Impact of parasitism by larval Limnochares aquatica (Acari: Hydrachnidia; Limnocharidae) on juvenile Gerris comatus, Gerris alacris, and Gerris buenoi (Insecta: Hemiptera; Gerridae)

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (9) ◽  
pp. 2238-2243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce P. Smith

Laboratory-reared first-instar juvenile Gerris comatus Drake &Hottes, Gerris alacris Hussey, and Gerris buenoi Kirkaldy were exposed to larval Limnochares aquatica (L.). Development and mortality of parasitized juvenile water striders were monitored and compared with those of unparasitized insects. Duration of infestation was from 6 to 13 days during which surviving hosts moulted several times, with engorging larvae transferring to the teneral host during the moulting process. Most mites dropped off the host during the host's second instar, and all mites were off the host by the host's fourth instar. Parasitism by larval mites significantly increased mortality, duration of instars, and variance in age at first moult for parasitized water striders. Mortality and duration of first instars were directly correlated with number of mites per host. Parasite-induced mortality was not evident until 2 days after attachment of mites, and almost all mortality occurred within the host's first instar. Gerris comatus and G. alacris apparently did not differ in response to parasitism; however, G. buenoi showed greater mortality than the other gerrid species when carrying comparable numbers of mites. The effects of parasitism on juvenile water striders within natural populations are predicted to be severe, and would reduce recruitment while also increasing variation in age structure.

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Jacobson ◽  
T. J. Kring

Individual adult, fourth- and second-instar Orius insidiosus (Say) were caged for 24 h on branches of grain sorghum panicles with combinations of 0, 2, or 4 corn earworm eggs and 0, 2, or 4 first instar earworms, excepting 0 eggs and 0 larvae. Individual adult O. insidiosus also were caged for 24 h with 2 second-instar corn earworms. In cages with corn earworm eggs and first instars, predation by all stages of O. insidiosus on one stage of corn earworm was not significantly influenced by the number of the other stage available. The number of corn earworm eggs shriveled or missing, indicative of predation by O. insidiosus, was highest for cages with O. insidiosus adults (65% for either egg density). In cages with fourth-instar O. insidiosus, the percentage of corn earworm egg shriveled or missing was 45% with 2 eggs available and 32% with 4 eggs available. At all densities of eggs, the number of eggs shriveled or missing in cages with second-instar O. insidiosus was not significantly higher than in control cages. The number of first-instar corn earworms shriveled or missing was highest with fourth-instar O. insidiosus (≈ 52% loss at either larval density). Approximately 47% of larvae at both densities were shriveled or missing in cages with adult O. insidiosus. As was the case with eggs, the number of corn earworm larvae shriveled or missing in cages with second-instar O. insidiosus was not significantly different from that for the controls. Predation on second-instar corn earworms by adult O. insidiosus was not significant.


Vox Patrum ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 339-348
Author(s):  
Bogdan Czyżewski

Although St. Basil did not live 50 years, the topic of the old age appears in his works quite often. On the other hand, it is clear that Basil does not discuss this issue in one par­ticular work or in the longer argumentation. The fragmentary statements about old age can be found in almost all his works, but most of them can be found in the correspondence of Basil. In this paper we present the most important ad the most interesting aspect of teach­ing of Basil the Great. As these certificates show that the bishop of Caesarea looked at the old age maturely, rationally estimated passage of time, which very often makes a man different. He experienced it, for example as a spiritual and physical suffering, which often were connected with his person. He saw a lot of aspect of the old age, especially its advan­tages – spiritual maturity and wisdom. What is more, he pointed also to passage of time, which leads a man to eternity, which should be prepared to, regardless how old he is. In his opinion fear is not seen opinions of St. Basil present really Christian way of thinking, well-balanced and calm.


