scholarly journals Entomopathogenic Rickia wasmannii fungal infection generated colony-level stress effects cause size decline in Myrmica ants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sándor Csősz ◽  
Zoltán Rádai ◽  
András Tartally ◽  
Lilla Erika Ballai ◽  
Ferenc Báthori
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Infection Level ◽  
Stress Effects ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Myrmica Scabrinodis ◽  
Rickia Wasmannii ◽  
Colony Level

Abstract Parasitism-generated negative effects on ant societies are multifaceted, implying individual and colony-level responses. Though laboratory based evidence shows that the sublethal fungus Rickia wasmannii is responsible for physiological and behavioral responses that may negatively affect individual workers’ resilience and life expectancy in Myrmica ant workers, colony-level stress response to this parasite is largely unknown. Here, we focus on understanding of a long-term, colony-level effect of Rickia infection on Myrmica scabrinodis ant populations by tracking trait size-based changes. We collected worker specimens from infected and uninfected colonies from the same population in order to: (i) compare body size in response to parasitism, (ii) assess the extent to which possible changes in size are associated with the severity of infection, and (iii) investigate shifts in body size in response to infection over time by testing correlation of workers’ ages and sizes. We found that workers from infected colonies were significantly smaller than their healthy congeners, but neither infection level nor the age of the workers showed significant correlation with the size in infected colonies. Decreasing body sizes in infected colonies can be ascribed to workers’ mediated stress toward developing larvae, which are unable to attain the average body size before they pupate.

scholarly journals Ectoparasitic fungi Rickia wasmannii infection is associated with smaller body size in Myrmica ants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sándor Csősz ◽  
Zoltán Rádai ◽  
András Tartally ◽  
Lilla Erika Ballai ◽  
Ferenc Báthori
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Infection Level ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Myrmica Scabrinodis ◽  
Rickia Wasmannii ◽  
Average Body ◽  
Colony Level

AbstractParasitism-generated negative effects on ant societies are multifaceted, implying individual and colony-level responses. Though laboratory based evidence shows that the sublethal fungus Rickia wasmannii is responsible for physiological and behavioral responses that may negatively affect individual workers’ resilience and life expectancy in Myrmica ant workers, colony-level stress response to this parasite is largely unknown. Here, we focus on understanding of a long-term, colony-level effect of Rickia infection on Myrmica scabrinodis ant populations by tracking trait size-based changes. We collected worker specimens from infected and uninfected colonies from the same population in order to: (1) compare body size in response to parasitism, (2) assess the extent to which possible changes in size are associated with the severity of infection, and (3) investigate shifts in body size in response to infection over time by testing correlation of workers’ ages and sizes. We found that workers from infected colonies were significantly smaller than their healthy congeners, but neither infection level nor the age of the workers showed significant correlation with the size in infected colonies. Decreasing body sizes in infected colonies can be ascribed to workers’ mediated effect toward developing larvae, which are unable to attain the average body size before they pupate.

scholarly journals Ectoparasitic fungi of Myrmica ants alter the success of parasitic butterflies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
András Tartally ◽  
Norbert Szabó ◽  
Anna Ágnes Somogyi ◽  
Ferenc Báthori ◽  
Danny Haelewaters ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parasite Species ◽  
Joint Infection ◽  
Laboratory Conditions ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Survival And Development ◽  
Myrmica Scabrinodis ◽  
Rickia Wasmannii

AbstractExploitation of organisms by multiple parasite species is common in nature, but interactions among parasites have rarely been studied. Myrmica ants are rich in parasites. Among others, the ectoparasitic Rickia wasmannii fungus and the parasitic caterpillars of myrmecophilous Phengaris butterflies often infect the same Myrmica colonies. In this study, we examined the effects of R. wasmannii on the adoption, long-term development, and survival of P. alcon. In laboratory conditions, caterpillars introduced into nests of Myrmica scabrinodis uninfected with R. wasmannii survived significantly longer compared to caterpillars introduced into infected nests. In the field, joint infection was less common than expected if both parasites exploited M. scabrinodis colonies independently. Pre-pupal caterpillars of P. alcon were somewhat larger in nests infected with R. wasmannii than those found in uninfected nests. Based on these results it seems that R. wasmannii infection of M. scabrinodis affects the survival and development of P. alcon caterpillars, suggesting competition between these two ant parasites.

