Inventive nesting behaviour in the keyhole wasp Pachodynerus nasidens Latreille (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Australia, and the risk to aviation safety

AbstractThe keyhole wasp (Pachodynerus nasidens Latreille 1812), a mud-nesting wasp native to South and Central America and the Caribbean, is a relatively recent (2010) arrival in Australia. In its native range it is known to use man-made cavities to construct nests. A series of serious safety incidents Brisbane Airport related to the obstruction of vital airspeed measuring pitot probes on aircraft possibly caused by mud-nesting wasps at prompted an assessment of risk. An experiment was designed to determine the species responsible, the types of aircraft most affected, the seasonal pattern of potential risk and the spatial distribution of risk on the airport. A series of replica pitot probes were constructed using 3D-printing technology, representing aircraft with high numbers of movements (landings and take-offs), and mounted at four locations at the airport. Probes were monitored for 39 months. Probes blocked by mud nesting wasps were retrieved and incubated in mesh bags. Emerging wasps were identified to species. Results show that all nests in probes were made by P. nasidens, and peak nesting occurs in the summer months. Nesting success (as proportion of nests with live adult emergents) was optimal between 24 and 31°C and that probes with apertures of more than 3 mm diameter are preferred. Not all areas on the airport are affected equally, with the majority of nests constructed in one area. The proportion of grassed areas within 1000 m of probes was a significant predictor of nesting, and probe volume may determine the sex of emerging wasps.

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Inventive nesting behaviour in the keyhole wasp Pachodynerus nasidens Latreille (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Australia, and the risk to aviation safety

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0242063 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. e0242063

Author(s):

Alan P. N. House ◽

Jackson G. Ring ◽

Phillip P. Shaw

Keyword(s):

Central America ◽

Seasonal Pattern ◽

Aviation Safety ◽

Nesting Success ◽

Native Range ◽

Probe Volume ◽

Nesting Behaviour ◽

Mesh Bags ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Pitot Probes

The keyhole wasp (Pachodynerus nasidens Latreille 1812), a mud-nesting wasp native to South and Central America and the Caribbean, is a relatively recent (2010) arrival in Australia. In its native range it is known to use man-made cavities to construct nests. A series of serious safety incidents Brisbane Airport related to the obstruction of vital airspeed measuring pitot probes on aircraft possibly caused by mud-nesting wasps, prompted an assessment of risk. An experiment was designed to determine the species responsible, the types of aircraft most affected, the seasonal pattern of potential risk and the spatial distribution of risk on the airport. A series of replica pitot probes were constructed using 3D-printing technology, representing aircraft with high numbers of movements (landings and take-offs), and mounted at four locations at the airport. Probes were monitored for 39 months. Probes blocked by mud nesting wasps were retrieved and incubated in mesh bags. Emerging wasps were identified to species. Results show that all nests in probes were made by P. nasidens, and peak nesting occurs in the summer months. Nesting success (as proportion of nests with live adult emergents) was optimal between 24 and 31°C and that probes with apertures of more than 3 mm diameter are preferred. Not all areas on the airport are affected equally, with the majority of nests constructed in one area. The proportion of grassed areas within 1000 m of probes was a significant predictor of nesting, and probe volume may determine the sex of emerging wasps.

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Gallancyra gen. nov. (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera), with an overview of the geographical distribution of chewing lice parasitizing chicken

European Journal of Taxonomy ◽

10.5852/ejt.2020.685 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel R. Gustafsson ◽

Fasheng Zou

Keyword(s):

Central America ◽

Type Species ◽

Competitive Exclusion ◽

Bird Species ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Native Range ◽

Male And Female ◽

Chewing Lice ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Specific Species

The geographical range of the typically host-specific species of chewing lice (Phthiraptera) is often assumed to be similar to that of their hosts. We tested this assumption by reviewing the published records of twelve species of chewing lice parasitizing wild and domestic chicken, one of few bird species that occurs globally. We found that of the twelve species reviewed, eight appear to occur throughout the range of the host. This includes all the species considered to be native to wild chicken, except Oxylipeurus dentatus (Sugimoto, 1934). This species has only been reported from the native range of wild chicken in Southeast Asia and from parts of Central America and the Caribbean, where the host is introduced. Potentially, this discontinuous distribution is due to a low tolerance for dry environments, possibly exacerbated by competitive exclusion by Cuclotogaster heterographus (Nitzsch, 1866). Our examinations of O. dentatus also revealed that this species differs significantly from other species of Oxylipeurus in the male and female genitalia, head structure and chaetotaxy, and other morphological characters. We therefore here erect the monotypic genus Gallancyra gen. nov. for O. dentatus, and redescribe the type species.

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Isozyme Variability in Wild and Cultivated Carica papaya

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.30.4.809a ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 809A-809 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Morshidi Maimunah ◽

R.M. Manshardt ◽

Francis Zee

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Central America ◽

Segregation Analysis ◽

Carica Papaya ◽

Geographic Region ◽

Native Range ◽

Enzyme Systems ◽

Genetic Interpretation ◽

Isozyme Variability ◽

The Caribbean

Populations of wild Carica papaya, previously designated as Carica peltata, were sampled from its native range on the Caribbean coast of Central America (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras) and cultivated Carica papaya from both Central and South America were examined for isozyme variability. Thirteen loci from nine enzyme systems (Pgm, Pgi, Idh, Mdh, 6Pgd, Ugpp, Skdh, Aco, Tpi) were scored for all populations. Ten loci were polymorphic and a total of 31 alleles were detected. Isozyme genotypes as determined through segregation analysis were used in the genetic interpretation for eight loci and 18 alleles while six additional loci and 13 alleles were postulated on the basis of phenotypic variation found throughout the species. Nei's genetic identity, I, for both cultivated and wild Carica papaya was >0.9, which is consistent with conspecific populations. Wild papaya populations from different geographic areas appear more related to one another than to domesticates in the same geographic region.

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Local Histories/Global Designs

10.23943/princeton/9780691156095.001.0001 ◽

2012 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Walter D. Mignolo

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Central America ◽

Postcolonial Studies ◽

The United States ◽

Philosophy Of History ◽

South Central ◽

The Social ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Border Thinking ◽

East West

This book is an extended argument about the “coloniality” of power. In a shrinking world where sharp dichotomies, such as East/West and developing/developed, blur and shift, this book points to the inadequacy of current practices in the social sciences and area studies. It explores the crucial notion of “colonial difference” in the study of the modern colonial world and traces the emergence of an epistemic shift, which the book calls “border thinking.” Further, the book expands the horizons of those debates already under way in postcolonial studies of Asia and Africa by dwelling on the genealogy of thoughts of South/Central America, the Caribbean, and Latino/as in the United States. The book's concept of “border gnosis,” or sensing and knowing by dwelling in imperial/colonial borderlands, counters the tendency of occidentalist perspectives to manage, and thus limit, understanding. A new preface discusses this book as a dialogue with Hegel's Philosophy of History.

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