1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 2055-2057 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Moore ◽  
I. A. Moore

Descriptions of larvae of Procladius denticulatus, Procladius culiciformis, Procladius freemani, and Procladius bellus collected from Yellowknife Bay (lat., 62°25′; long., 114°20′) are given. Procladius denticulatus was separated from the other species by its large size, a character which always proved distinctive. Procladius culiciformis and P. freemani were separated from one another through several measurements including those of the basal antennal segment and the basal palpal segment. Almost all characters of the head were useful in distinguishing the much smaller P. bellus from the other species.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Adrián Ruiz-García ◽  
Álvaro S. Roco ◽  
Mónica Bullejos

The role of environmental factors in sexual differentiation in amphibians is not new. The effect of hormones or hormone-like compounds is widely demonstrated. However, the effect of temperature has traditionally been regarded as something anecdotal that occurs in extreme situations and not as a factor to be considered. The data currently available reveal a different situation. Sexual differentiation in some amphibian species can be altered even by small changes in temperature. On the other hand, although not proven, it is possible that temperature is related to the appearance of sex-reversed individuals in natural populations under conditions unrelated to environmental contaminants. According to this, temperature, through sex reversal (phenotypic sex opposed to genetic sex), could play an important role in the turnover of sex-determining genes and in the maintenance of homomorphic sex chromosomes in this group. Accordingly, and given the expected increase in global temperatures, growth and sexual differentiation in amphibians could easily be affected, altering the sex ratio in natural populations and posing major conservation challenges for a group in worldwide decline. It is therefore particularly urgent to understand the mechanism by which temperature affects sexual differentiation in amphibians.


Microbiology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 149 (8) ◽  
pp. 2147-2154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianping Xu ◽  
Thomas G. Mitchell

Cryptococcus neoformans is a major pathogen of humans throughout the world. Using commercial monoclonal antibodies to capsular epitopes, strains of C. neoformans manifest five serotypes: A, B, C, D and AD. Previous studies demonstrated significant divergence among serotypes A, B, C and D, which are typically haploid. In contrast, most strains of serotype AD are diploid or aneuploid and result from recent hybridization between strains of serotypes A and D. Whether serotypes A, B, C and D represent strictly asexual lineages is not known. Using comparative genealogical analyses of two genes, the authors investigated whether recombination occurred among strains within serotypes A and D. For each of 14 serotype AD strains, a portion (642 bp) of the orotidine monophosphate pyrophosphorylase (URA5) gene was cloned and sequenced. Each of these 14 strains contained two different alleles and sequences for both alleles were obtained. The URA5 gene genealogy was compared to that derived from the laccase (LAC) gene, which was reported recently for the same 14 strains. For both genes, each of the 14 serotype AD strains contained two phylogenetically distinct alleles: one allele was highly similar to those from serotype A strains and the other to alleles from serotype D strains. However, within both the serotype A allelic group and the serotype D allelic group, there was significant incongruence between genealogies derived from URA5 and LAC. The results suggest recombination in natural populations of both serotypes A and D.


2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1816) ◽  
pp. 20152053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence N. Suinyuy ◽  
John S. Donaldson ◽  
Steven D. Johnson

Brood-site mutualisms represent extreme levels of reciprocal specialization between plants and insect pollinators, raising questions about whether these mutualisms are mediated by volatile signals and whether these signals and insect responses to them covary geographically in a manner expected from coevolution. Cycads are an ancient plant lineage in which almost all extant species are pollinated through brood-site mutualisms with insects. We investigated whether volatile emissions and insect olfactory responses are matched across the distribution range of the African cycad Encephalartos villosus . This cycad species is pollinated by the same beetle species across its distribution, but cone volatile emissions are dominated by alkenes in northern populations, and by monoterpenes and a pyrazine compound in southern populations. In reciprocal choice experiments, insects chose the scent of cones from the local region over that of cones from the other region. Antennae of beetles from northern populations responded mainly to alkenes, while those of beetles from southern populations responded mainly to pyrazine. In bioassay experiments, beetles were most strongly attracted to alkenes in northern populations and to the pyrazine compound in southern populations. Geographical matching of cone volatiles and pollinator olfactory preference is consistent with coevolution in this specialized mutualism.


