Recently, there has been rapidly growing interest in the effects of the microbiota on host physiology and behaviour. Due to the nutritional value of bacteria, gut microflora may be particularly important in species that present nuptial gifts during courtship. Here, we explore whether the presence or absence of gut microbiota in males and females of the nuptial gift-giving species Drosophila subobscura (Collin, 1936) alters mating behaviour in terms of female preference, male investment, and female fecundity. We found that females that had been fed antibiotics, compared to females with intact gut bacteria, were more willing to mate with a male that had been fed normally. However female fecundity was higher when both males and females lacked gut bacteria compared to both individuals having a full complement of gut bacteria. This implies that the presence of the microbiota acts to reduce female fecundity in this species, and that male gut bacterial content influences female fecundity. Our results provide further evidence to the growing consensus that the microbiota of an individual may have important effects on both reproductive behaviour and physiology, and suggest that it may also contribute to the nutritional value of the nuptial gift in this system., Benjamin S. Walsh, Chloe Heys, Zenobia Lewis., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Knowledge of blood parasites in Brazilian chelonians is limited, since they have been recorded in only six species. Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Bour) is a freshwater turtle with a wide geographic distribution in Brazil, but there is little information about its natural history. This paper reports on a study of the prevalence and infection intensity of a haemogregarine in two subpopulations of M. vanderhaegei. The study was conducted in two areas of Cerrado in the Upper Paraguay River basin in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, between November 2010 and August 2013. Ninety-five (53%) of the 179 turtles captured were positive for haemogregarine parasites. The parasitic forms observed were two morphotypes of intraerythrocytic gametocytes. The prevalence differed between size classes, increasing significantly according to the animals' body size. There was no significant difference between prevalence and sex, or between sampling periods. The mean parasite intensity was 9 parasites/2,000 erythrocytes (0.45%) and the parasite population presented an aggregated distribution, with an aggregation index of 19 and discrepancy of 0.772. This is the first record of a hemoparasite in the freshwater turtle M. vanderhaegei., Vinícius C. Goes, Elizângela S. Brito, Rafael M. Valadão, Camila O. Gutierrez, Amanda M. Picelli, Lúcio A. Viana., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In the last two decades a huge amount of research has focused on the invasive harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, particularly on potential or actual deleterious effects that have arisen after it has colonised new regions. A focus of this work has been real or anticipated declines in native ladybird abundance since the introduction of H. axyridis, for which it is deemed responsible. Scientists have generally painted a very bleak picture of the effects of H. axyridis on native species: in this paper I argue that the picture painted is often too bleak. I use the case of the 2-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata, the species most often invoked as threatened by H. axyridis, to illustrate my point. While there is little question that H. axyridis has led to a decline in A. bipunctata populations in Europe, it seems likely that prior to the invasive ladybird's arrival A. bipunctata occurred in artificially high numbers in the urban environments in which it was typically studied. Pollution in towns and cities led to enhanced numbers of prey aphids on plants there which initially favoured A. bipunctata, and later H. axyridis. Thus one species, A. bipunctata, that has benefitted from an association with humans has been replaced by another, H. axyridis, just as brown rats replaced black rats in Europe and North America. Viewed with a longer perspective, A. bipunctata has more likely declined back to pre-industrial levels: the artificially high level from which it has declined recently was not a 'natural' one, and thus its decline from this level does not imply that it is now threatened or endangered. More broadly, we need a wider perspective, encompassing other ladybirds, longer timeframes and better comparisons with other (non-ladybird) invasive species to more clearly assess whether H. axyridis really poses as much of a threat as is often proposed., John J. Sloggett., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Climate change scenarios predict losses of cold-adapted species from insular locations, such as middle high mountains at temperate latitudes, where alpine habitats extend for a few hundred meters above the timberline. However, there are very few studies