Small-scale spatiotemporal variability in body size of two common carabid beetles

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 476-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliška Baranovská ◽  
Michal Knapp

AbstractAdult body size is one of the most ecologically relevant quantitative traits that underlies many other life-history traits of particular organism. In insects, there is positive intraspecific relationship between body size and female fecundity. In this study small scale temporal and spatial and space variability in structural body size of Poecilus cupreus and Anchomenus dorsalis was investigated. The beetles were collected in four fields near Prague-Suchdol in autumn 2009 and 2010, and in spring 2010, 2011 and 2012. In both species structural body size was significantly affected by sex (females were the larger sex). In A. dorsalis structural body size was also significantly affected by arable field identity, overwintering (post-overwintering individuals collected in spring were larger in comparison to pre-overwintering individuals collected in autumn), sampling year, overwintering by year and arable field by year interactions. Our results suggest that spatiotemporal variation in environmental conditions experienced by A. dorsalis during larval growth resulted in differences in adult structural body size among particular fields and particular sampling years. In addition, mean structural body size in A. dorsalis was affected by overwintering, which was probably caused by size-specific winter mortality. Moreover, effect of overwintering varied among years, probably according to the specific weather conditions during a particular winter.

Biologia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (10) ◽  
pp. 1631-1641
Author(s):  
Janina Bennewicz ◽  
Tadeusz Barczak

Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the role of field margin habitats in preserving the diversity and abundance of ground beetle assemblages, including potentially entomophagous species and those with conservation status in Poland. Research material was collected in 2006–2007 in four types of margin habitats – a forest, bushes, ditches and in two arable fields. Insects were captured into pitfalls, without preservation liquid or bait added to the traps. Traps were inspected twice a week, between May and August, and one sample was a weekly capture. In field margin habitats the most abundant species were Limodromus assimilis, Anchomenus dorsalis, Pterostichus melanarius and Carabus auratus. A lower abundance of species was noted on fields, with dominant Poecilus cupreus and P. melanarius. The group of zoophagous carabids found in our study includes 30 species from field margin habitats, i.e. 37.5% of all captured Carabidae taxa and 58.3% of all specimens. The share of aphidophagous species was 84.9% among bushes, 86.7% near ditches, and 88.0% in the forest habitat. Several species captured during the study are under protection in Poland. These include the partly protected Carabus convexus, which also has the status of near threatened species, the partly protected Calosoma auropunctatum, and Broscus cephalotes. Considering all the investigated field margin habitats, ground beetles were most numerous in the oak-hornbeam habitat, defined as bushes, formed predominantly by Prunus spinosa, Crataegus leavigata, Sambucus nigra and Rosa canina. Thus, this habitat was the most important reservoir/refugium for the ground beetles.


2019 ◽  
pp. 34-36
Author(s):  
Ilya Alexandrovich Khapugin

The influence of mineral fertilizers on seed productivity and quality of obtained seeds of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) was studied in the field small-scale experiment under conditions of unstable moistening of the Mordovia Republic. As a result, it was found that seed productivity varied depending on weather conditions and the types of fertilizers introduced. It was shown that the maximum productivity of Melissa officinalis plants was on the variant with the use of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers at a dose of P60K90 (71.2±78.5 g/m2 in 2017 and 48.8±4.3 g/m2 in 2018), while it exceeded the control variant by 74-91 %. The total germination of seeds of Melissa officinalis practically did not change over the years, and was in the range of 37-39 %. Separation of seeds according to the degree of aging allowed to increase germination 11.4-13.3 %.  


2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1612) ◽  
pp. 977-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel G Kingsolver

The tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta has been an important model system for understanding physiological control of growth, development and metamorphosis of insects for more than half a century. Like all Manduca , M. sexta typically has five larval instars, with developmental commitment to metamorphosis occurring early in the 5th (final) instar. Here we show that M. sexta from a field population in North Carolina (USA) shows substantial intraspecific variation in the number of larval instars when feeding on a modified artificial diet. Individuals with six instars consistently exhibited slower growth rates during early larval development than individuals with five instars. The frequency of individuals with six instars decreased with increased rearing temperature. In contrast, M. sexta from a laboratory colony consistently had five instars, and had more rapid larval growth rates than M. sexta from the field. We identify a threshold body size at the start of the 5th instar that predicts whether an individual will have five (greater than 600 mg) or six instars (less than 600 mg). Variation in field populations in Manduca provides an important resource for understanding physiological control, developmental plasticity and evolution of growth rate, body size and instar number.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-154
Author(s):  
Michael W. Dunn ◽  
S. Noelle On

Minimizing costs and streamlining the construction of low-volume roads offers an opportunity for transportation agencies to effectively meet the needs of rural citizens. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) maintains approximately 56,941 mi of the state’s roads, including Interstate, primary, and secondary facilities. Between 1987 and 1994, VDOT paved nearly 1,900 mi of unpaved roads. In rural parts of the state, many miles of state-maintained roads still have gravel and dirt surfaces. Each year the local transportation residency offices, in conjunction with local elected officials, contractors, and area citizens, strive to improve and pave as many miles of gravel and dirt roads as possible. The Hillsville Residency of VDOT, located in rural Carroll and Floyd Counties, has developed an efficient and cost-effective method for improving low-volume gravel and dirt roads. This process relies heavily on cooperative efforts by VDOT, contractors, elected officials, and especially citizens. Land donations from citizens represent the cornerstone of this process, signifying that citizen cooperation is the key factor in a project’s success. Because most of the decisions in the improvement process are at the local residency level, trusting relationships and frequent communication can be established, small-scale and local contractors are given more business opportunities, and local VDOT personnel can better understand citizen concerns and perform road improvements accordingly. In addition, the time line for the road improvement process is based on seasons—the most appropriate weather conditions are considered for the work being performed. This program enables more roads to be paved each year, improving the level of service and quality of life for local citizens.