PMLA ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-282
Author(s):  
David H. Stewart

One of the most impressive features of Anna Karenina is the way in which Tolstoy draws the reader's imagination beyond the literal level of the narrative into generalizations that seem mythical in a manner difficult to articulate. With Dostoevsky or Melville, one sees immediately a propensity for exploiting the symbolic value of things. With Tolstoy, things try, as it were, to resist conversion: they strive to maintain their “thingness” as empirical entities. A character in Dostoevsky is usually only half man; the other half is Christ or Satan. Moby Dick is obviously only half whale; the other half is Evil or some principle of Nature. But Anna Karenina is emphatically Anna Karenina. Like almost all of Tolstoy's characters, she has a proficiency in the husbandry of identity; she jealously hoards her own unique reality, so that it becomes difficult to say of her that she is a “type” of nineteenth-century Russian lady or a “symbol” of modern woman or an “archetypical” Eve or Lilith.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5051 (1) ◽  
pp. 346-386
Author(s):  
SÜPHAN KARAYTUĞ ◽  
SERDAR SAK ◽  
ALP ALPER ◽  
SERDAR SÖNMEZ

An attempt was made to test if Lourinia armata (Claus, 1866)—as it is currently diagnosed—represents a species complex. Detailed examination and comparisons of several specimens collected from different localities suggest that L. armata indeed represents a complex of four closely related morphospecies that can be differentiated from one another by only detailed observations. One of the four species is identified as Lourinia aff. armata and the other three species are described as new to science and named as Lourinia wellsi sp. nov., L. gocmeni sp. nov., and L. aldabraensis sp. nov. Detailed review of previous species records indicates that the genus Lourinia Wilson, 1924 is distributed worldwide. Ceyloniella nicobarica Sewell, 1940, originally described from Nicobar Island and previously considered a junior subjective synonym of L. armata is reinstated as Lourinia nicobarica (Sewell, 1940) comb. nov. on the basis of the unique paddle-shaped caudal ramus seta V. It is postulated that almost all of these records are unreliable in terms of representing true Lourinia aff. armata described herein. On the other hand, the comparative evaluation of the illustrations and descriptions in the published literature indicates the presence of several new species waiting to be discovered in the genus Lourinia.                 It has been determined that, according to updated modern keys, the recent inclusion of the monotypic genus Archeolourinia Corgosinho & Schizas, 2013 in the Louriniidae is not justified since Archeolourinia shermani Corgosinho & Schizas, 2013 does not belong to this family but should be assigned to the Canthocamptidae. On the other hand, it has been argued that the exact phylogenetic position of the Louriniidae still remains problematic since none of the diagnostic characters supports the monophyly of the family within the Oligoarthra. It has also been argued that the close relationship between Louriniidae and Canthocamptidae is supported since both families share the homologous sexual dimorphism (apophysis) on P3 endopod. The most important characteristic that can possibly be used to define Louriniidae is the reduction of maxilliped.  


Genetics ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 497-517
Author(s):  
Thomas Nagylaki ◽  
Bradley Lucier

ABSTRACT The equilibrium state of a diffusion model for random genetic drift in a cline is analyzed numerically. The monoecious organism occupies an unbounded linear habitat with constant, uniform population density. Migration is homogeneouq symmetric and independent of genotype. A single diallelic locus with a step environment is investigated in the absence of dominance and mutation. The flattening of the expected cline due to random drift is very slight in natural populations. The ratio of the variance of either gene frequency to the product of the expected gene frequencies decreases monotonically to a nonzero constant. The correlation between the gene frequencies at two points decreases monotonically to zero as the separation is increased with the average position fixed; the decrease is asymptotically exponential. The correlation decreases monotonically to a positive constant depending on the separation as the average position increasingly deviates from the center of the cline with the separation fixed. The correlation also decreases monotonically to zero if one of the points is fixed and the other is moved outward in the habitat, the ultimate decrease again being exponential. Some asymptotic formulae are derived analytically.—The loss of an allele favored in an environmental pocket is investigated by simulating a chain of demes exchanging migrants, the other assumptions being the same as above. For most natural populations, provided the allele would be maintained in the population deterministically, this process is too slow to have evolutionary importance.


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