Search results for "Insects"
showing 10 items of 123 documents
Early Cretaceous termites in amber from northern Spain (Isoptera)
2020
Abstract Two virtually complete termites in Lower Cretaceous amber from the Penacerrada I outcrop, Spain, are described and figured, representing the most well-preserved Isoptera yet discovered from the Albian stage. The material is described as Ithytermes montoyai gen. et sp. nov., and is similar in many details to the slightly younger Krishnatermes yoddha Engel, Barden, and Grimaldi from northern Myanmar amber. Given the presence of distinct soldiers in this grade of Cretaceous termites, it is likely that I. montoyai also exhibited such a tripartite caste system. In addition to the type material of I. montoyai, two fragmentary termites are recorded for the first time in Albian amber from …
High winter survival rate of acorn ants inside artificial nest sites (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
2022
Although most species of ants overwinter underground to avoid low temperatures, the acorn ants of the genus Temnothorax remain in nests situated at ground level. During a field experiment, I studied the winter mortality of acorn ants in nest sites situated aboveground, as well as in sites experimentally buried in the soil. Despite the low air temperatures (even reaching –19°C, recorded 1.5 m above the ground), the survivorship was very high: all of the 18 queens used in the experiment survived, while the survival rate of workers was 61.9-100%, and for most colonies it exceeded 95%. The rate of survival in the nest sites aboveground and those experimentally buried in the soil was similar. Su…
The response of Trissolcus basalis to footprint contact kairomones from Nezara viridula females is mediated by leaf epicuticular waxes.
2009
Chemical footprints left behind by true bugs are perceived as contact kairomones by scelionid egg parasitoids. Female wasps encountering a contaminated artificial substrate display a characteristic arrestment posture, holding the body motionless and antennating the surface. In the system Nezara viridula (L.) and its egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston), previous studies have shown that the kairomone mediating such behavior is part of N. viridula's cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) and furthermore that the wasp's ability to discriminate host male and female footprints is mainly based on the presence/absence of nonadecane (nC(19)). In this study, the effect of epicuticular waxes of leaves…
Un mystère : la technique de conservation mise en oeuvre par Honoré Fragonard pour créer ses fameux écorchés
2008
A two part overview of the techniques used by Honoré Fragonard to create and preserve (mainly against the insects) cutaway anatomical figures (" écorchés ") of animals or humans. The first part summarise the techniques preparing the dry anatomical specimens at that time, according to contemporary bibliographical data: selection and preparation of the bodies, then injection of the various organs and tissues (e.g: muscles, nerves, lymph and blood vessels, placenta etc.). The second one gives detailed information on the techniques used by Fragonard to create his " écorchés " : selection of the subjects, highlighting the various organs and tissues, mummification, drying and varnishing. This new…
The evolutionary dynamics of adaptive virginity, sex-allocation and altruistic helping in haplodiploid animals
2018
In haplodiploids, females can produce sons from unfertilized eggs without mating. However, virgin reproduction is usually considered to be a result of a failure to mate, rather than an adaptation. Here, we build an analytical model for evolution of virgin reproduction, sex-allocation, and altruistic female helping in haplodiploid taxa. We show that when mating is costly (e.g., when mating increases predation risk), virginity can evolve as an adaptive female reproductive strategy. Furthermore, adaptive virginity results in strongly divergent sex-ratios in mated and virgin queen nests ("split sex ratios"), which promotes the evolution of altruistic helping by daughters in mated queen nests. H…
Lipocalins in Arthropod Chemical Communication.
2021
Abstract Lipocalins represent one of the most successful superfamilies of proteins. Most of them are extracellular carriers for hydrophobic ligands across aqueous media, but other functions have been reported. They are present in most living organisms including bacteria. In animals they have been identified in mammals, molluscs, and arthropods; sequences have also been reported for plants. A subgroup of lipocalins, referred to as odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), mediate chemical communication in mammals by ferrying specific pheromones to the vomeronasal organ. So far, these proteins have not been reported as carriers of semiochemicals in other living organisms; instead chemical communicatio…
Nabrzeżkowate (Heteroptera: Saldidae) Polski – przegląd faunistyczny / Shore bugs (Heteroptera: Saldidae) of Poland – a faunistic review
2022
This paper is a faunistic review of 23 species of the family Saldidae occurring in Poland. The study was based on the original papers relating to the territory of Poland and on materials deposited in several institutions, i.e. University of Opole (UO), Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw (ZMPA), and in Nature Collections of the Faculty of Biology of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (ZPUAM). Over 4000 specimens preserved at the institutions mentioned above have been examined, identified, or their previous identifications were verified. All the localities (with their UTM coordinates) for each of the 23 species occurring in Poland are listed in alphabetical …
Damsel bugs (Hemiptera:Heteroptera: Nabidae) of Poland: identification key, distribution and bionomy
2020
Rodzina Nabidae (zażartkowate) w Polsce reprezentowana jest 15 gatunków należących do dwóch podrodzin: Prostemmatinae i Nabinae. Pierwsza z nich obejmuje dwa gatunki należące do rodzaju Prostemma, Nabinae są reprezentowane przez 13 gatunków sklasyfikowanych w dwóch rodzajach: Himacerus i Nabis. Niniejsza praca podsumowuje rozmieszczenie zażartkowatych w Polsce na podstawie danych literaturowych oraz niepublikowanych. Zaprezentowano mapy rozmieszczenia każdego gatunku w Polsce i w Palearktyce. Ponadto przedstawiono dwujęzyczny klucz do identyfikacji zilustrowany wysokiej jakości fotografiami. Omówiono bionomię każdego gatunku. Analiza rozmieszczenia Nabidae w Polsce wskazuje na stosunkowo do…
First record of Icerya seychellarum and confirmed occurrence of Aulacaspis tubercularis (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) in Italy
2020
The Seychelles scale, Icerya seychellarum (Westwood, 1855) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Monophlebidae), is reported for the first time in Italy. Moreover, the occurrence of the white mango scale, Aulacaspis tubercularis (Newstead, 1906) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Diaspididae), firstly reported in 1990 on mango trees growing outdoors in a nursery near Milazzo (Messina province, Sicily), and then intercepted in 2013 on mango plants imported from Florida (USA) to the Botanical Garden in Padova (Italy), is confirmed. Both species were found in two Sicilian mango orchards located in the province of Messina. Their introduction is most likely due to the orchards planting using infested mango nursery pla…
Nanda-Hamner Curves Show Huge Latitudinal Variation but No Circadian Components in Drosophila Montana Photoperiodism
2021
Insect species with a wide distribution offer a great opportunity to trace latitudinal variation in the photoperiodic regulation of traits important in reproduction and stress tolerances. We measured this variation in the photoperiodic time-measuring system underlying reproductive diapause in Drosophila montana, using a Nanda-Hamner (NH) protocol. None of the study strains showed diel rhythmicity in female diapause proportions under a constant day length (12 h) and varying night lengths in photoperiods ranging from 16 to 84 h at 16°C. In the northernmost strains (above 55°N), nearly all females entered diapause under all photoperiods and about half of them even in continuous darkness, while…