, 2007, 2009).
Here, we present results from a thorough study which aimed to assess the prospective fundamental (physiological) host range of T. japonicus in Europe. To evaluate target (H. halys) versus non-target parasitism under more realistic conditions than previous laboratory host range studies, we conducted behavioural no-choice tests, followed by large-arena choice tests presenting host plants with naturally laid egg masses of target and non-target hosts (van Lenteren et al. 2006). We use these results to predict the ecological host range and possible non-target impact of T. japonicus. These predictions are particularly relevant due to the recent adventive establishment of T. japonicus in two European countries (i.e., Italy and Switzerland) as they provide a unique opportunity to validate estimates of fundamental host range with realized (ecological) 'post arrival' host range as it manifests over time.
Selection, source, and rearing of stink bug species
Non-target species were selected according to the information on T. japonicus hosts available from the literature, phylogenetic relatedness, and sympatry of target and non-target species, phenology, safeguard considerations (beneficial species), and availability (Kuhlmann et al. 2006). In total, thirteen species were selected, including eleven pentatomids (same family as the target H. halys), one scutellerid and one coreid (outgroup species from different families) (Table 1).
Non-target test list for Trissolcus japonicus
Test species
Host plants
Collecting period
Origin of laboratory cultures
Family: Pentatomidae
Acrosternum heegeri Fieber
Cryptomeria japonica
May–June
Habitat and host plant overlap, close relatedness
Zugdidi (Georgia)
Arma custos (F.)
Predatory species (Acer spp., Fraxinus excelsior, Tilia spp.)
Beneficial species, habitat and host plant overlap, close relatedness
Cavour, Chieri, Grugliasco (Italy)
Carpocoris fuscispinus (Boheman)
Centaurea centaurium, Brassica napus
Close relatedness
Delémont (Switzerland)
Dolycoris baccarum (L.)
Lamium purpureum, Medicago sativa, Taraxacum officinale
March–April
Literature host record, close relatedness
Chieri, Grugliasco (Italy); Delémont (Switzerland)
Graphosoma lineatum (L.)
various Apiaceae, Cornus sanguinea, Sambucus nigra
May–July
Chieri, Moretta (Italy); Liesberg, Delémont (Switzerland)
Halyomorpha halys (Stål)
Catalpa bignonioides, Ilex aquifolium
Basel (Switzerland)
Nezara viridula (L.)
Acer sp., C. sanguinea, Crataegus spp., Morus nigra, S. nigra, Rosa spp.
March; May–July
Habitat and host plant overlap, close relatedness, invasive in Europe
Palomena prasina (L.)
Acer spp., C. sanguinea, Corylus avellana, Crataegus spp., Prunus avium, Prunus persica, S. nigra, Tilia spp.
Bosia, Cavour, Chieri, Grugliasco, Nichelino, Sanfré, Villar Dora (Italy); Delémont (Switzerland)
Pentatoma rufipes (L.)
Malus spp., Acer spp.
Cavour, Prunetto (Italy); Schiggendorf (Germany)
Peribalus strictus (F.)
Prunus laurocerasus
Grugliasco (Italy)
Piezodorus lituratus (F.)
Spartius junceum
Grugliasco, Italy
Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Poda)
Acer spp., Platanus sp., Populus sp.
Bosia, Cavour, Grugliasco, Torino (Italy)
Family: Scutelleridae
Eurygaster maura (L.)
Outgroup
Brozolo (Italy)
Family: Coreidae
Gonocerus acuteangulatus (Goeze)
C. avellana, C. sanguinea, Crataegus spp., Prunus mahaleb, Rosa spp., S. nigra
Outgroup, habitat and host plant overlap
Cavour, Chieri, Magliano Alfieri, Nichelino, Villar Dora (Italy)
The H. halys colony was originally established in 2017 from about 500 individuals collected in Basel, Switzerland. The insects were maintained in groups of 50 individuals in polyester cages (BugDorm-4090 Insect Rearing Cage 47.5 × 47.5 × 47.5 cm, MegaView Science Co. Ltd., Taichung, Taiwan) at 26 °C, 70% RH, and a 16L/8D photoperiod. Both adults and nymphs were fed with corn, beans, and peanuts that were replaced twice weekly. In winter and spring, bugs were provided with fruit-bearing branches of common ivy (Hedera helix L., Araliaceae) and later in the season with a variety of seasonal plants (e.g., Cornus sanguinea L., Cornaceae and Sorbus aucuparia L., Prunus avium L., Rosaceae).
Overwintered, non-target species (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, Scutelleridae, Coreidae) were collected from sun-exposed house walls in early spring, by visual inspection or plant beating from their host plants (crop and non-crop, herbaceous and arboreous) throughout summers 2017–2018 in Piedmont, NW Italy; the Jura mountains, NW Switzerland; north of Lake Constance, S Germany; Samegrelo, W Georgia (Table 1). Species were identified using the keys by Wyniger and Kment (2010), Derjanschi and Péricart (2005), and Moulet (1995). Non-target stink bugs were reared in the type of cage as used for H. halys and kept at 24 ± 1 °C, 60% RH, and a 16L/8D photoperiod. Adults of most species were provided with potted broad bean plants, bramble branches, apples, hazelnuts, and green beans, which were replaced once per week. Adults of Eurygaster maura (L.) were provided with wheat ears instead, and adults of Arma custos (F.) were fed with adults of Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) or larvae of Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Newly laid egg masses of target and non-target species were collected on a daily basis.
Parasitoid rearing
Trissolcus japonicus were originally collected from H. halys eggs near Beijing, China (N40°02′06″; E116°12′41″) in 2013, and maintained on fresh H. halys egg masses in the CABI quarantine facility. Parasitoids (mated, ≥ 2 days old) were held in a clear plastic container (10 cm diameter, 5 cm height) with 10% honey water solution as a food source and 8–10 fresh H. halys egg masses provided once per week. Parasitized egg masses were kept at 26 °C, 60% RH, and 16L/8D photoperiod. Upon the initial establishment of the laboratory colony, specimens of T. japonicus were taxonomically identified by E. Talamas (Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA) and confirmed molecularly by M.C. Bon (USDA-ARS-EBCL, Montferrier le Lez, France) (Stahl et al. 2018). Reference specimens are located in the Natural History Museum of Bern, Switzerland.