Effects of alternative and natural prey on body size, locomotion and dispersal of Neoseiulus bicaudus (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1579-1591
Author(s):  
Jie Su ◽  
Min Liu ◽  
Zhen-Shi Fu ◽  
An-Di Zhu ◽  
Jian Ping Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Predatory Mite ◽  
The Body ◽  
Alternative Prey ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Natural Prey ◽  
Tetranychus Turkestani

Prey are very important for the mass rearing of natural enemies and can affect the efficiency and quality of natural enemy products. Locomotion is important in dispersal of predatory mites on plants, and such activity is affected by body size and prey availability. The study evaluates the effects of prey (alternative prey: Tyrophagus putrescentiae Schrank and natural prey: Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov & Nikolskii) on the body size, locomotion and dispersal of the predatory mite Neoseiulus bicaudus Wainstein. When fed the alternative prey, the body size and locomotion of N. bicaudus were significantly lower than when fed the natural prey. However, the dispersal of N. bicaudus fed the two prey types was similar. The results suggest that long-term feeding on alternative prey could decrease the body size and locomotion of N. bicaudus. Nevertheless, the negative effects of alternative prey did not appear to affect the dispersal of N. bicaudus. The likely reason is that the type of prey does not affect the ability of the predatory mite to locate spider mites. In other words, when it fed alternative prey, N. bicaudus could still successfully disperse and locate spider mite-infested plants in the same way as when fed the natural prey.

scholarly journals Environmental and scale-dependent evolutionary trends in the body size of crustaceans

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1811) ◽  
pp. 20150440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adiël A. Klompmaker ◽  
Carrie E. Schweitzer ◽  
Rodney M. Feldmann ◽  
Michał Kowalewski
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
The Body ◽  
Minimum Size ◽  
Brachyuran Crab ◽  
Species Sorting ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Body Sizes

The ecological and physiological significance of body size is well recognized. However, key macroevolutionary questions regarding the dependency of body size trends on the taxonomic scale of analysis and the role of environment in controlling long-term evolution of body size are largely unknown. Here, we evaluate these issues for decapod crustaceans, a group that diversified in the Mesozoic. A compilation of body size data for 792 brachyuran crab and lobster species reveals that their maximum, mean and median body size increased, but no increase in minimum size was observed. This increase is not expressed within lineages, but is rather a product of the appearance and/or diversification of new clades of larger, primarily burrowing to shelter-seeking decapods. This argues against directional selective pressures within lineages. Rather, the trend is a macroevolutionary consequence of species sorting: preferential origination of new decapod clades with intrinsically larger body sizes. Furthermore, body size evolution appears to have been habitat-controlled. In the Cretaceous, reef-associated crabs became markedly smaller than those in other habitats, a pattern that persists today. The long-term increase in body size of crabs and lobsters, coupled with their increased diversity and abundance, suggests that their ecological impact may have increased over evolutionary time.

scholarly journals Long-term patterns of body mass and stature evolution within the hominin lineage

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 171339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Will ◽  
Adrián Pablos ◽  
Jay T. Stock
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Body Sizes

