Search results for "Insect"

Partially disarticulated new Miocene burrower bug (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae) from Cerová (Slovakia) documents occasional preservation of terr…

2015

The state of preservation of the bug Sehirus carpathiensis J.A. Lis, Vršanský & Schlögl, sp. n. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae) from the Lakšárska Nová Ves Formation at Cerová (Slovakia) supports extremely rapid sinking and burial in upper bathyal Early Miocene sediments. The specimen originated from land at most a few kilometers away, but transport via a river can be excluded as the head and wings are still attached. Its most likely source based on fossil flora and the habitat of several living representatives of the genus is a riparian habitat in an adjacent area of land. Phylogenetically the new species is closely related to both Oligocene and living representatives of the genus, thus…

Range expansion to novel environments : evolutionary physiology and genetics in Leptinotarsa decemlineata

2010

Adaptation to stressful environments : invasion success of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

2018

Biological invasions, specifically human-induced dispersals, are one of the major threats to our biodiversity and are predicted to increase. Invasive pests provide an opportunity to study whether adaptation to human-induced environments could promote invasions to other human-induced environments. One major anthropogenic selection pressure is created by pesticides, and pests can be exposed to various pesticides in their native, as well as introduced, ranges. I investigated whether exposure to anthropogenic selection (i.e. insecticides and herbicides) and exposure to multiple anthropogenic stressors selects for higher stress tolerance. I also tested whether parental prolonged diapause or inse…

Testing the effectiveness of pyrazine defences against spiders

2020

Insects live in a dangerous world and may fall prey to a wide variety of predators, encompassing multiple taxa. As a result, selection may favour defences that are effective against multiple predator types, or target-specific defences that can reduce predation risk from particular groups of predators. Given the variation in sensory systems and hunting tactics, in particular between vertebrate and invertebrate predators, it is not always clear whether defences, such as chemical defences, that are effective against one group will be so against another. Despite this, the majority of research to date has focused on the role of a single predator species when considering the evolution of defended…

Size-related mortality during overwintering in cavity-nesting ant colonies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

2016

The ongoing process of climate change will result in higher temperatures during winter and therefore might increase the survival of overwintering invertebrates. However, the process may also lead to a reduction in snow cover and expose overwintering invertebrates to lower temperatures, which could result in higher mortality. During a field experiment, I investigated the effects of a reduction in snow cover on the survival of the ant Temnothorax crassispinus, which overwinters in nests located on the ground. Ant colonies differed in the survival rate of the workers in the experimental (from which snow cover was removed) and control group. In the control group, the survival rate was unrelated…

E se il punteruolo affamasse Steinernema carpocapsae?

2023

Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier 1790) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), phytophagus of palms, has been used as a model to deepen the knowledge of the host-entomopathogen relationship. The effects of Steinernema carpocapsae (Nematoda: Steinernematidae) on the growth and immunoactivity of R. ferrugineus larvae were compared with another model insect Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). Although S. carpocapsae had a negative effect on the weight and mortality of R. ferrugineus, it was not able to replicate in the hemolymph with the same rates found for the moth. In vivo and in vitro effects of S. carpocapsae on the phagocytic responsesof the hemocytes of R. ferrugineus and G. mellone…

Prenatal thyroid hormones accelerate postnatal growth and telomere shortening in wild great tits

2021

AbstractEarly-life environment is known to affect later-life health and disease, which could be mediated by the early-life programming of telomere length, a key hallmark of ageing. According to thefetal programming of telomere biology hypothesis, variation in prenatal exposure to hormones is likely to influence telomere length. Yet the contribution of key metabolic hormones,i.e. thyroid hormones (THs), has been largely ignored. We recently showed that in contrast to predictions, exposure to elevated prenatal THs increased postnatal telomere length in wild collared flycatchers, but the generality of such effect, its underlying proximate mechanisms and consequences on survival have not been i…

L’homme et l’insecte : de la terreur à l’appropriation

2017

International audience

Verifying the predicted risk of extinction based on ecological characteristics

2021

Red List status of species should reflect species extinction risk. Because data are limited and species response has a time lag, species may be threatened by extinction even if they are not Red‐Listed. The ability to predict species risk of extinction from ecological characteristics holds promises for proactively targeting conservation measures to species at high risk. In 2005, the risk of extinction from ecological characteristics was predicted for 81 species of Finnish butterflies. Now, after 15 years and two additional national Red List assessments, these predictions are verified. Species with a higher risk of extinction according to the original ecological extinction risk rank (EERR) ha…

Data from: Parasitic wasp-associated symbiont affects plant-mediated species interactions between herbivores

2018

Microbial mutualistic symbiosis is increasingly recognised as a hidden driving force in the ecology of plant–insect interactions. Although plant‐associated and herbivore‐associated symbionts clearly affect interactions between plants and herbivores, the effects of symbionts associated with higher trophic levels has been largely overlooked. At the third‐trophic level, parasitic wasps are a common group of insects that can inject symbiotic viruses (polydnaviruses) and venom into their herbivorous hosts to support parasitoid offspring development. Here, we show that such third‐trophic level symbionts act in combination with venom to affect plant‐mediated interactions by reducing colonisation o…