No-choice tests
No-choice black box tests performed in China (Zhang et al. 2017) and North America (Hedstrom et al. 2017) indicated that non-target parasitism of European non-target species seems likely, so we conducted no-choice behavioural tests, as suggested by van Lenteren et al. (2006), including direct observations of the parasitoid oviposition behaviour during the time of egg exposure. In contrast to black box tests, this method allowed us to follow the fate of each parasitized egg and relate parasitoid emergence directly to the observed oviposition behaviour of the wasps. The advantage of this method is that false conclusions regarding the parasitoid behaviour can be avoided, which may be drawn if parasitoids have non-reproductive effects on their hosts (Abram et al. 2019b). Such effects may occur when the non-target test list includes species that function as an 'evolutionary trap' (emergence of host nymphs despite parasitoid oviposition) (Abram et al. 2014; Haye et al. 2015b), or die due to parasitism but fail to produce parasitoid offspring (parasitoid-induced host egg abortion, Abram et al. 2016).
Egg masses of H. halys and non-target species were collected from rearing cages on a daily basis and typically used for tests on the day they were collected. If they could not be used the same day, eggs were stored at 10 °C for no longer than three days in order to prevent development. Since average egg mass sizes of H. halys and non-target species can vary significantly, for each test we standardized the egg mass size by separating egg masses into smaller clusters (10 eggs/mass) and attaching them to 4 cm2 pieces of flat cardboard with small amount of clear glue (Cementit, merz + benteli Kolma AG, Wabern, Switzerland). In the case of Gonocerus acuteangulatus (Goeze), the eggs were left on the leaves they were laid on, and variable numbers of eggs (3–10) were used for testing since this species only lays single eggs in small clusters. Egg masses were then transferred into small (5 cm) Petri dishes.
In each experimental setup, similar numbers of randomly selected, naïve, mated T. japonicus females were tested simultaneously on egg masses of the target H. halys (control) and the non-target species listed in Table 1 (between 14 and 46 replicates per non-target species). Since daily offspring production of the synovigenic females peaks within the first week after emergence (Qui 2007), females were 4–7 days old when used for experiments. All wasps were fed with fresh honey water the morning before the experiments. Single T. japonicus females were added to each Petri dish and observed under a stereomicroscope until they had at least one contact with the egg mass. If females had no interest in oviposition following the first contact, observations were continued for another 10 min, and egg masses were counted as 'rejected' if no oviposition behaviour was observed. Females that started ovipositing were observed until they either had parasitized all 10 eggs, as indicated by marking behaviour ('acceptance'), or abandoned the partially parasitized egg mass for more than 10 min.
The individual handling time of the egg masses was recorded for each T. japonicus female. All tests were conducted at 26 ± 1 °C, 60–70% RH. In addition, unexposed controls of target and non-target egg masses were kept at the same conditions to evaluate baseline host mortality and to assess if T. japonicus females induced additional host mortality even in cases of failed development, a non-reproductive non-target effect, which is rarely considered explicitly in risk assessment of biological control agents (Abram et al. 2019b). After the tests, the wasps were removed, and both the non-target and H. halys egg masses were incubated under the above rearing conditions until emergence of stink bug nymphs and/or wasp adults ('host suitability'). The number of emerged parasitoids, nymphs and dead eggs (= no emergence) was recorded as well as the sex ratio of the parasitoid offspring. Finally, egg dissections were performed to determine whether any parasitoids or nymphs developed partially.
Paired choice tests
To evaluate target (H. halys) versus non-target parasitism under more realistic conditions than previous laboratory host range studies (Zhang et al. 2017; Hedstrom et al. 2017), large-arena choice tests were conducted (Van Lenteren et al. 2006) where individual T. japonicus females foraged on plants where bugs had fed and laid eggs. This procedure was followed because studies by Colazza et al. (2007, 2009) had shown that in a similar system, Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) perceived chemical footprints left behind by its host Nezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) as contact kairomones, which induced foraging by gravid females. In addition, T. basalis also responded to synomones emitted by bean plants induced by feeding and oviposition activity of its host (Colazza et al. 2004).
The following four species were selected as representative hosts that were accepted frequently or less frequently in no-choice tests: Acrosternum heegeri Fieber, Ar. custos, Graphosoma lineatum (L.), and Palomena prasina (L.). In the case of H. halys, Pa. Prasina, and Ar. custos, potted broad bean plants (Vicia faba L., Fabaceae, about 20 cm high) were placed inside the stink bug rearing cages described above for 24 h. Since Ac. heegeri and G. lineatum refused to lay eggs on broad bean plants, alternatively cut, fresh fruit-bearing branches of common ivy (H. helix) placed in a container with water were used instead. Accordingly, ivy branches were also offered to H. halys for oviposition to exclude potential effects of different host plants. After 24 h, the plants were removed and inspected for egg masses. Plants carrying single egg masses were selected for testing. Since these five species lay egg masses of variable size, it was not possible to control for the number of eggs per plant. However, in this way the outcome of choice tests may represent parasitism in the field more realistically than no-choice tests, despite the nonstandardized egg masses.
Testing arenas consisted of fine gauze cages (47.5 × 47.5 × 47.5 cm), in which two plants were placed in the far left and right corners, each carrying a single egg mass of H. halys or non-target species, respectively. Plants did not touch the cage walls or each other. At the top of the cages, small drops of honey were placed in each corner as a food source for the parasitoids. Single, naïve, mated 4–7 days old T. japonicus females were removed from the rearing cage, and individually transferred into glass pipettes (10 cm long, diameter 5 mm) closed with a cotton wick. These tubes were then put into a small open plastic cup, which was placed in the middle of the front side of the cage, equidistant (30 cm) to the two test plants. The cotton wicks were removed, so the wasps could crawl up to the opening of the tubes and enter the test arena. All tests were conducted at 26 ± 1 °C, 60–70% RH, and a 16L/8D photoperiod. After 24 h, the wasps were removed and both the H. halys and non-target egg masses were incubated under the above rearing conditions until emergence of stink bug nymphs and wasp adults. Each combination of target and non-target species was replicated between 19 and 40 times (Table 3).
In no-choice tests, acceptance (oviposition and marking behaviour), host suitability (mean offspring emergence per egg mass), and sex ratio (percentage female parasitoid offspring per host species) were compared pairwise between each non-target species and its respective H. halys control using generalized linear models (GLMs) with a binomial error distribution and a logit link function. Similarly, the host exploitation (number of eggs parasitized within an egg mass) and egg mass handling time were compared using a GLM with Poisson (log-link function) and gamma (inverse link function) error distributions, respectively. Replicates in which wasps did not parasitize all 10 eggs were excluded from the handling time analysis. The unattributed mortality ('dead eggs' = no parasitoid emergence or dead parasitoids in dissected eggs, Table 2) of non-target eggs exposed to T. japonicus was compared pairwise with unattributed mortality in the respective rearing controls using a GLM with a quasibinomial error distribution (logit link function) to account for overdispersion. All GLMs were carried out with R version 3.2.3 (Team 2017) using the development environment RStudio (Team 2016).