Body size is a central determinant of a species' biology and adaptive strategy, but the number of reliable estimates of hominin body mass and stature have been insufficient to determine long-term patterns and subtle interactions in these size components within our lineage. Here, we analyse 254 body mass and 204 stature estimates from a total of 311 hominin specimens dating from 4.4 Ma to the Holocene using multi-level chronological and taxonomic analytical categories. The results demonstrate complex temporal patterns of body size variation with phases of relative stasis intermitted by periods of rapid increases. The observed trajectories could result from punctuated increases at speciation events, but also differential proliferation of large-bodied taxa or the extinction of small-bodied populations. Combined taxonomic and temporal analyses show that in relation to australopithecines, early Homo is characterized by significantly larger average body mass and stature but retains considerable diversity, including small body sizes. Within later Homo , stature and body mass evolution follow different trajectories: average modern stature is maintained from ca 1.6 Ma, while consistently higher body masses are not established until the Middle Pleistocene at ca 0.5–0.4 Ma, likely caused by directional selection related to colonizing higher latitudes. Selection against small-bodied individuals (less than 40 kg; less than 140 cm) after 1.4 Ma is associated with a decrease in relative size variability in later Homo species compared with earlier Homo and australopithecines. The isolated small-bodied individuals of Homo naledi ( ca 0.3 Ma) and Homo floresiensis ( ca 100–60 ka) constitute important exceptions to these general patterns, adding further layers of complexity to the evolution of body size within the genus Homo . At the end of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, body size in Homo sapiens declines on average, but also extends to lower limits not seen in comparable frequency since early Homo .

scholarly journals Effect of comb age on cell measurements and worker body size

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260865
Author(s):  
Saad N. Al-Kahtani ◽  
EL-Kazafy A. Taha
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Cell Volume ◽  
The Body ◽  
Food Storage ◽  
Cell Diameter ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Volume Cell

The honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) mainly use beeswax (comb) for brood rearing and food storage. Changes in the color and cell dimensions occur due to repeated food storage and brood rearing in the comb. The study aimed to determine the changes in comb cell measurements and worker body sizes in relation to comb age. For this purpose, the cell measurements of combs at age zero (wax foundation), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 years and the body size of workers reared in them were estimated. The weight of the comb, the height of the cell base, and the weight of accumulated substances in the cell significantly increased with time. Comb age had negative effects on the cell diameter, cell depth, cell volume, cell honey or pollen capacity, and newly emerged worker body weight. Significant negative correlations were observed between the accumulated substances in a cell and the cell diameter, cell depth, and cell size, while significant positive correlations were observed among the cell volume, cell diameter, cell depth, cell honey capacity, cell pollen capacity, and worker body weight. It can be concluded that the dimensions of the comb cells and worker body size changed with the age of the comb. The obtained results recommend beekeepers to replace combs aged more than 3 years with a new comb to allow large workers to gather more nectar and pollen, rear a larger brood, and store more honey.

scholarly journals Antifungal Effect of Silver Nanoparticles on Rickia wasmannii Cavara (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales) Infecting Myrmica scabrinodis Nylander (Formicidae) Ants

Sociobiology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter P Pfliegler ◽  
László Tálas ◽  
Ferenc Báthori ◽  
András Tartally ◽  
István Pócsi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Silver Nanoparticles ◽  
Topical Treatment ◽  
Antifungal Effect ◽  
Myrmica Ants ◽  
Myrmica Scabrinodis ◽  
Rickia Wasmannii

Rickia wasmannii Cavara (Ascomycota: Laboulbeniales) is an ectoparasitic fungus infecting Myrmica ants. Ant-parasitic Laboulbeniales and their interactions with the hosts have been in the focus of several studies. To assess the effects of these fungi, comparison of infected and uninfected or completely treated ants are needed. So far, treating Laboulbeniales infection was only achieved with cockroaches, but not with ants. We present a simple, yet relatively long, AgNP topical treatment that reduces or eliminates Rickia infection from Myrmica scabrinodis ants without affecting their lifespan. We discuss the possibilities of the proposed treatment in the light of the biology of Rickia.

