Patterns of Oviposition and Feeding in the Monophagous Fly Anastrepha spatulata (Diptera: Tephritidae) on its Larval Host Plant Schoepfia schreberi

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1178-1186
Author(s):  
Maurilio López-Ortega ◽  
Paulino Pérez-Rodríguez ◽  
Diana Pérez-Staples ◽  
Francisco Díaz-Fleischer

Abstract Monophagous insects that use discrete resources for oviposition and feeding are especially sensitive to variations in host quality and availability because their opportunities to find these resources are scarce. The monophagous tephritid fly Anastrepha spatulata Stone is a tephritid fly that uses as hosts the fruits of the non-economically important Schoepfia schreberi J. F. Gmel. Scant information of host utilization behavior in the field is available for this species. Wild individually marked flies were observed during the fruiting season. Observations of oviposition, feeding and resting on three trees were taken hourly from 0900 to 1800 hours on days with benign weather. Our results suggest that females can use fruits for oviposition or for feeding according to a temporal scale. Females were significantly more likely to feed on smaller hosts and oviposit in larger ones. Additionally, individual variation in host patch exploitation was detected. However, females that fed on a natural food source such as host fruit juice oviposited fewer eggs than females provided an artificial diet of sucrose and hydrolyzed yeast. Results indicate that females use different foraging tactics during the fruiting season and confirm that, in this case, the host plant is not the center of activity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-30
Author(s):  
Toni Koren ◽  
Matea Martinović

The caterpillars of the Southern Swallowtail, Papilio alexanor have been recorded in the vicinity of Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina. This is the first recent observation of this species in the country and the third observation so far. Opopanax chironium is confirmed as the larval host plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was expected due to the recent observations from Croatia. Its status and distribution in the country are still not clear, and further surveys are recommended in order to reconfirm the historical records as well as to assess its current conservation status. Due to the limited extent of its occurrence, we propose to include it in the Red list of fauna of Bosnia & Herzegovina as Vulnerable (VU).



2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5941
Author(s):  
Abigail Ngugi-Dawit ◽  
Isaac Njaci ◽  
Thomas J.V. Higgins ◽  
Brett Williams ◽  
Sita R. Ghimire ◽  
...  

Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh] is an economically important legume playing a crucial role in the semi-arid tropics. Pigeonpea is susceptible to Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), which causes devastating yield losses. This pest is developing resistance to many commercially available insecticides. Therefore, crop wild relatives of pigeonpea, are being considered as potential sources of genes to expand the genetic base of cultivated pigeonpea to improve traits such as host plant resistance to pests and pathogens. Quantitative proteomic analysis was conducted using the tandem mass tag platform to identify differentially abundant proteins between IBS 3471 and ICPL 87 tolerant accession and susceptible variety to H. armigera, respectively. Leaf proteome were analysed at the vegetative and flowering/podding growth stages. H. armigera tolerance in IBS 3471 appeared to be related to enhanced defence responses, such as changes in secondary metabolite precursors, antioxidants, and the phenylpropanoid pathway. The development of larvae fed on an artificial diet with IBS 3471 lyophilised leaves showed similar inhibition with those fed on an artificial diet with quercetin concentrations with 32 mg/25 g of artificial diet. DAB staining (3,3’-diaminobenzidine) revealed a rapid accumulation of reactive oxygen species in IBS 3471. We conclude that IBS 3471 is an ideal candidate for improving the genetic base of cultivated pigeonpea, including traits for host plant resistance.



2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1272-1283
Author(s):  
Yongjuan He ◽  
Jiale Lv ◽  
Endong Wang ◽  
Xuenong Xu

As an important pest, Tetranychus urticae fed on thousands of host plants and showed strong capability in host adaptation. However, hardly any success artificial diet has been developed for it. In this study, we compared adult longevity and reproduction of T. urticae that fed on its natural food (bean leaves) and an artificial diet with leaf extracts added, and tried to investigate the reason why the artificial diet was inefficient through transcriptome analyses. Mean adult longevity and cumulative fecundities of T. urticae was reduced by 53.4% and 93.8%, respectively. Transcriptome analyses showed that 1731 genes were differentially expressed comparing individuals fed with the artificial diet and with their natural food, among which most (77.1%) were down regulated. No significant induced expression of xenobiotic transporters and detoxification enzymes were observed when T. urticae were fed with the artificial diet. In contrast, differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in digestive related terms, especially in lipid metabolism related pathways, with most genes down regulated. Our results indicated the significance in further investigating lipid demand and metabolism of T. urticae to improve its mass rearing techniques.