Outcomes of no-choice tests of single T. japonicus females when exposed to H. halys, or one of thirteen non-target species
No. of females tested (n)
Host acceptance and exploitation
Host suitability
% Egg mortality (mean ± SE) per egg mass in rearing controls (n)
Fate of parasitized eggs (mean ± SE) %b
Total no. of egg masses parasitized (n)
Mean ± SE handling time (min) per egg mass (n)a
Mean proportion of eggs parasitized within egg mass (± SE)
Parasitoids emerged
Undeveloped/dead parasitoids (dissection)
Dead eggsc (undefined content) (dissection)
Nymphs emerged
Sex ratio (proportion of females)
A. heegeri
35.2 ± 1.4 (14)
99.4 ± 0.6
6.3 ± 6.3
H. halys
100.0 ± 0.0
15.3 ± 5.7(12)
A. custos
C. fuscispinus
19.5 ± 4.9 (9)
9.7 ± 4.4 (11)
D. baccarum
36.4 ± 1.6 (19)***
G. lineatum
17***
41.8 ± 10.7***
76.5 ± 11.6
N. viridula
0.0 ± 0.0***
P. prasina
31.0 ± 2.2 (27)*
P. rufipes
99.0 ± 0.6***
4.3 ± 2.9 (5)
P. strictus
37.8 ± 3.3 (8)***
61.0 ± 12.5*
7.3 ± 2.5 811)
P. lituratus
R. nebulosa
E. maura
G. acuteangulatus
6.9 ± 1.7(10)
Asterisks indicate significant differences between treatment and control (GLM, see ESM 1) (*p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001). No data collected are indicated with 'nd'
aWasps that did not parasitize the full egg mass were excluded
bParasitized eggs = eggs that females drilled and marked
cNo emergence and no signs of parasitism (eggs, larvae or pupae) when dissected
For large-arena paired choice tests, the proportion of females parasitizing either target or non-target eggs were compared using a Pearson Chi-square test. The percentage of parasitoids emerging per parasitized egg mass was compared between species using a Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. Statistical tests were carried out with the SPSS® 20.0 software package (IBM Corp. 2013).
Host acceptance In total, twelve out of thirteen non-target hosts were accepted by T. japonicus females (Table 2). The proportion of females accepting non-target egg masses, as indicated by oviposition behaviour and marking of eggs, was not significantly different for four non-target species, Pa. prasina, Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Poda), Pentatoma rufipes (L.), and Ar. custos, than for the target host H. halys (Table 2, ESM 1). All other species were significantly less accepted. Gonocerus acuteangulatus, belonging to the outgroup family Coreidae, was the only species that was not accepted at all. The proportion of T. japonicus females accepting the target H. halys (controls) was generally high, ranging from 89% to 100% (average 96%). The number of eggs parasitized within accepted egg masses (host exploitation) was 89% or higher for all accepted non-target species and not significantly different from H. halys controls (Table 2). The handling time (= time spent to parasitize an egg mass of 10 eggs) was significantly longer than in H. halys control when T. japonicus parasitized egg masses of Pa. prasina (p ≤ 0.05), and the less accepted species Dolycoris baccarum (L.), N. viridula, Peribalus strictus (F.), and G. lineatum (p < 0.001) (Table 2). The handling time was longest for the non-indigenous N. viridula (Table 2).
Host suitability Of the twelve non-target species accepted by T. japonicus, eleven were suitable for parasitoid development (Table 2). Levels of suitability (= proportion of parasitoids successfully emerging from parasitized eggs) were not significantly different for eight non-target species, Pa. prasina, Carpocoris fuscispinus (Boheman), Pe. strictus, Ar. custos, D. baccarum, R. nebulosa, Ac. heegeri and E. maura, than for the target host H. halys. Suitability of the target H. halys (controls) was generally high, varying between 87% and 94% (average 92%). Suitability of Pen. rufipes eggs (99% emergence) was even higher than for the target host H. halys. For most non-target species, unattributed egg mortality ('dead eggs', Table 2) was higher in eggs masses exposed to T. japonicus than in the respective rearing controls (ESM 1). Particularly, egg mortality in G. lineatum and N. viridula increased due to parasitization from 14 and 54 (rearing controls) to 27 and 100%, respectively (Table 2).
In general, for H. halys and all non-target species the sex ratio was female biased (> 60%). However, parasitized eggs of Per. strictus (61%) produced significantly fewer females than eggs of H. halys (Table 3).
Outcomes of paired-choice tests of single T. japonicus females when simultaneously exposed to H. halys and one of four non-target Pentatomidae from Europe
Mean (± SE) egg mass size
Total no. of egg masses parasitized (%)
No. of females parasitizing
Percentage (mean ± SE) per egg massa
NT + H. halys
Only NT (%)
Only H. halys (%)
Emerged parasitoids
Undeveloped/dead parasitoids
Total no. of eggs parasitized
Emerged nymphs
Dead eggs (undefined content) (dissection)
G. italicum
Asterisks indicate differences (Pearson Chi Square test, *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.0001; ns = not significant; ESM 1) for a given developmental outcome of each non-target species versus H. halys
aReplicates with both egg masses parasitized were not included
The incubation of egg masses exposed in choice tests showed that some T. japonicus females were able to parasitize both egg masses within 24 h, and thus, for these replicates it was not possible to state which host the parasitoid had chosen first. The number of females parasitizing both egg masses is given in Table 3, but these replicates were not included in the statistical analysis. Results of paired-choice tests and no-choice tests were generally similar, and the four non-target test species were parasitized in both scenarios (Table 3). Egg masses of Ar. custos, G. lineatum and Ac. heegeri were significantly less parasitized when paired with H. halys egg masses (Pearson Chi-square test, p ≤ 0.001; Table 3; ESM 1), whereas levels of parasitism of Pa. prasina (47%) were not significantly different than for the target (53%) (χ2 = 0.267, p = 0.606). The proportion of females that did not parasitize any egg mass within 24 h was low, ranging from 0 to 13%. Percentages of emerging T. japonicus per parasitized non-target egg mass were not significantly different than for paired H. halys egg masses (Table 3, column 'emerged parasitoids').