Ecology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 2168-2177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan B. Munch ◽  
Marc Mangel ◽  
David O. Conover

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 9453-9468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Bock ◽  
Ana C. Parracho

Abstract. This study examines the consistency and representativeness differences of daily integrated water vapour (IWV) data from ERA-Interim reanalysis and GPS observations at 120 global sites over a 16-year period (1995–2010). Various comparison statistics are analysed as a function of geographic, topographic, and climatic features. A small (±1 kg m−2) bias is found in the reanalysis across latitudes (moist in northern and southern midlatitudes and dry in the tropics). The standard deviation of daily IWV differences is generally below 2 kg m−2 but peaks in the northern and southern storm-track regions. In general, the larger IWV differences are explained by increased representativeness errors, when GPS observations capture some small-scale variability that is not resolved by the reanalysis. A representativeness error statistic is proposed which measures the spatiotemporal variability in the vicinity of the GPS sites, based on reanalysis data at the four surrounding grid points. It allows to predict the standard deviation of daily IWV differences with a correlation of 0.73. In general, representativeness differences can be reduced by temporal averaging and spatial interpolation from the four surrounding grid points. A small number of outlying cases (15 sites) which do not follow the general tendencies are further examined. It is found that their special topographic and climatic features strongly enhance the representativeness errors (e.g. steep topography, coastlines, and strong seasonal cycle in monsoon regions). Discarding these sites significantly improves the global ERA-Interim and GPS comparison results. The selection of sites a priori, based on the representativeness error statistic, is able to detect 11 out of the 15 sites and improve the comparison results by 20 % to 30 %.


2020 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 02007
Author(s):  
Andrew Belonosov ◽  
Anton Kudryavtsev ◽  
Sergey Sheshukov ◽  
Dmitry Borisov

In the South of Western Siberia oil-perspectivity Jurassic deposits are characterized by multi – and small-scale. The interpretation of earth remote sensing materials in the visible, near and far infrared ranges allowed to evaluate the oil potential of numerous domes and depressions on the basis of combining geodynamically stressed zones and calculating the physical characteristics of the earth's surface (albedo, radiation coefficient, thermal inertia, convective heat flow, daily evaporation of moisture, DEM, weather conditions, etc.), including the procedure of reference classification, where the standards are the nearest oil and gas condensate fields. The forecast boundary of “oil and gas condensate” lands of the South of Western Siberia is displaced to the latitude of u.v. Lebyazhye of the Eastern part of the Kurgan region.


1963 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Briggs ◽  
R. P. Tew

Experiments in south-east England are described in which insecticides were tested against the Carabid beetles Harpahis rufipcs (Deg.) and Feronia melanaria(111.), which cause damage to strawberry fruits.In preliminary screening tests, the mortality of H. rufipex was low when adults were caged with fruits or straw treated with rotenone at 0·004 per cent, or with carbaryl, DDT, dimethoate, malathion, mevinphos, nicotine, TEPP, toxaphene and trichlorphon at one or more concentrations in the range 0–06–0–2 per cent. In small-scale field trials, γ BHC at 0·026 per cent, gave poor results but chlordane and dieldrin exhibited persistent toxicity.In further tests with fruits, field-weathered deposits from sprays containing 0·1 or 0·2 per cent, dieldrin caused over 90 per cent, mortality for 7 and 21 days, respectively, but left residues at harvest of 0·5 p.p.m., which were considered too high for consumer safety.Dieldrin applied to soil at 5 lb. per acre resulted in 100 per cent, mortality for 28 days in 1957, but gave very variable results in 1958. Conversely, aldrin at 5 lb. gave effective mortality for only 14 days in 1957 but for the maximum test period of 89 days in 1958; no satisfactory explanation was found for the seasonal differences. Aldrin at 10 lb. per acre gave 100 per cent, mortality for 77 and 89 days, respectively, in the two years. Tests of soils into which measured quantities of insecticide had been incorporated, resulted in 100 per cent, mortality, after 4 days' exposure, with aldrin and dieldrin at levels of 2–4 and 16–32 p.p.m., respectively; endrin at 64 p.p.m. was only slightly toxic.In field trials in 1959–60, application of aldrin at 10 lb. per acre to the surface of the soil around the plants in sprays in late April immediately before flowering, or at 5 lb. per acre in late May before laying straw below the fruit, reduced fruit damage due to H. rufipes or F. melanaria by 66–94 per cent. Residues at harvest were of the order of 0·03 p.p.m., and no effect on flavour was detected in processed fruit from plots treated at either time of application.


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