Search results for "Frass"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
The culturable bacterial community of frass produced by larvae of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Canary island …
2012
Aims: Larvae of the red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) feed inside palm stem tissues, making galleries and producing a wet fermenting frass. We characterized the culturable bacteria associated with frass produced by tunnelling larvae inside the Canary island date palms and investigated the role of frass and gut bacteria in plant polymers breakdown. Methods and Results: A culture-dependent method was used to isolate bacteria from frass and noninfested palm tissues. Bacterial isolates were grouped into operational taxonomic units based on polymorphisms in the ITS-PCR profiles, and representative isolates were identified by partial sequencing …
Influences of Relatedness, Food Deprivation, and Sex on Adult Behaviors in the Group-living Insect Forficula auricularia
2014
The evolution of group living is generally associated with the emergence of social behaviors that ensure fitness benefits to group members. However, the expression of these behaviors may depend on group composition, which can vary over time with respect to sex, starvation status, and relatedness. Here, we investigated (1) whether adults of the group-living European earwig, Forficula auricularia, show cooperative behaviors toward conspecifics and (2) whether sex, food availability, and relatedness shape the nature and frequency of these behaviors. We conducted a full-factorial experiment using 108 unisexual pairs of adults, in which we manipulated these three factors and video-recorded the e…
Dialoghi tra antico e contemporaneo. Dal Bouleuterion greco alla grande Barricaia di Rocca di Frassinello
2021
La cantina Rocca di Frassinello, progettata da Renzo Piano nel cuore della Maremma Toscana, costituisce uno dei massimi esempi di come la contemporaneità, nelle sue forme più essenziali, possa fondersi perfettamente con il paesaggio naturale circostante senza alterarne gli equilibri e la storia ma anzi valorizzandolo in maniera magistrale. Il centro pulsante della cantina è la grande barricaia ipogea nella quale riposano fino a 2.500 barriques di rovere francese disposte su gradinate digradanti. La particolare configurazione a gradoni della barricaia sembra richiamare l'impianto planimetrico di una forma architettonica legata all'antica Grecia, il bouleuterion. Un'iscrizione da Teos attesta…
The culturable bacterial community of frass produced by larvae of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the Canary island …
2012
Aims: Larvae of the red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) feed inside palm stem tissues, making galleries and producing a wet fermenting frass. We characterized the culturable micro-organisms associated with frass produced by tunnelling larvae inside the Canary island date palms and investigated the role of frass and gut bacteria in plant polymers breakdown. Methods and Results: A culture-dependent method was used to isolate bacteria from frass and noninfested palm tissues. Bacterial isolates were grouped into operational taxonomic units based on polymorphisms in the ITS-PCR profiles, and representative isolates were identified by partial sequenci…
Data from: Growing up with feces: benefits of allo-coprophagy in families of the European earwig
2016
An important issue in the evolution of group living is the risk of pathogen and predator exposure entailed by the inherent accumulation of feces within a nesting site. While many group living species limit this risk by cleaning the nest, others do not, raising questions about the benefits of maintaining feces in the nest and their importance in social evolution. Here, we investigated whether one of these benefits could be mediated by coprophagy in families of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia. In this insect species, mothers and mobile juveniles (nymphs) line their nests with feces and consume them. In a first experiment, we tested whether access to feces produced by either nymphs …