Developmental suitability of European non-target host species for T. japonicus was demonstrated by successful offspring emergence from eleven out of thirteen non-target species tested (85%), which is consistent with the results of earlier host range studies in China (7/8; 88%) and North America (7/10; 70%) (Zhang et al. 2017; Hedstrom et al. 2017). Parasitoid emergence from successfully parasitized non-target eggs was generally high (˃ 70%), except for G. lineatum. Similar high emergence was observed for Asian non-target species (Zhang et al. 2017), whereas emergence from North American non-target species (and H. halys controls) was much lower (Hedstrom et al. 2017; Botch and Delfosse 2018). By relating parasitoid emergence directly to the observed oviposition behaviour and keeping unexposed rearing controls, we were able to demonstrate that T. japonicus caused non-reproductive parasitoid-induced mortality in G. lineatum (55.9%) and the invasive N. viridula (100%), the only non-indigenous species included in the test list. Since H. halys and N. viridula often co-occur in the same crops, T. japonicus may have a positive non-target effect by contributing to the mortality of N. viridula eggs masses, which are often not fully exploited by T. basalis, one of the main egg parasitoids associated with N. viridula (Colazza and Bin 1995). However, the aggressive host guarding behaviour of T. japonicus could also exclude T. basalis from N. viridula egg masses, lowering the overall biological control of the pest. On the other hand, N. viridula could also operate as an 'evolutionary trap', because eggs were frequently accepted but not suitable for the development of T. japonicus (Abram et al. 2014). The unusually long handling time in no-choice tests may indicate that N. viridula eggs are less attractive for T. japonicus and it remains to be verified if T. japonicus indeed attacks N. viridula egg masses in the field.
Whereas most non-target species were significantly less attacked than the target host, acceptance of four suitable non-target species, Pa. prasina, Pen. rufipes, Ar. custos, and R. nebulosa, was not significantly different from H. halys controls. In Europe, these species mainly live on trees, resulting in habitat overlap with H. halys. Based on the outcome of the no-choice tests, these species could serve as alternative hosts for T. japonicus in the field and population-level impacts are more likely for these species than for any of the other tested non-targets.
Laboratory no-choice tests in simple structured arenas are usually the first step in risk assessment of biological control agents, providing conditions where the maximal fundamental host range is likely to be expressed (van Lenteren et al. 2006). Since non-targets were consistently attacked in no-choice tests, step large-arena choice tests were subsequently conducted to determine if non-targets are attacked when eggs of the target, H. halys, and non-target species are simultaneously present in a semi-natural situation on their host plants. Presenting eggs of Ar. custos, G. lineatum and Ac. heegeri in choice tests showed that introducing additional complexity (host plants with naturally laid eggs, feeding damage, and stink bug footprints) can reduce the degree of non-target host parasitism substantially, which agrees with studies by Hedstrom et al. (2017) and Botch and Delfosse (2018). Compared to small-arena choice tests, movement of T. japonicus from one egg mass to another within the testing period was reduced by using larger cages and adding more complexity. However, the emergence data showed that within 24 h some females were still able to parasitize both egg masses. After parasitizing the first egg mass, females would have been in a 'no-choice situation' when locating the second egg mass and we thus did not include these replicates. In a preliminary study, T. japonicus females guarded parasitized egg masses for at least 12 h, and after 24 h 65% of females had left the egg masses (Haye, unpublished data). Accordingly, in future choice tests it would be advantageous to reduce the length of the testing period to 12 h or less; however, this would also increase the proportion of females that are not responsive in the given time.
Host range studies in Europe, China, and North America showed that some closely related, ecological equivalents (i.e., predatory species in the subfamily Asopinae) Ar. custos (Europe), Arma chinensis (Fallou) (China) and Podisus maculiventris (Say) (North America) are highly suitable hosts for T. japonicus. Since these species fall into the category of beneficial 'safeguard species' (Kuhlmann et al. 2006), potential non-target impacts would cause more concern than effects on other non-beneficial, herbivore stink bug species. However, the outcome of our choice tests suggests that the potential risk of substantial parasitism of Ar. custos might be much lower in the field than initially indicated by no-choice tests. In addition, experiments measuring fitness-related phenotypic parameters (e.g., size) of T. japonicus offspring emerging from H. halys eggs suggest that non-target host use, especially on predatory pentatomids with smaller eggs, may carry a significant fitness penalty for parasitoid offspring (Botch and Delfosse 2018).
In contrast to Ar. custos, parasitism of Pa. prasina eggs was not reduced in the presence of H. halys eggs. The reason why Ar. custos, but not Pa. prasina, was much less parasitized in choice tests is unknown. In a similar system, bean plants (V. faba) damaged by feeding activity of N. viridula, and onto which an egg mass had been laid, produced volatiles that attracted the egg parasitoid T. basalis (Colazza et al. 2004). Similarly, V. faba plants that were attacked by H. halys produced volatiles that were attractive for the native European egg parasitoids A. bifasciatus and O. telenomicida (Rondoni et al. 2017). Accordingly, it seems highly likely that feeding and oviposition of Pa. prasina on V. faba plants induced plant volatiles that were exploited by T. japonicus for host egg location. This may also explain why plants carrying eggs of the predatory species Ar. custos, which rarely feeds on plants, were less attractive for T. japonicus in large-arena choice experiments.
In terms of ecological risk assessment, it remains unclear if there are behavioural barriers to parasitism, such as habitat preferences, competition with native egg parasitoids, or oviposition periods of non-target species, which may exist and inhibit parasitism of Pa. prasina, Pen. rufipes, and R. nebulosa in the field. For example, the oviposition period of the forest bug, Pen. rufipes, is starting from the end of August (Peusens and Beliën 2012) when the oviposition period (May–August) of H. halys ends (Costi et al. 2017). Little is known about the activity of T. japonicus before and after the oviposition period of H. halys in April and September, respectively. Further field studies are thus needed to clarify if in late summer Pen. rufipes escapes parasitism by T. japonicus or is attacked more frequently due to larger population size of T. japonicus and the limited availability of H. halys eggs. Similarly, R. nebulosa is one of the first species to become active in spring, and it remains unknown if T. japonicus could use this species as an alternative host in April before H. halys eggs are present in the field. Factors such as habitat associations, host location, life cycle synchrony, and searching capacity of parasitoids are not easily reproduced in laboratory tests (Cameron et al. 2013) and some uncertainty may remain even after more complex host range testing. This is aggravated by the fact that there is often a lack of knowledge on the phenology and ecology of the non-target species themselves.
Regardless of the future impact on non-target species in the field, the arrival of T. japonicus in Europe is now irreversible, and bioclimatic envelope models (Avila and Charles 2018) suggest that it will spread throughout Europe, following the invasion routes of its primary host, H. halys. Ecological host range studies in China (Zhang et al. 2017) suggest that 'host use' (minor use of a non-target species for reproduction) of some European non-target species is a likely scenario, but on the other hand this may also increase the chances of establishment and survival of T. japonicus populations. Field data from the invaded areas in Switzerland and Italy may help to determine if the re-location of T. japonicus into other areas in Europe affected by H. halys poses any additional risk and could contribute to a risk–benefit evaluation of releases of T. japonicus.
