Function of coprophagous beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Hydrophilidae) in cattle pastures inferred from pitfall trapping data

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Šlachta ◽  
Jan Frelich ◽  
Tomáš Tonka

Function of coprophagous beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Geotrupidae, Hydrophilidae) in cattle pastures inferred from pitfall trapping dataAn analysis of data on the dry weight biomass of coprophagous beetles in standardized dung (4.5 l) was conducted in order to characterize the spatial and the seasonal distribution of the beetles' biomass in cattle pastures and to elucidate their function in dung decomposition. Nested Anova with factors of farm, site (nested in farm), seasonal period and year was used to evaluate the effect of these factors on the biomass of four functional species groups: the dung dwellers ofScarabaeidae(subfamilyAphodiinae), the dung dwellers ofHydrophilidae, the small tunnellers ofScarabaeidae(subfamilyCoprinae) and the large tunnellers ofGeotrupidae. The spatial variation of biomass (between the sites and the farms) was insignificant (P>0.05) in the two dung-dweller groups and in the large-tunnellers group. On the other hand, a significant (P<0.05) seasonal variation of biomass was found in all but the large tunneller group. In dung dwellers, the spring biomass was formed mainly by two species,Aphodius prodromusandA. sphacelatus. In summer, most of the biomass was accounted for bySphaeridium lunatum, S. scarabaeoidesandA. rufipes. In the two tunneller groups,Onthophagus fracticornis, Geotrupes stercorariusandG. spinigerformed a majority of the biomass in dung.

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 649
Author(s):  
Estefanía Noriega-Fernández ◽  
Izumi Sone ◽  
Leire Astráin-Redín ◽  
Leena Prabhu ◽  
Morten Sivertsvik ◽  
...  

The aim of this work was to evaluate the potential of ultrasound (US), alone or in combination with mild heating and/or EDTA towards reduction of As, Cd, I, and Hg content of Laminaria hyperborea. Concentrations of As, Cd, I, and Hg of 56.29, 0.596, 7340, and <0.01 mg kg−1 of dry weight, respectively, were found in L. hyperborea blades. Treatment with US at 50 °C increased approx. 2-fold the amount of As released, although did not affect significantly the content of Cd or I, as compared to control (no US) samples. Reducing the temperature to 8 °C significantly decreased the effect of US, but heating at 80 °C did not cause a significant effect as compared to treatments at 50 °C. On the other hand, treatment with 0.1 N EDTA at 50 °C enhanced the percentage of Cd released by approximately 7-fold, regardless of sonication. In the present work, the combination of US and EDTA at 50 °C for 5 min led to a significant reduction of the As (32%), Cd (52%) and I (31%) content in L. hyperborea, thus improving the product’s safety for consumers.


1946 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 480-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Payling Wright ◽  
Helen Payling Wright

The present inquiry was undertaken to obtain some indication of the relative frequencies of deaths amongst infants from the various forms of diarrhoea and enteritis—‘neonatal’, ‘parenteral’ and ‘infectious’—in the Greater London area in the decade before the war. Since much of the material needed for such an analysis was not available in the published records, a sampling inquiry, making use of the more elaborate records maintained by the Medical Officer of Health, was undertaken for the Borough of Willesden. A comparison of the relevant epidemiological and social conditions in this borough with those in the Greater London area as a whole showed, that for such a purpose, it might properly be regarded as a representative sample.There was little evidence for the occurrence of the neonatal form in Willesden during the period studied, nor did the seasonal distribution of the deaths suggest that many took place in consequence of preceding parenteral infections. On the other hand, there did seem to be some evidence that a significant proportion of these deaths were in some degree associated with one another, in time or place or both, and it is suggested that this distribution might have resulted from the widespread dissemination in the community of one or more strains of some common micro-organism of relatively low virulence for all but the infant population.A less detailed study of data for other London boroughs, viz., Bermondsey, Croydon, East Ham, Tottenham and West Ham, supported the main conclusion reached from the Willesden records.


Rangifer ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne C. Nilssen ◽  
Kjetil Åsbakk ◽  
Rolf Egil Haugerud ◽  
Willy Hemmingsen ◽  
Antti Oksanen

<p>Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug widely used in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus (L.)) in Fennoscandia and North America. Most of the ivermectin injected in the animal is excreted unchanged in the faeces. Several reports show that ivermectin in cattle dung disrupts colonisation and survival of beneficial dung breeding insects. The present study investigated the effect of ivermectin on the reindeer dung fauna. Four reindeer calves (males, 6 months of age) were injected subcutaneously with standard doses of ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg body weight) in early December. The daily produced faeces was collected until day 30 after treatment, and the concentration of ivermectin was determined by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection. The highest concentration measured (mean 1632 ng/g faeces (dry weight), range 907 to 2261 ng/g among the animals) was on day 4 after treatment. The concentration decreased gradually to 28 ng/g (range 6 to 58 ng/g) on day 30. Faeces portions from day 4 and from untreated reindeer were placed in the field on 2-4 July and recollected on 13-22 September in order to detect possible differences in decomposition fauna between the samples. The most important coprophilous beetles (Apbodius spp.) and flies (Scatbophaga spp.) were not detected in this winter dung whether it contained ivermectin or not, probably because of the dry consistency and small size of the pellets. On the other hand, these insects (larvae and imagines) were common in summer dung, which had been deposited naturally in the field and later placed together with the ivermectin-containing winter dung for comparison. The summer dung has a more soft and lumpy consistency. Treatment in autumn or early winter implies that the bulk of the ivermectin from the animal will be present in faeces with winter consistency, since this bulk portion is excreted during the first 30 days after treatment. This dry and pelleted faeces is not utilized by the important coprophilous insecr species, and the current practice of treatment of reindeer with ivermectin in autumn or early winter is therefore the regime representing the least danger of harmful influence on the coprophilous fauna and their contribution to the dung decomposition process.</p>


Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2097 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS WESENER

Thirty-one new species of giant pill-millipedes (order Sphaerotheriida) endemic to Madagascar are described: Zoosphaerium haackeri n. sp., Z. album n. sp., Z. discolor n. sp., Z. mitoho n. sp., Z. pulchellum n. sp., Z. endemicum n. sp., Z. xerophilum n. sp., Z. aureum n. sp., Z. pseudopriapus n. sp., Z. pseudoplatylabum n. sp., Z. solitarium n. sp., Z. tsingy n. sp., Z. corystoides n. sp., Z. broelemanni n. sp., Z. amabile n. sp., Z. trichordum n. sp., Z. smaragdinum n. sp., Z. ambrense n. sp., Z. isalo n. sp., Z. bilobum n. sp., Z. tampolo n. sp., Z. ignotum n. sp., Z. tainkintana n. sp., Z. viridissimum n. sp., Z. denticulatum n. sp., Z. pseudoblandum n. sp., Z. micropiligerum n. sp., Z. pseudopiligerum n. sp., Z. analavelona n. sp. and Z. fisheri n. sp., and Microsphaerotherium anjozorobe n. sp.. Twenty-eight of the Zoosphaerium species already fit into established species-groups. A key to all 55 recognizable Malagasy Sphaerotheriida species is given. Forty-two of the 55 giant pill-millipede species are ecosystem endemics, while 26 are geographically microendemic. The number of microendemic species is disproportionately distributed among Malagasy ecosystems. All 13 species restricted to the montane rainforest as well as all five species restricted to the Eastern littoral forest are microendemic. On the other hand, only two out of seven dry forest species, one out of seven rainforest species and one out of five spiny forest species are microendemics. A special emphasis is placed on two species endemic to the unique Western rainforest site of Analavelona, which is currently not protected.


1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. S. Raju ◽  
James E. Hines

Detached leaves of Echeveria elegans Bgr. produce both roots and shoots. However, when their bases are severed, they tend to produce only roots. It was observed that roots had to be present on detached leaves, bases removed or not, in order to have an increase in size and also in dry weight. The growth in size was found to be due mainly to enlargement of cells, and the increase in dry weight was presumably due to maintenance of normal metabolic activity in the detached leaves. Thus detached leaves of E. elegans have a greater potential for growth than is normally realized by the leaves that are mature and still attached to the parent axis. The vigorously growing shoots seem to have an inhibitory influence on growth in the detached leaves. Roots on detached leaves, on the other hand, seem to play an important role not only in the delaying of senescence but also in reducing the inhibitory influence of shoots. Roots alone appeared to bring about "uncontrolled" enlargement of cells and consequently lesions were formed on the leaves, which finally died off. Thus growth, regeneration, and senescence in the detached leaves appear to be correlative phenomena.


2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Chakroune ◽  
M Bouakka ◽  
A Hakkou

Composting of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) residues contaminated with Fusarium f.sp oxysporum albedinis, causal agent of the vascular wilt (Bayoud) of the date palm, has been achieved. The effect of the aeration of the piles by manual turning has been studied. The maintenance of an adequate humidity of 60%–70%, necessary to the good progress of the composting process, required the contribution of 11.4 L of water/kg of the dried residues. The evolution of the temperatures in the three piles presents the same phases. A latency phase, followed after 2–3 d of composting by a thermophilic phase, which lasts about 24 d, where the temperature remains elevated between 50 and 70 °C. Then a cooling phase that takes about 15 d, during which the temperatures fall to values between 25 and 35 °C, near room temperature. Fusarium f.sp oxysporum albedinis is eliminated completely during the thermophilic phase of composting, and increasing frequencies of turning accelerate its disappearance to a certain extent. On the other hand, pH remained steady and relatively basic oscillating between 8.2 and 8.7. Ninety percent (90%) of the the date palm residues are composed exclusively of organic matters. The total nitrogen represents only 0.4%. The contribution of manure decreases the ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C/N) from 115 to 48 in the initial mixture. After 80 d of composting and according to the frequency of return up, there is a reduction of the granulometry of the substratum, the C/N ratio (from 29% to 44%), the organic matter (from 15% to 23%), the total volume (from 25% to 35%), and of the dry weight of the swaths (from 16% to 24%). On the other hand there is an increase in total nitrogen rate (from 20% to 40%) and in the mineral matter (from 23% to 35%).Key words: composting, palm date, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedinis.


