LARVAE AND PUPAE OF SOME EASTERN NORTH AMERICAN TABANIDAE (DIPTERA)

1969 ◽  
Vol 101 (S63) ◽  
pp. 5-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. J. Teskey

AbstractBionomic and phylogenetic research on the Tabanidae is hampered by an inadequate knowledge of their immature stages, the larvae and (or) pupae of only 154 of the approximately 2000 world species being known. The present study is an attempt to partially rectify this situation in North America where it is almost as acute as elsewhere.By means of hand-searching or using a specially designed sieve and multiple Berlese funnel, larvae were obtained from 219 wetland habitats of various types in Ontario, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New Jersey. Many of the larvae were then reared to the adult stage to provide conclusive species identification. During the rearings larval and pupal exuviae were retained and preserved. These together with accurately associated whole preserved larvae and the immatures of several species obtained from other sources were the basis for detailed general descriptions of tabanid larvae and pupae, keys and diagnostic descriptions of these stages as well as descriptive comments on the habitats of the 36 species of Chrysops, 1 Merycomyia, 19 Tabanus, 7 Atylotus, and 18 Hybomitra which are included in the paper. The larvae and pupae of 43 species are described for the first time.In discussing the phylogenetic implications of these larvae and pupae several evolutionary trends and the high degree of concordance between these stages and the adults is pointed out, which lends considerable support to the present classification based solely on adults. The non-alignment of the immatures of some species suggests their improper placement. However, this cannot be proved until the immature stages of many more species covering a broader spectrum of the family are known.Parasitism involving Carinosillus tabanivorus (Hall) (Tachinidae), Villa lateralis Say (Bombyliidae), Diglochis occidentalis Ashm. (Pteromalidae), and Trichopria sp. (Diapriidae) accounted for approximately two per cent of the mortality of reared specimens.

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 1005-1006
Author(s):  
Paul J. Weber

Laura Olson is one of a small but energetic and influential group of Christian political scientists determined to bring the debate politically legitimate called it either racist or sexist. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, African American pastors held the most consistently conservative views on family values, although they also saw the connections among crime, violence, and the deterioration of the family. Within the authorÕs intentionally limited scope, this is an excellent study, but one should be cautious about generalizing.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Göran Gunner

Authors from the Christian Right in the USA situate the September 11 attack on New York and Washington within God's intentions to bring America into the divine schedule for the end of the world. This is true of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, and other leading figures in the ‘Christian Coalition’. This article analyses how Christian fundamentalists assess the roles of the USA, the State of Israel, Islam, Iraq, the European Union and Russia within what they perceive to be the divine plan for the future of the world, especially against the background of ‘9/11’. It argues that the ideas of the Christian Right and of President George W. Bush coalesce to a high degree. Whereas before 9/11 many American mega-church preachers had aspirations to direct political life, after the events of that day the President assumes some of the roles of a mega-religious leader.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
S. L. Grabovska ◽  
L. O. Kolodochka

This article deals with the results of study of species content and basic peculiarities of beaked mites-Phytoseiidae in plant associations of one of the regional centers of Ukraine. The species composition and distribution of mites-Phytoseiidae (Parasitiformes, Phytoseiidae) in plantations of Brovary town of Kyiv region were determined. Fourteen species of 8 genera of phytoseiid mites were found. Index of their existing and relative biotope connection of each registered species to vegetation types and plant species were computed. The study was conducted according to the results of material treatment on the territory of the mentioned city from 25 species of plants (16 species of hardy-shrub and 9 of herbaceous vegetations). The studies of distribution of plant-living mites-Phytoseiidae were conducted separately for hardy-shrub and herbaceous plants). The collection of faunistic material was executed during the vegetation of periods of 2011 and 2013. Within the city the collection of the material was conducted with hardy-shrub plants and herbaceous type of vegetation along the streets, in parks and squares of Brovary city of Kyiv region, district center, one of the satellite-cities of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The study of species complexes characteristics of mites was conducted with usage of data calculated on the basis of frequency index (Is), degree of relative habitat confinedness (F) (Pesenko, 1982) and domination index Paliy-Kovnatski (Di) (Shitikov, 2003). Only on one species of plant (F=1) 6 species of mites-Phytoseiidae were found – T.сotoneastri on blue spruce, T. laurae – on common spruce, T. aceri – on ash-leaved maple, P. incognitus – on dog-rose, P. soleiger – on mulberry-tree, A. caudiglans – on sea-buckthorn. These species can be related to stenoecic. The mentioned species are stenotopic only in relation to the sample of plants from the plant associations of Brovary, as in other regions these species of mites can populate the other species of plants. The rest 8 species, being registered on two or more types of plants, are related to euryoecic. Among them there is a group of 6 species with “positive tendencies to population of plants”, owning the indicators of habitat confinedness 0<F<1: A. andersoni (0,92–0,96), A. rademacheri (0,85–0,96), N. herbarius (0,92–0,96), T. tiliarum (0,66–0,77), A. pirianykae (0,73–0,99), A. clavata (0,82–0,98). The rest species, E. finlandicus и K. aberrans, have the expanded range of indicators in relation to habitat confinedness (-0,71<F<0,55 и -0,16<F<0,88), that specifies on their ability to populate the big quality of species. E. finlandicus has the negative indicator of relative habitat confinedness in relation to the plants of herbaceous morphotype that serves confirmation of the ecological peculiarity of the species detected earlier. The data of relative habitat confinedness of mites to certain species of plants shows availability of stenoecic (T.сotoneastri, T. laurae, T. aceri, P. incognitus, P. soleiger, A. caudiglans) and euryoecic species (A. andersoni, A. rademacheri, N. herbarius, E. finlandicus, K. aberrans, T. tiliarum, A. pirianykae, A. clavata). 