In the USA, where adventive populations of T. japonicus were first discovered in 2014 (Talamas et al. 2015), the wasps are currently being relocated and released in agricultural locations within state boundaries where T. japonicus has spread naturally (Jentsch 2017). Studies of non-target parasitism in the field are ongoing, but to our best knowledge severe non-target parasitism has not yet been observed. Based on a risk–benefit analysis considering scientific data, economic analysis, contemporary evidence, and cultural and broader social impacts, an application for release of T. japonicus was recently approved (with controls) in New Zealand to support an eradication programme in the event of a H. halys incursion (https://www.epa.govt.nz). Following the New Zealand example, a risk–benefit analysis could help European countries affected by H. halys to decide if releases of T. japonicus are justified. In response to H. halys outbreaks, the use of broad-spectrum insecticides, especially pyrethroids, has increased greatly in the USA and Italy, which has disrupted existing integrated pest management programmes and caused outbreaks of secondary pests (Leskey and Nielsen 2018). Therefore, bearing in mind the worldwide decline of the entomofauna, some of which may be linked to the use of insecticides (Sánchez-Bayoa and Wyckhuys 2019), the small risk of potential non-target effects on some native stink bug species, in comparison with the environmental risks of continuous use of insecticides, should be considered when evaluating the option of re-locating and releasing T. japonicus in Europe.
Author contribution statement
TH, LT, TG conceived and designed research. TH and JS conducted experiments and analysed data. TH wrote the manuscript. STM and SV collected and reared non-target species for establishing laboratory colonies. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
The research was carried out with the cooperation and contribution of the Hazelnut company division of the Ferrero Group. We would like to thank Chelsey Blackman, Darren Blackburn, Taylor Kaye, Jessica Fraser, Lindsay Craig, Christie Laing, Anna Grunsky, Mariah Ediger for technical assistance in the laboratory, and Lara Bosco, Gabriele Castelli, Marco G. Pansa for their help in bug collection. We like to thank Paul Abram for constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. CABI is an international intergovernmental organisation, and we gratefully acknowledge the core financial support from our member countries (and lead agencies) including the United Kingdom (Department for International Development), China (Chinese Ministry of Agriculture), Australia (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research), Canada (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), Netherlands (Directorate-General for International Cooperation), and Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation). See http://www.cabi.org/about-cabi/who-we-work-with/key-donors/ for full details.
The authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Research involving human participants and/or animals
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals (vertebrates) performed by any of the authors.
10340_2019_1127_MOESM1_ESM.docx (32 kb)
Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 31 kb)
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Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
1.CABIDelemontSwitzerland
2.Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari (DISAFA), Entomologia Generale e ApplicataUniversity of TorinoGrugliascoItaly
3.Hazelnuts Company DivisionFerrero Trading LuxembourgFindelLuxembourg
Haye, T., Moraglio, S.T., Stahl, J. et al. J Pest Sci (2020) 93: 171. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-019-01127-3
Received 04 March 2019
Revised 23 May 2019
Accepted 29 May 2019
First Online 03 June 2019
Publisher Name Springer Berlin Heidelberg


← What's a Good Salesforce Administrator Worth?
First off, what is a "round robin"? Simply put, it's a rotation through a group. In the context of Salesforce.com, the term round robin frequently comes into play when assigning Lead or Case records to users. For example, you might have five sales reps working new Leads and, as an administrator, you want to divvy out all new Leads equally among the five reps. So if you had a 100 new leads, you would want each rep to get exactly 20 Lead records.
To pull this off in Salesforce you'll need to create two custom fields on the Lead object. The first is an Auto Number field and the second is a Formula field. You'll see in a moment how to leverage these two fields to assign Leads.
Slide down the page past the "out of the box" fields until you see the "New" button where you can create a custom field.
In Step 1 of the custom field wizard, pick the data type "Auto Number"
Next we are going to create a formula field that will take the number generated by Salesforce and assign it a value in a range you specify in the formula.
In Step 1 of the wizard specify a Formula field.
The MOD function is going to take our Lead Number, do a bit of math and return a number in a range we specify. The "3″ in the formula above means that it will return a number of 1, 2, or 3. This quick Lead View shows how the formula is taking our Lead Number field and creating a Round Robin ID.
For example if you change the "3″ in the MOD formula to "5″ you'll get a result of either 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 for your Round Robin ID.
Now that we have a method to tag each Lead with a Round Robin ID (number), we can leverage this in a Lead Assignment Rule by going to Setup > App Setup > Customize > Leads > Lead Assignment Rules, then click the "New" button.
Then click the "New" button to start entering rules.
Select the User to be assigned the Lead and (optionally) select an email template to notify the new owner they have just been assigned a Lead. There is an "out of the box" email template called "Leads: New assignment notification (SAMPLE)" that comes with Salesforce that is usually stored in the "Unfiled Public Email Templates" folder.
Create a rule for each rep that needs to be assigned a Lead based on our Round Robin ID. The Sort Order is the order in which the rules are evaluated.
How does Sort Order come into play?
When you have a set of assignment rules, Salesforce evaluates the rule in the order you specify (i.e. the Sort Order). Salesforce checks the Lead record against the first rule (Sort Order 1), and if the criteria is a match, Salesforce reassigns the Lead to the new Owner. If the Lead record being evaluated does not match the first rule, the Lead assignment rule checks the next rule in the sort order and continues until the criteria makes a match. We'll expand on how to construct and best practices on Assignment Rules in a later blog post.
When you are finished, you'll have a rule for each person that you want assigned a lead.
Check that box and save the Lead record. Viola! Your lead should be reassigned based on the rules you have in place.


This data set provides global estimates of carbon fluxes associate with annual crop net primary production (NPP) and harvested biomass, annual uptake and release by humans and livestock, and the total annual estimate of net carbon exchange (NCE) derived from these carbon fluxes. NCE estimates are for the combined crop plant harvest and consumption/expiration of fodder by livestock and of food by humans. Estimation of carbon uptake and release from global agricultural production and consumption required compilation and analysis of inventory data from various sources for the years 2005-2011. The flux estimates were spatially distributed to a global 0.05-degree resolution grid using MODIS land cover data. The quantities of carbon flux in each gridcell are represented in two ways: (1) where the quantities of carbon distributed to each gridcell were divided by the total gridcell area, resulting in average carbon fluxes per unit of total area (g C/m2/yr), and (2), where annual carbon fluxes associated with a source were summed over all types for the gridcell (Mg C/yr). The total surface area of the grid cells is provided.There are eight data files in netCDF format (.nc4) with this data set -- two files (per area and per gridcell) for each of the four flux source types. Data for all years are in each *.nc4 file.
Archived by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S. Government, ORNL_DAAC. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1279. Wolf, J., T.O. West, Y. Le Page, G. Kyle, X. Zhang, G.J. Collatz, and M.L. Imhoff. 2015. CMS: Carbon Fluxes from Global Agricultural Production and Consumption, 2005-2011. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. http://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1279.


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Mark Geyer says a top-four finish is a must for Newcastle following the acquisition of Test prop David Klemmer from Canterbury.