1884 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
W. H. Edwards

The eggs of butterflies are very interesting objects. As a rule, those of each natural genus (I speak of the North American fauna, for I know nothing of the eggs of tropical butterflies), are closely alike, as in Pieris, Anthocharis, Colias, Terias, Callidryas; and so, while each genus has peculiarities of its own, there is a family resemblance between these genera (of the sub-family Pierinæ). They are all of one general shape, long, slender, sub-conic, or spindle-shaped, set on end, but differently ribbed according to the genus. So the eggs of Danais and Heliconia and Agraulis each have their own pattern. A11 Argynnis eggs, whether of the large or small species (Groups 1 and 2), are thimble-shaped. On the other hand, Euptoieta, by its egg, is allied to Argynnis, while by the chrysalis, it is allied to Melitæa. It links the two genera, and in my Catalogue of Di. Lep., I place it between these two, instead of before Argynnis, as has usually been the arrangement. So Melitæa, Phyciodes, Limenitis, Apatura, Paphia, Satyrus, Neonympha, Chionobas, may all be distinguished as readily by the eggs as by the butterflies. Lycæna, Lemonias, Thecla, Chrysophanus, so far as I know them, all show generic peculiarities in the egg stage. So does Papilio, though some of the species, as Philenor and Cresphontes, have the surface covered with a rough crust, the usual type being smooth-surfaced.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 11205
Author(s):  
C. Sneha

The present study was made to assess the butterfly diversity of Peringome Vayakkara Panchayath located in the Western Ghats during 2012–13.  The area is almost fully inhabited by humans and is under rapid conversion.  A total of 108 species of butterflies belonging to six families were identified from the study area.  The number of butterfly species encountered during winter was the highest (101), which decreased to 88 species in summer and it was only 67 during the rainy season.  Fifty three species, however, were observed throughout the year.  Seasonal variation on abundance was not very prominent in Papilionidae and Riodinidae.  But Pieridae, Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae were less during the rainy season.  On the other hand, Hesperiidae were maximum during the rainy season. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 369-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tailyn Zermiani ◽  
Antonio A.S. Junior ◽  
Renê A. Ferreira ◽  
Theodoro M. Wagner ◽  
Marina S. Machado ◽  
...  

Abstract The triterpenes friedelin (1), β-friedelinol (2) and 3,15-dioxo-21α-hydroxyfriedelane (3) in the aerial parts of Maytenus robusta, a Brazilian medicinal plant with antiulcer potential, were seasonally quantified by gas chromatography flame-ionization detection (GC-FID) using an external standard. The method was found to be linear, precise and sensitive. Compounds 1 and 2 were found in M. robusta leaves and branches, with highest concentrations in the leaves collected in autumn, i.e. 3.21 ± 0.16 and 12.60 ± 1.49 mg g−1 dry weight of 1 and 2, respectively. On the other hand, compound 3 was found only in the branches, with the highest concentrations in winter and autumn (0.21 ± 0.01 and 0.20 ± 0.02 mg g−1). The results allow to define the optimal season and plant parts for the collection of M. robusta as a phytotherapeutic drug.


1955 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 525-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Fitz-James

The oxygen uptake, the changes in the concentrations of the phosphorus (P) fractions, and the dry weights of Bacillus cereus and B. megaterium germinating in thick suspension were followed from the spore to the young vegetative cell. Parallel cytological studies were made using standard procedures of bacterial cytology. During the initial minutes of germination the dry weight of the spores fell, respiratory activity began, the concentration of cold trichloroacetic acid (TCA)-soluble P rose, and the concentration of a residual P fraction insoluble in hot TCA fell. In complete media, nucleic acid synthesis began soon after this initial activation and was accompanied by an uptake of P, a further rise in the acid-soluble P, and in the rate of respiration. The cells began to recover weight. Ribosenucleic acid (RNA) synthesis was detectable by about 10 min. after inoculation and desoxyribosenucleic acid (DNA) synthesis by 15–20 min. Following its initial rise, the rate of RNA synthesis declined and continued parallel to that of DNA for some 10 min. During this period, the uptake of P from the medium appeared to be depressed and the spores (B. cereus) changed in shape from ovoids to short rods. After this period, the RNA synthesis was steady throughout germination. The rise of DNA, on the other hand, was continuous and steady throughout, even in cultures where growth was synchronous. The nuclear material of germinating spores grew and separated in step with the continuous rise of DNA P and the increase in cell volume was of the same order as the increase in RNA P. Under crowded conditions, or in inadequate media, germinating spores and young vegetative cells of B. cereus showed a decreased RNA/DNA ratio and accumulations of labile P. Crowded cultures of B. megaterium, on the other hand, accumulated Sudan positive (fatty) granules, but no labile P. The time required for the germinating spore to duplicate its chromatin varied in different media and could, in some instances, be shortened by subculturing. Nevertheless, the product of this time of germination and the increase in RNA during the germination period approximated to a fixed value that was independent of medium, species, or cell concentration.


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