2006 Annual Report 4d.Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a Specific Cooperative Agreement with ARS and Sacrofano, Italy. Additional details of this research can be found in the report for the parent CRIS 5325-22000-020-00D, Biology and Management of Invasive Weeds in the Western US. Foreign exploration for biological control agents of Russian thistle (tumbleweed) were conducted in Tunisia and Kazakhstan, revealing the existence of several beetles that merit further evaluation. Studies on the molecular genetics of a flea beetle, Psylliodes chalcomera, confirm that the population found on yellow starthistle in southern Russia is distinct from other populations associated with other host plants. The lace bug, Tingis grisea, was collected in eastern Turkey and life history studies were conducted in the laboratory to provide a basis for conducting host plant specificity tests. These studies should lead to further research in the United States and abroad, and to determine which agents may be useful in biological control programs for US weed control.