On Monday, the Knights confirmed the much-anticipated signing of the 24-year-old on a lucrative five-year deal after the Bulldogs granted him a release.
It caps off an impressive recruitment drive from Newcastle, who have also landed James Gavet, Tim Glasby, Edrick Lee and Jesse Ramien for 2019.
Those additions, along with what will be one of the NRL's most potent halves combinations in Kalyn Ponga and Mitchell Pearce, should see the Knights skyrocket on the competition ladder, according to Geyer.
"In turn, (confirmation of the Klemmer signing) now puts Newcastle Knights a top four team," Geyer said on Triple M.
"With the candles being put on top of the cake, on top of the icing which is Klemmer, you light them candles and all of a sudden you've got a top four team.
"This team is now, almost, you could almost say top eight is guaranteed, but top four now with the arsenal that they've acquired, they can involve themselves in any war and stay with the big guns because they now have so much artillery to fire back that it's not funny.
"And now all of a sudden they go from wooden spoon to a team that has made some great recruits.
"We all thought that if Mitchell Pearce stayed healthy this year that they would have made the eight easily.
"Man, honestly, if they don't make the top four I think there's going to be questions asked."
But Geyer says that while the Knights now have a strong roster, with it will come expectation.
The Penrith 1991 premiership winner believes coach Nathan Brown, who is on a special KPI-based contract that doesn't have a timeframe, will be under the pump if Newcastle's season starts to go off the rails.
"This is when we see whether Nathan Brown is the coach we think he is. We keep saying how brave the Knights have been over the last few seasons with basically having no player personnel," Geyer added.
"Over the last couple of years, their player personnel has developed now to a point where you look at their top 25 players and it's up there with one of the best in the whole competition.
"Now we see if Nathan Brown can manage that top 25 and take them to the next level.
"If he can, well, he's the coach we thought he could be. If expectation gets the better of him, and all of a sudden, Knights start losing a few in a row, guess who the first coach to be going will be?"
Geyer, however, believes the struggles for the Knights, who won three consecutive wooden spoons between 2015 and 2017, are now over.
"I think they can (be a force to be reckoned with). I think the fact that Mitchell Pearce will be fit for the whole year, the sea change has done him a world of good, getting out of Bondi. He seems a different guy at the moment, and he seems to be the man most players love to play with," he said.
"The fact that he's assembling these big guns around him at the moment, I think he's just kind of getting ready for a tilt at another premiership and I think that if this team does stay together in the next couple of years Newcastle will definitely win a comp."


I am a PhD candidate in the department of Computer Science at Cornell University. Under the able advice of Prof. Ari Juels, my research interest is in blockchains, trusted hardware, system security and applied cryptography. I'm particularly interested in understanding and building hybrid systems that enjoy the best of both blockchains and trusted hardware. I am a member of the exciting Initiative for Cryptocurrencies & Contracts (IC3). Before joining Cornell, I earned my bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering from Tsinghua University in 2014.
11/01/18: Town Crier, a trusted hardware-based oracle for smart contracts is aquired by ChainLink!
03/02/18: I presented Paralysis Proof at the 5th Bitcoin workshop @ Financial Crypto 2018 in Curacao.
08/18/17: I presented REM at USENIX Security 2017, Vancouver, Canada.
08/13/17: I was invited to present Town Crier at Silicon Valley Ethereum Meetup.
08/02/17: Solidus: Confidential Distributed Ledger Transactions via PVORM is accepted to CCS'17.
07/10/17: Intern at Intel Labs this summer.
05/15/17: Town Crier is officially live!
05/11/17: REM: Resource-Efficient Mining for Blockchains paper is accepted to Security'17. Available here.
10/17/16: Sealed-Glass Proofs: Using Transparent Enclaves to Prove and Sell Knowledge is accepted to EuroS&P '17.
07/22/16: Town Crier: An Authenticated Data Feed for Smart Contracts is accepted to ACM CCS'16.
05/13/16: Stealing Machine Learning Models via Prediction APIs is accepted to USENIX Security'16.
Jan 31, 2019. Northeastern University, Cybersecurity Speaker Series.
Nov 28, 2018. MIT, CSAIL. Hosted by Alin Tomescu.
Oct 19, 2018. New York University, CS Colloquium. Hosted by Joe Bonneau and Dennis Shasha.
CHURP: Dynamic-Committee Proactive Secret Sharing . Sai Krishna Deepak Maram, Fan Zhang, Lun Wang, Andrew Low, Yupeng Zhang, Ari Juels and Dawn Song. In Cryptology ePrint Archive, Report 2019/017.
Ekiden: A Platform for Confidentiality-Preserving, Trustworthy, and Performant Smart Contract Execution . Cheng, R. and Zhang, F. and Kos, J. and He, W. and Hynes, N. and Johnson, N. and Juels, A. and Miller, A. and Song, D. . In IEEE EuroS&P 2019. To appear..
Paralysis Proofs: Safe Access-Structure Updates for Cryptocurrencies and More . Fan Zhang, Philip Daian, Iddo Bentov and Ari Juels. In Cryptology ePrint Archive, Report 2018/096.
Tesseract: Real-Time Cryptocurrency Exchange using Trusted Hardware . Iddo Bentov, Yan Ji, Fan Zhang, Yunqi Li, Xueyuan Zhao, Lorenz Breidenbach, Philip Daian and Ari Juels. In Cryptology ePrint Archive, Report 2017/1153.
Solidus: Confidential Distributed Ledger Transactions via PVORM . Ethan Cecchetti, Fan Zhang, Yan Ji, Ahmed Kosba, Ari Juels and Elaine Shi. In ACM CCS 2017.
REM: Resource-Efficient Mining for Blockchains . Fan Zhang, Ittay Eyal, Robert Escriva, Ari Juels and Robbert van Renesse. In USENIX Security 17.
Sealed-Glass Proofs: Using Transparent Enclaves to Prove and Sell Knowledge . Florian Tramèr, Fan Zhang, Huang Lin, Jean-Pierre Hubaux, Ari Juels and Elaine Shi. In EuroS&P'17.
Town Crier: An Authenticated Data Feed for Smart Contracts . Fan Zhang, Ethan Cecchetti, Kyle Croman, Ari Juels and Elaine Shi. In ACM CCS'16.
Stealing Machine Learning Models via Prediction APIs . Florian Tramer, Fan Zhang, Ari Juels, Michael Reiter and Thomas Ristenpart. In USENIX Security'16.
PlateClick: Bootstrapping Food Preferences Through an Adaptive Visual Interface . Longqi Yang, Yin Cui, Fan Zhang, John P Pollak, Serge Belongie and Deborah Estrin. In Proceedings of the 24th ACM International on Conference on Information and Knowledge Management.