Influence of NPK fertilization on weed flora in maize field

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Éva Lehoczky ◽  
M. Kamuti ◽  
N. Mazsu ◽  
J. Tamás ◽  
D. Sáringer-Kenyeres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Nutrition ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
N Availability ◽  
Weed Species ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Production Factors ◽  
Maize Field ◽  
Weed Flora ◽  
Npk Fertilization

Plant nutrition is one of the most important intensification factors of crop production. The utilization of nutrients, however, may be modified by a number of production factors, including weed presence. Thus, the knowledge of occurring weed species, their abundance, nutrient and water uptake is extremely important to establish an appropriate basis for the evaluation of their risks or negative effects on crops. That is why investigations were carried out in a long-term fertilization experiment on the influence of different nutrient supplies (Ø, PK, NK, NPK) on weed flora in maize field.The weed surveys recorded similar diversity on the experimental area: the species of A. artemisiifolia, S. halepense and D. stramonium were dominant, but C. album and C. hybridum were also common. These species and H. annuus were the most abundant weeds.Based on the totalized and average data of all treatments, density followed the same tendency in the experimental years. It was the highest in the PK treated and untreated plots, and significantly exceeded the values of NK fertilized areas. Presumably the better N availability promoted the development of nitrophilic weeds, while the mortality of other small species increased.Winter wheat and maize forecrops had no visible influence on the diversity and the intensity of weediness. On the contrary, there were consistent differences in the density of certain weed species in accordance to the applied nutrients. A. artemisiifolia was present in the largest number in the untreated control and PK fertilized plots. The density of S. halepense and H. annuus was also significantly higher in the control areas. The number of their individuals was smaller in those plots where N containing fertilizers were used. Contrary to them, the density of D. stramonium, C. album and C. hybridum was the highest in the NPK treatments.

The foundations of peaceful coexistence after the war ... Mosul is a model

2019 ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Omar Hashim Thanon
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Peaceful Coexistence ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Mass Displacement ◽  
The Common ◽  
Near Term ◽  
Post War ◽  
Common Destiny

Since peaceful coexistence reflects in its various aspects the concept of harmony between the members of the same society with their different national, religious and sectarian affiliations, as well as their attitudes and ideas, what brings together these are the common bonds such as land, interests and common destiny. But this coexistence is exposing for crises and instability and the theft of rights and other that destroy the communities with their different religious, national, sectarian, ethnic aspects, especially if these led to a crisis of fighting or war, which produces only destruction and mass displacement, ttherefore, the process of bridging the gap between the different parts of society in the post-war phase through a set of requirements that serve as the basis for the promotion of peaceful coexistence within the same country to consolidate civil and community peace in order to create a general framework and a coherent basis to reconstruct the community again.      Hence the premise of the research by asking about the extent of the possibility and ability of the community of religious and ethnic diversity, which has been exposed to these crises, which aimed at this diversity, basically to be able to rise and re-integrate within the same country and thus achieve civil and community peace, and Mosul is an example for that, the negative effects of the war and the accomplices of many criminal acts have given rise to hatred and fear for all, leading to the loss of livelihoods, which in the long term may have devastating social and psychological consequences.        To clarify all of this, the title of the first topic was a review of the concept and origin of peaceful coexistence. While the second topic dealt with the requirements of peaceful coexistence and social integration in Mosul, the last topic has identified the most important challenges facing the processes of coexistence and integration in Mosul. All this in order to paint a better future for the conductor at all levels in the near term at the very least to achieve the values of this peaceful coexistence, especially in the post-war period.

Effects of GMO agricultural products on living things

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
ERCAN ÇATAK ◽  
Ali ATALAY
Keyword(s):  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
World Population ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Living Things ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Agricultural Use ◽  
Late Twentieth Century ◽  
Living Creature

By obtaining changes on gene sequences of living things with the applied biotechnological methods; The idea of "Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)", which aims to bring the living creature in question the original gene combinations with the desired characteristics, came to life in the late twentieth century. Despite the high probability that hunger problems may increase with the increasing world population; It is thought that plant breeding with classical farming methods will be insufficient in solving these problems. With various GMO applications developed all over the world, it aims to produce solutions to these problems. With the presence of GMO, it was possible to increase the shelf life of qualitative and quantitative values of the existing foods. In addition, decreases in agricultural use of pesticides used in agricultural struggle and threatening human health with GMO production are noteworthy. However, some concerns about anomalies that may occur in living things fed GMO products remain on the agenda. Because, in the long term, there is no clear and precise information that GMO will not have negative effects on living things; There are many recorded incidents showing their negative effects.

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