2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Moreau ◽  
B. Benrey ◽  
D. Thiéry

AbstractFor insect herbivores, the quality of the larval host plant is a key determinant of fitness. Therefore, insect populations are supposed to be positively correlated with the nutritional quality of their host plant. This study aimed to determine if and how different varieties of grapes (including the wild grape Lambrusque) affect both larval and adult performance of the polyphagous European grapevine moth Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller). Significant differences were found in larval development time, but not in pupal mass, adult emergence rate, or sex ratio. Although the fecundity of females is not different among varieties, females fed on some varieties produced eggs of different sizes which are correlated to their fertility. Thus, females adapt resource allocation to eggs depending on their diet as larvae. Using a fitness index, the average reproductive output was found to be highest for females reared on cv. Chardonnay. Females reared on wild grape produced a fitness index identical to the cultivated grapes. However, Lambrusque and Gewurztraminer separate themselves from the cultivated varieties according to our discriminant analyses. It is emphasized, through this study, that cultivars fed on by larvae should be considered in the population dynamics of L. botrana and that egg number is insufficient to determine host plant quality.



2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy D. Holloway ◽  
Scott E. Miller

The biosystematic position of the Parallelia generic complex is reviewed and a revised generic classification of its component taxa is presented. Bastilla Swinhoe (= Xiana Nye, syn. nov., Naxia Guenée, syn. nov.) is identified as the most appropriate genus for a large number of these taxa, including the joviana-group, which is reviewed in detail, with description of two new species, B. nielseni, sp. nov. and B. binatang, sp. nov. Parallelia prouti Hulstaert, syn. nov. and P. cuneifascia Hulstaert, syn. nov. are recognised as junior synonyms of Bastilla vitiensis Butler and two newly described Tahitian taxa are transferred into the joviana-group. Larval host records are examined in relation to this new generic system and significant preference for the Euphorbiaceae is noted for several groups: Bastilla, Buzara Walker (= Caranilla Moore, syn. nov., another segregate from Parallelia) and an Australian group within Grammodes Guenée.



Oecologia ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Singer ◽  
J. Stireman


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madison S. Powell ◽  
Ronald W. Hardy ◽  
Alison M. Hutson ◽  
Louie A. Toya ◽  
Douglas Tave

Abstract Federally endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnows (RGSM; Hybognathus amarus) were raised in one of three culture regimes: intensively, with only a hatchery diet; semi-intensively with access to natural food and hatchery diet supplementation; and with only natural food available at the Los Lunas Silvery Minnow Refugium (Los Lunas, New Mexico), a naturalized conservation refugium designed to mimic the natural environment of the RGSM in the Rio Grande. The project compared each culture regime and assessed differences and similarities in lipid and fatty acid content between feeding an artificial diet and consumption of natural food items in this species. After 117 d, whole-body lipid levels and fatty acid profiles were measured in each group and compared with values for wild RGSM. Fish fed the hatchery diet exclusively or as supplementary feed had significantly higher percent lipid (15.5% ± 0.5% and 10.6% ± 0.1%, respectively) than fish raised without access to the diet. Both groups had significantly higher percent lipid than fish raised in the refugium or wild fish (8.3% ± 0.1% and 7.8% ± 0.2%, respectively). Condition factor differed among groups and was highest in fish fed the hatchery diet (1.00) followed by fish supplemented with the hatchery diet (0.93), refugium fish (0.91), and wild fish (0.90). In this respect, refugium fish appeared more similar to wild fish than fish fed the hatchery diet or offered the diet as a supplement. Comparison of fatty acid profiles among groups showed marked differences among wild fish, refugium fish, and those fed the hatchery diet, either exclusively or as supplementary feed. Total omega-3 fatty acids, expressed as percentage of total fatty acids, were highest in wild fish but similar among other groups. Total omega-6 fatty acids showed an opposite trend, with five to nine times higher percentages of linoleic acid observed among fish from the three culture regimes compared with wild fish. Significant differences in lipid content and fatty acid composition between wild RGSM and cultured silvery minnows reflected their respective diets and culture regimes. Given similarities in fat content and condition factor with wild RGSM, we conclude that fish in the refugium do not require supplemental feeding with an artificial diet for this type of naturalized conservation management. Results from this study show that RGSM readily forage on natural food items present and also artificial feed when available, indicating dietary plasticity, which is advantageous for fish culture and future recovery.







Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Chieco ◽  
Lucia Morrone ◽  
Giampaolo Bertazza ◽  
Silvia Cappellozza ◽  
Alessio Saviane ◽  
...  

The overexploitation of fishmeal and soy for the feedstuff industry has provided an opportunity to employ insects as an unconventional and more environmental friendly protein source. The evaluation of the nutritive properties of different insect species has consequently become a priority. The present study compares the pupal nutritive composition of two silkworm strains (White Cocoon Polyhybrid and Golden Yellow Cocoon Nistari) fed on two different rearing media (fresh mulberry leaves and a commercial artificial diet). Our results provide evidence that the composition of the feeding substrate strongly influences the fat and protein content of silkworm pupae. The two tested strains had higher fat and lower protein contents when fed with silkworm natural food (mulberry leaves) with respect to the commercial artificial diet. The analysis also showed that the n3/n6 ratio was affected almost exclusively by the feed substrate factor. On the contrary, the carotenoid content in pupae was specifically determined by the strain. The study identifies the interesting opportunity offered by silkworm pupae, which are usually a waste product of the silk-reeling process, to be used as alternative animal protein sources in a fully-closed circular production.



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