Star Town Crier: an SGX-based authenticated data feeds for smart contracts.
Star mbedTLS-SGX: a port of mbedtls to be used as an SGX library.
Star hybrid-enc: ECDH + AES-256 encryption based on mbedtls.
Consider following me on GitHub Follow @bl4ck5un.


text:
Chris Harrison Should Be The Next 'Bachelor' — He'd At Least Be Better Than Juan Pablo, Right?
By Elyse Roth
It's an irrefutable truth that Chris Harrison and The Bachelor and Bachelorette are one and the same. We wouldn't love the show nearly as much without our favorite host's soothing voice opening the show, heart-to-hearts, words of wisdom, and comforting presence in the most trying times, like announcing the last rose and gently telling our rejects to "say their goodbyes." For so many seasons, Chris Harrison listened intently as our Bachelors and Bachelorettes worked through their feelings of confusion and "falling in love" from the perspective of a long-time, happily married man. As an audience, we took his sound advice from someone who had a relationship the show's contestants were vying for.
That was, until news broke that his 18-year marriage was ending, and Harrison was in the same position as the Bachelor or Bachelorette and all the love-seeking contestants. As Andi's season heads to hometowns, and speculation begins to rise as we await the announcement of the next Bachelor, it brings us to the question — why not Harrison?
There are a lot of eligible departed gents from the current season, but something just seems right about relatively-newly single Chris Harrison handing out roses and pondering his next love-fueled move in front of an altar of single women's photos. Harrison has had his time to adjust to single life, and allegedly try his hand at a few rebounds, but it's hard to argue with the tried and true Bachelor process.
He's the show's number one cheerleader
Juan Pablo wouldn't say the L-word, and found... emotions and Bachelor success despite that. Brad walked away without a fianceé his first time around, and Emily and one-F-Jef's very public display of engagement was all for show. Harrison stays in the loop with the whole Bachelor family, hosting and officiating weddings and seeing how the process can really work. For someone whose main income draws from singles' search to find love, he must believe in it, so he should see if it could work for him.
We already love him
Juan Pablo's season ended in semi-disaster for many reasons. Des's season fell a little flat. Ashley made a lot of people pretty angry. It's hard to know how someone will play out after minimal screen time on another season. We know Harrison well after so many seasons, and we know we won't be disappointed by his theoretical journey to find love.
We want to see the flip side of a Chris Harrison heart-to-heart
Harrison is the standard voice of reason, making the contestants spill all. But what would it be like to have him stuck between possible women, unsure who to choose and who to send home? And who would he work this out with, himself? This would be quality TV that I would not want to miss.
He Has Kids, Which Means He'd Have to Be Serious
Everyone loves a bachelor with kids and a juicy romantic past. Unlike many young hopefuls who exploit their past relationships for emotional value, Harrison has a real past that we can sympathize with and would, frankly, make for great TV. Kids give the choice gravity, and create a connection with other potential fianceés who also have kids to consider. There'd be more to Harrison's decision, and we'd be dying to see how it plays out.
Bonus: he's stylish (Yeah, Really)
Harrison is often the best dressed guy in the room. He knows his way around a casual ensemble, and when he has to suit up, he knows how to do that as well. Harrison even has his own menswear line. Each week requires so many outfit changes that culminate in one formal cocktail party and rose ceremony, and I wouldn't complain about what he could pull out every episode.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
Images: ABC (2); instagram/chrisbharrison; Getty Images (2)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This intermediate R series follows R for Data Science by Hadley Wickham and Garrett Grolemund of RStudio, and will teach you how to do data science with R. You'll learn how to transform, visualize and model your data. You'll learn how to use the grammar of graphics, literate programming, and reproducible research to save time. If you have already taken our R for Reproducible Scientific Analysis workshop, you meet the prerequisite for this course. This final session is a makeup for a session cancelled due to a March snowstorm.


Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals-- they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way; father and son go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink wine bought with fines they imposed. Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of cedars, and who was as strong as oaks; I destroyed his fruit above, and his roots beneath. Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up some of your children to be prophets and some of your youths to be nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel? says the LORD. But you made the nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, "You shall not prophesy." So, I will press you down in your place, just as a cart presses down when it is full of sheaves. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain their strength, nor shall the mighty save their lives; those who handle the bow shall not stand, and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves, nor shall those who ride horses save their lives; and those who are stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, says the LORD.
Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately. " This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee."
O God, who, fulfilling the promise made to our Fathers, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to become the Mother of the Savior, grant that we may follow her example, for her humility was pleasing to you and her obedience profitable to us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God, forever and ever.
Though Mary was a virtuous woman, she was not a sinless woman. Mary was a sinner just like us. Privileged? Yes. Called by God? Yes. Sinful? Again, yes. Later, in what has been called the Magnificat, or Mary's Song, she said, "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1:47). Even Mary needed a Savior.
When people are truly godly, they never boast of their devotion. They will not speak of what they have done for God. Rather, they will always speak of what God has done for them. That is why John described himself in his Gospel as the disciple whom Jesus loved. John boasted of God's love for him rather than his love for God.
Had Mary been like many other young women of her time, she would have married a poor man, given birth to numerous children, and wouldn't have traveled more than a few miles from her home. Then she would have died like thousands of others before her, another person who entered and left the human stage. But God chose her, despite the fact that Mary was a nobody living in a nothing town in the middle of nowhere.
Mary was handpicked to fulfill prophecy: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). I seriously doubt that Mary, in her wildest dreams, ever read that verse and thought, That is me. I'm going to be the virgin Isaiah spoke of. I'm going to be the mother of the Messiah.
God can use you right where you are!
Como hijos obedientes, no se amolden a los malos deseos que tenían antes, cuando vivían en la ignorancia. Más bien, sean ustedes santos en todo.
Para vivir hay que morir. Si la semilla no muere, no hay fruto. Así que vale la pena morir a la vieja naturaleza pecadora y enderezar nuestra vida por el buen camino.
En nuestro andar con Cristo, hemos aprendido que, aunque fallemos, Dios nos levanta y nos hace nuevas criaturas. Por lo tanto, dejemos atrás las personas que no son una buena influencia y los amigos que lo único que quieren es que vivamos las cosas del mundo. Entonces se burlan porque eres hombre de una sola mujer, o porque eres una mujer sujeta a su esposo, o porque no estás en fiestas y vicios. Quizá hasta debas dejar trabajos donde tu vida está expuesta a malas influencias.
No temas hacer estos cambios, porque si lo haces bajo el pacto con Dios, Él te respaldará en tus decisiones y abrirá nuevas oportunidades para ti. No olvidemos que la obediencia es igual a bendición.
Los cambios requieren sacrificios, dominio propio y mucha oración. En realidad, necesitamos mucha oración porque siempre estarán rondando las tentaciones.