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 159-173
Author(s):  
Darya Yu. Vashchenko

The article discusses the inscriptions on funerary monuments from the Croatian villages of Cunovo and Jarovce, located in the South of Slovakia, near Bratislava. These inscriptions reflect the complicated sociocultural situation in the region, which is particularly specific due to the fact that this territory was included to Slovakia’s territory only after 1946, while earlier the village was part of Hungary. In addition, the local Croatian ethnic group was actively in close contact with the German and Hungarian communities. At the same time, the orthographic norms of the literary Croatian, German, Hungarian, and Slovak languages, which could potentially be owned by the authors of the inscriptions, differ in many ways, despite the Latin alphabet used on all the gravestones. All this is reflected in the tombstones, representing a high degree of mixing codes. The article identifies the main types of fusion on the monuments: separate orthograms, writing the maiden name of the deceased in the spelling of her native language, the traditional spelling of the family name. In addition, the mixing of codes can be associated with writing feminitives, also order of name and surname within the anthroponym. Moreover, the settlements themselves represent different ethnic groups coexistence within the village. Gravestones from the respective cemeteries also differ from each other in the nature of the prevailing trend of the mixing codes. In Jarovce, where the ethnic groups live compactly, fusion is often presented as a separate foreign language orthograms. In Cunovo, where the ethnic groups constitute a global conglomerate, more traditional presents for a specific family spelling of the names on the monument.


2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Specht ◽  
AC. Formentini ◽  
E. Corseuil

The aim of this work was to study biological aspects and the life cycle of Hylesia Metapyrrha in a laboratory. Laboratorial breeding was made at 25 ± 1 °C, 70 ± 10% UR and 14 hours of photophase, feeding the larvae with guava leaves (Psidium guayava L. - Myrtaceae). Time was evaluated on the days of all the development stages; morphometry was evaluated in millimeters and the pupa’s mass in grams. The eggs were disposed in groups and covered by urticating abdominal hair. The incubation period lasted 52 days. The larvae, with gregarious habits, presented background black coloration, yellowish scoli and two orange longitudinal lines above and below the spiracles, during the development which lasted an average period of 74.59 days and went through seven instars. The pre-pupa and the pupa stages lasted on average 8.82 and 50.56 days, respectively; the female pupae presented a duration, weight and size which was significantly bigger. The adult stage lasted on average 5.50 days with periods of pre, post and oviposition of 2.30, 1.90 and 1.00 days, respectively. This study broadens the knowledge of the immature stages, biological, morphological and behavioral aspects, until then restricted to the morphology and to registers of the occurrence of the adult forms.


2016 ◽  
Vol 397 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Olombrada ◽  
Lucía García-Ortega ◽  
Javier Lacadena ◽  
Mercedes Oñaderra ◽  
José G. Gavilanes ◽  
...  

Abstract Ribotoxins are cytotoxic members of the family of fungal extracellular ribonucleases best represented by RNase T1. They share a high degree of sequence identity and a common structural fold, including the geometric arrangement of their active sites. However, ribotoxins are larger, with a well-defined N-terminal β-hairpin, and display longer and positively charged unstructured loops. These structural differences account for their cytotoxic properties. Unexpectedly, the discovery of hirsutellin A (HtA), a ribotoxin produced by the invertebrate pathogen Hirsutella thompsonii, showed how it was possible to accommodate these features into a shorter amino acid sequence. Examination of HtA N-terminal β-hairpin reveals differences in terms of length, charge, and spatial distribution. Consequently, four different HtA mutants were prepared and characterized. One of them was the result of deleting this hairpin [Δ(8-15)] while the other three affected single Lys residues in its close spatial proximity (K115E, K118E, and K123E). The results obtained support the general conclusion that HtA active site would show a high degree of plasticity, being able to accommodate electrostatic and structural changes not suitable for the other previously known larger ribotoxins, as the variants described here only presented small differences in terms of ribonucleolytic activity and cytotoxicity against cultured insect cells.


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