Search results for "InSe"

Controlled feeding experiments with diets of different abrasiveness reveal slow development of mesowear signal in goats ( Capra aegagrus hircus )

2018

ABSTRACT Dental mesowear is applied as a proxy to determine the general diet of mammalian herbivores based on tooth-cusp shape and occlusal relief. Low, blunt cusps are considered typical of grazers and high, sharp cusps typical of browsers. However, how internal or external abrasives impact mesowear, and the time frame the wear signature takes to develop, still need to be explored. Four different pelleted diets of increasing abrasiveness (lucerne, grass, grass and rice husks, and grass, rice husks and sand) were fed to four groups of a total of 28 adult goats in a controlled feeding experiment over a 6-month period. Tooth morphology was captured by medical CT scans at the beginning and end…

Effect of simulated faunal impoverishment and mixture on the ecological structure of modern mammal faunas: Implications for the reconstruction of Mio…

2011

15 pages; International audience; The strong link between environment and the ecological diversity of communities is often used for drawing palaeoenvironmental inferences from fossil assemblages. Here we focus on the reliability of fossil samples in comparison to original communities when inferring palaeoenvironments from the ecological diversity of fossil mammal faunas. Taphonomic processes and sampling techniques generally introduce two kinds of biases in fossil samples: 1) the directional impoverishment of communities, i.e. the absence of some specific categories of bones, individuals or species; and 2) the mixture of several communities, temporally (timeaveraging) and/or spatially (spac…

Rauno linnavuori: Entomologist and explorer

2017

New fossil arthropods (Notostraca and Insecta: Syntonopterida) in the Continental Middle Permian of Provence (Bas-Argens Basin, France).

2009

9 pages; Apart frequent and relatively common ichnites, only a few body fossils (Ostracoda) have been mentioned in the Red Continental Permian formations of Provence till these last years. During 2006 and 2007 field researches, new arthropods have been discovered in the Pradineaux Formation of the Bas-Argens. They are Triopsidae (Crustacea, Notostraca) and an insect wing (Syntonopteridae) corresponding to a new genus and species Gallolithoneura butchlii gen. et sp. n. This latter is the first insect record in the Permian of Provence and the youngest one of this enigmatic Carboniferous paleopteran family. As in the other French Permian basins (Lodève, Saint-Affrique), these discoveries demon…

Heteroptera of Lebanon. II.Phytocoris(Exophytocoris)RaunolinnavuoriiSp. Nov. from the Horsh Ehden Nature Reserve and Adjacent Areas (Hemiptera: Heter…

2016

Abstract A new species of Phytocoris (Heteroptera: Miridae: Mirinae: Mirini), P. (Exophytocoris) raunolinnavuorii sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Lebanon. The new species, easily distinguished from all the other species of the subgenus by its coloration and male genitalia, belongs to the Phytocoris pinihalepensis-group. The new species lives on the conifers Abies cilicica (Antoine & Kotschy) Carriere (Pinaceae) and Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb. (Cupressaceae).

Ant recognition cue diversity is higher in the presence of slavemaker ants

2015

Social insect colonies defend themselves from intruders through nestmate recognition, yet the evolution and maintenance of recognition cue diversity is still poorly understood. We compared the recognition cue diversity of 9 populations of Temnothorax longispinosus ant colonies, including populations that harbored the socially parasitic slavemaker ant, Protomognathus americanus. Although ants recognize friends from foe based on recognition cues encoded in their cuticular hydrocarbon profile, which specific compounds are involved in recognition is unknown for most species. We therefore started by statistically identifying 9 putative recognition compounds involved in worker and colony aggressi…

Identification and expression analysis of theSpodoptera exiguaneuropeptidome under different physiological conditions

2018

Neuropeptides are small signalling molecules acting as neurohormones, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Being part of the chemical communication system between cells within an organism, they are involved in the regulation of different aspects of animal physiology and behaviour such as feeding, reproduction, development and locomotion. Transcriptomic data from larval and adult tissues have been obtained and mined to generate a comprehensive neuropeptidome for the polyphagous insect pest Spodoptera exigua. Sixty-three neuropeptides have been identified and described based on their tissue specificity and their regulation in response to different abiotic perturbations. Expression analyses …

Cuticular hydrocarbon profiles differ between ant body parts: implications for communication and our understanding of CHC diffusion.

2020

Abstract Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) serve as communication signals and protect against desiccation. They form complex blends of up to 150 different compounds. Due to differences in molecular packing, CHC classes differ in melting point. Communication is especially important in social insects like ants, which use CHCs to communicate within the colony and to recognize nestmates. Nestmate recognition models often assume a homogenous colony odor, where CHCs are collected, mixed, and redistributed in the postpharyngeal gland (PPG). Via diffusion, recognition cues should evenly spread over the body surface. Hence, CHC composition should be similar across body parts and in the PPG. To te…

Pace-of-life in a social insect: behavioral syndromes in ants shift along a climatic gradient

2017

Lay SummaryLinks between behavioral traits can shift with the local climate. We show that behavioral associations with temperature not only occur across, but also within populations. At warmer sites ant colonies increased their exploration and foraging activity, but were less aggressive. Moreover, at these warmer sites, more positive links were found between behaviors within populations compared to colder sites, where more negative links prevailed. Our study suggests that associations between behaviors shift along climatic gradients.

Survival and gene expression under different temperature and humidity regimes in ants

2017

Short term variation in environmental conditions requires individuals to adapt via changes in behavior and/or physiology. In particular variation in temperature and humidity are common, and the physiological adaptation to changes in temperature and humidity often involves alterations in gene expression, in particular that of heat-shock proteins. However, not only traits involved in the resistance to environmental stresses, but also other traits, such as immune defenses, may be influenced indirectly by changes in temperature and humidity. Here we investigated the response of the ant F. exsecta to two temperature regimes (20 degrees C & 25 degrees C), and two humidity regimes (50% & 75%), for…