"…Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
Her character: An inhabitant of Joppa, a town on the Mediterranean coast, thirty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem, she belonged to one of the earliest Christian congregations. She was a disciple known for her practical works of mercy.
Her sorrow: To have suffered a grave illness.
Her joy: To serve Jesus by serving the poor.
The winds roared over the coast, piling water in noisy heaps along the rocky shoreline. But though she lay quietly in the upper room of her house near the sea, Dorcas did not hear them. Nor did she notice the waves of grief that spilled into the room from the heart of every woman present. For once she had nothing to offer, no word of comfort, no act of kindness to soften their suffering. Instead, she lay still as other women ministered to her, tenderly sponging her body clean to prepare it for burial.
As Peter approached the house, he could hear the noise of mourning, a sound more desolate than the tearing wind. Two men had summoned him from Lydda, where he had just healed a paralytic. They urged him to come quickly because one of the Lord's disciples in Joppa had died. He had come in haste, hoping to reach Dorcas before she had to be buried.
As soon as he entered the room where her body lay, the widows surrounded him with tangible evidence of the woman they had loved, weeping as they held up robes and other items Dorcas had sewn to clothe the poor. Quickly, Peter shooed them from the room, as though to clear the atmosphere of despair. Then he knelt beside her body.
As Peter prayed, he remembered a promise Jesus had made: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." His faith rising like the wind outside, Peter addressed the dead woman, saying, "Tabitha, get up." Taking her by the hand, he actually helped her to her feet.
The next day, Dorcas stood alone on the roof of her house. The shore was littered with driftwood, trinkets from yesterday's storm. She breathed deeply, inhaling the sea's salty tang, soothed by the sound of waves lapping the rocks below. Strangely, the view looked somehow transparent, as though another world waited just behind the curtain of this one. Dorcas shaded her eyes with her hand, peering out at the sea. But she saw nothing other than the usual collection of fishing boats bobbing in the waves.
Sighing, she turned and went inside. She had things to do—clothes to sew, bread to bake, the poor to feed and clothe. But even in the midst of her busy preparations, her longing for that other world increased, like hunger pangs before a feast. She fed that longing with her many practical acts of love.
Though we don't know what went through Peter's mind as he knelt and prayed at Dorcas's bedside, we do know that God worked through him in an extraordinary way. And though Scripture doesn't tell us how Dorcas responded to her incredible experience, it doesn't take much to imagine her joy. The story of her miracle spread throughout Joppa, leading many to believe.
God is glorified in the story of Dorcas, not only in her being raised from the dead, but through her acts of kindness, her generosity, and her willingness to go out of her way to offer help to others. Don't think you must do great and noble and noticeable acts for your life to glorify God. He will be glorified through your simple acts of love and obedience, whatever they are, wherever you are.
"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced...".
Standing in wonder, I glanced around at a few employees. I got the feeling they were very accustomed to their surroundings. I doubt they got choked up with emotion when they walked past the black and white photographs on the wall. They didn't even seem to notice the flags and medals around them.
I really can't blame them. I was seeing everything for the first time with eyes of appreciation and wonder. If I had seen that gate hundreds of times, I probably would pass by without a second thought.
It reminded me of Christmas. We have heard the story of the baby born in a manger, and the angels singing to shepherds. We have seen Christmas plays and heard Christmas songs. It's very easy to let these familiar things pass by. Yet how much we can miss if we don't stop to wonder.
The Bible tells us to "Remember the wonders he has done…" This cycle of remembering gives us hope and perspective. You might imagine you are hearing the Christmas story for the first time as you listen to a sermon from Luke's gospel. You may picture what it was like the day Jesus was born or what it would be like to have an angel appear to you with a heavenly announcement.
Don't lose your sense of wonder just because the Christmas story is familiar.
When my daughter Lucy was two, she had a favorite purple stuffed animal dog named Violet. She was crazy about Violet! I thought it would be funny to rewrap Violet as a Christmas present. After Lucy went to bed, I took Violet and dressed her in one of Lucy's sweatshirts and her bike helmet. I placed "Biker Violet" in a box and wrapped it in paper.
On Christmas morning, Lucy tore open the box to reveal her beloved Violet in a new outfit. She squealed "Violet!" in delight, hugging her stuffed dog tightly as if she had never seen anything so wonderful.
Violet was an old friend presented in a new way, and it evoked wonder in little Lucy. In the same way, we can take the story of Christmas and rewrap it to see this marvelous gift of God's love with new eyes.
As we remember God's wonders this season, may it stop us in our tracks. Let us salute the God who loved us so well that He sent His Son down to earth to save us.
Dear Lord, thank You for coming as a baby to save my life. I am in awe of Your love for me. Today I remember the many wonders You have already performed in my life. You are worthy of praise. May I see You with new eyes of wonder and appreciation this Christmas season.
What is the next Christmas event you will attend? It may be a church service, school play, concert, work party, or celebration at a friend's house. Take a moment before the event to pause and thank God for the meaning of Christmas. Give yourself a minute to remember God's wonders. Let this set the tone for the event.
Would you like to text less and wonder more? Learn how to tone down your tech and experience more peace and joy in Arlene's book Calm, Cool, and Connected: 5 Digital Habits for a More Balanced Life.
LHM Daily Devotion - December 4, 2017 "A FAMILY MESS"
Genesis 38 tells the story of Judah and Tamar. It is a sordid story-the kind of thing you'd expect to find on a soap opera, not in the family of Christ. Judah's oldest son got married to a girl named Tamar, but this didn't last long. "Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death" (Genesis 38:7).
Someone had to provide for the widow and give her children to carry on her dead husband's name. So Judah married off Tamar to his second son according to the local custom. But that went wrong too. Her new husband treated her shamefully and broke faith with her-and the Lord killed him also.
Now what? There was one son left. But Judah was terrified he would die, too. So Judah made excuses to keep Tamar waiting-widowed, childless, and alone, with no future to look forward to.
Tamar was no fool. When she realized that Judah was happy to forget her, she tricked Judah himself into fathering twin boys on her. One of these, Perez, became the ancestor of Jesus.
What a mess! And yet you probably know a family as dysfunctional as this one. You may even live in a family that carries this much pain-a family where fear and betrayal and shame and secrets are always in the background, reaching out into the future and creating even more grief.
But Jesus has come to us in the guilt, in the shame, in the messiness of our lives and relationships. He knows them well, because they are the world He was born into. When God became man, He made our world His world, our families His family. And through His birth, suffering, death, and resurrection, Jesus reaches out to make us-everyone who believes in Him-His own forever.
THE PRAYER: Thank You, Lord, for loving me and making me a part of Your own family. Amen.
Someone had to provide for the widow and give her children to carry on her dead husband's name.


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