Search results for "Insecta"
showing 10 items of 265 documents
The Cylapinae of French Guiana: an illustrated catalogue with the description of a new species (Insecta, Heteroptera, Miridae)
2023
An illustrated catalogue of Cylapinae (Insecta, Heteroptera, Miridae) from French Guiana is provided. Valdasus cerdai, n. sp. is described as new. Cylapus antennatus (Carvalho & Fontes, 1968), C. citus Bergroth, 1922, C. ruficeps Bergroth, 1922, C. tucuriensis (Carvalho, 1989) and Peltidocylapus caudatus Wolski, 2021 are recorded from French Guiana for the first time. The validity of Valdasoides Carvalho, 1989 is discussed. 
An integrative approach to unravel the Ceratitis FAR (Diptera, Tephritidae) cryptic species complex: a review
2015
Abstract This paper reviews all information gathered from different disciplines and studies to resolve the species status within the Ceratitis FAR (Ceratitis fasciventris, Ceratitis anonae, Ceratitis rosa) complex, a group of polyphagous fruit fly pest species (Diptera, Tephritidae) from Africa. It includes information on larval and adult morphology, wing morphometrics, cuticular hydrocarbons, pheromones, microsatellites, developmental physiology and geographic distribution. The general consensus is that the FAR complex comprises Ceratitis anonae, two species within Ceratitis rosa (so-called R1 and R2) and two putatitve species under Ceratitis fasciventris. The information regarding the lat…
PO-CALC: A novel tool to correct common inconsistencies in the measurement of phenoloxidase activity
2015
Abstract A broad range of physiological and evolutionarily studies requires standard and robust methods to assess the strength and activity of an individual’s immune defense. In insects, this goal is generally reached by spectrophotometrically measuring (pro-) phenoloxidase activity, an enzymatic and non-specific process activated after wounding and parasite infections. However, the literature surprisingly lacks a standard method to calculate these values from spectrophotometer data and thus to be able to compare results across studies. In this study, we demonstrated that nine methods commonly used to extract phenoloxidase activities (1) provide inconsistent results when tested on the same …
Microbial symbionts of parasitoids
2020
Parasitoids depend on other insects for the development of their offspring. Their eggs are laid in or on a host insect that is consumed during juvenile development. Parasitoids harbor a diversity of microbial symbionts including viruses, bacteria, and fungi. In contrast to symbionts of herbivorous and hematophagous insects, parasitoid symbionts do not provide nutrients. Instead, they are involved in parasitoid reproduction, suppression of host immune responses, and manipulation of the behavior of herbivorous hosts. Moreover, recent research has shown that parasitoid symbionts such as polydnaviruses may also influence plant-mediated interactions among members of plant-associated communities…
Phylogeny and Taxonomy of the Risa Genus-group (Diptera: Ephydridae), with Description of a New Genus from Australia
2023
The systematic and somewhat controversial history of Risa Becker is presented, and its relationship with Diasemocera Bezzi (tribe Psilopini, Ephydridae) is documented by morphological evidence and an association with host plants in the family Amaranthaceae. The tribe Risini Papp (as Risidae) is synonymized with Psilopini Cresson. Notorisa gen. nov., from Australia, is described (type species: Notorisa mcalpinei sp. nov.; Australia. Victoria: Big Desert National Park, near Lake Hindmarsh; 36°03.7'S 141°54.8'E). Achaetorisa Papp is retained as a subgenus within Risa and includes five species, including two new combinations: Risa brevicornis (Papp) comb. nov., Risa salsolae (Mathis & Zatwa…
Contribution to the knowledge of North-American species Hyperomyzus subgenus Neonasonovia (Aphididae, Aphidinae, Macrosiphini)
2017
American specimens of the Hyperomyzus subgenus Neonasonovia conserved in the collections of the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris, France) and the Natural History Museum (London, United Kingdom), have been studied. Data to complement previous descriptions of apterous and alate viviparous females of H. nabali and of apterous viviparae of H. nigricornis, H. inflatus, H. niger and H. pullatus , are presented. Apterous and alate virginogeniae females of H. nigricornis, alate viviparous females of H. inflatus, H. niger and H. pullatus, plus oviparous females of H. nabali , are described for the first time. The morphological and biological variability of H. pullatus is discussed. An ide…
Redescription of Tipula octomaculata Savchenko, with notes on related Holarctic species (Diptera, Tipulidae)
2007
Tipula (Pterelachisus) octomaculata Savchenko, 1964 (Diptera, Tipulidae) has hitherto been known only from the type locality in north-western Russia, and no material besides the holotype male has been available for study. In this article we report T. octomaculata for the first time from Finland, redescribe the species and compare its morphological characters with those of related Nearctic species (T. trivittata Say, T. angulata Loew, T. entomophthorae Alexander). The Finnish finding locality in Ks: Taivalkoski, North boreal ecoregion, is briefly discussed.
An overview of the Ephydridae (Diptera) of Saudi Arabia
2019
Despite the species richness of Ephydridae world-wide (2000 species) and its prominent environmental roles as a minor pest and as a food for wildlife, only 13 species have been recorded from Saudi Arabia. Between 2012 and 2016, a biodiversity study of Diptera was conducted at Jazan, Asir, and Najran in south-western Saudi Arabia, at 22 sites, was performed mainly using Malaise traps and sweep nets. In this study, 43 known species of Ephydridae were identified, 37 of them for the first time from southwestern Saudi Arabia and 16 from Arabian Peninsula. This brings the total number of Ephydridae species in Saudi Arabia to 49 (including previous records). There were a further four species, whic…
Ant crickets and their secrets: Myrmecophilus acervorum is not always parthenogenetic (Insecta: Orthoptera: Myrmecophilidae)
2021
Abstract Previously considered as a thelytokous parthenogenetic species, the widespread ant cricket Myrmecophilus acervorum actually turns out to have a mixed reproductive system: our recent surveys in the central part of its distribution area has revealed the presence of both sexes. Detailed morphological and morphometric descriptions of the previously unknown males are here provided. New data on species distribution in south-eastern Europe are presented, including the first records of M. balcanicus in Bulgaria and of M. nonveilleri in Bulgaria and Hungary. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses have revealed several haplotypes of M. acervorum in Europe, with six of them forming a parth…
On the analysis of viability data: an example with Drosophila.
1990
Larval competition experiments involving two wild type and eight mutant strains of Drosophila melanogaster have been carried out following the substitution procedure proposed by Mather and Caligari (1981). Our main goal has been to compare the competitive abilities of two phenotypically indistinguishable strains (wild and Oregon-R) by means of their responses with eight different mutants. Prior to the analyses of viability data, we have studied the normalizing effect of several transformations in order to determine which was best suited for the analyses. The differences found among the five transformations tested and the untransformed data were not very great. The folded power transformatio…