following the fates of such species in the currently warming climate. We compared transect monitoring data on an alpine butterfly, Erebia epiphron (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) from summit elevations of two such alpine islands (above 1300 m) in the Jeseník Mts and Krkonoše Mts, Czech Republic. We asked if population density, relative total population abundance and phenology recorded in the late 1990s (past) differs that recorded early in 2010s (present) and if the patterns are consistent in the two areas, which are separated by 150 km. We found that butterfly numbers recorded per transect walk decreased between the past and the present, but relative population abundances remained unchanged. This contradictory observation is due to an extension in the adult flight period, which currently begins ca 10 days earlier and lasts for longer, resulting in the same total abundances with less prominent peaks in abundance. We interpret this development as desynchronization of annual cohort development, which might be caused by milder winters with less predictable snow cover and more variable timing of larval diapause termination. Although both the Jeseník and Krkonoše populations of E. epiphron are abundant enough to withstand such desynchronization, decreased synchronicity of annual cohort development may be detrimental for innumerable small populations of relic species in mountains across the globe., Martin Konvička, Jiří Beneš, Oldřich Čížek, Tomáš Kuras, Irena Klečková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Parasitological examinations of 102 specimens of the lesser great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis (Blumenbach) from two nesting regions in the Czech Republic (South Bohemia and South Moravia) were carried out at the Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences (previously the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences) in the years 1987-1992. In them, a total of 19 species of helminth parasites was found, including Trematoda (11 species), Cestoda (2), Nematoda (4) and Acanthocephala (2), which can be divided into three main groups regarding their host specificity: parasites specific for cormorants (Phalacrocorax spp.) (37%), those parasitic mainly in cormorants (16%) and non-specific parasites (47%). Of the 19 species recorded, 100% were found in South Moravia, but only 47% of these 19 species in South Bohemia. The higher number of helminth species in cormorants from South Moravia and a higher proportion of non-specific species may be associated with the presence of the large Nové Mlýny water reservoir, in addition to better ecological and environmental conditions in this warmer region. Scanning electron microscopical examination of three common nematode species parasitising cormorants, Contracaecum rudolphii Hartwich, 1964, Desmidocercella incognita Solonitsin, 1932 and Syncuaria squamata (von Linstow, 1883), revealed some taxonomically important, previously unreported morphological features, such as the cephalic structures, numbers and distribution of male caudal papillae or the shapes of spicules., František Moravec, Tomáš Scholz., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The faeces of the red fox, Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus), and the domestic cat, Felis catus (Linnaeus), can be responsible for spreading eggs of Echinococcus multilocularis Leuckart, 1863 and oocysts of Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) into the environment. The accidental ingestion of these eggs or oocysts, through consumption of raw fruits or vegetables grown in or in contact with contaminated soil, can lead to alveolar echinococcosis (AE) or toxoplasmosis in humans. The present study provides a quantitative assessment of the faecal deposition by foxes and cats in kitchen gardens where fruits and vegetables are grown and its consequences for zoonosis transmission. The density of definitive host faeces is considered as one of the main factors in infection risk for intermediate hosts. The density of fox and cat faeces, as well as the prevalence of both AE and toxoplasmosis in rodent populations (contaminated by ingestion of eggs or oocysts), were compared within and outside kitchen gardens. Our results showed that the mean density of fox faeces did not significantly differ between kitchen gardens and habitat edges (0.29 ± 0.04 faeces/m2 vs 0.22 ± 0.02 faeces/m2), the latter being known as an area of high fox faeceal densities. The density of cat faeces was significantly higher within the kitchen garden than outside (0.86 ± 0.22 faeces/m2 vs 0.04 ± 0.02 faeces/m2). The sampled kitchen gardens might therefore be considered as possible hotspots for both fox and cat defecation. Of the 130 rodents trapped, 14% were infected by at least one species of fox or cat intestinal parasite. These rodents were significantly more often infected when they were exposed to a kitchen garden. These results suggest that the deposit of fox and cat faeces in kitchen gardens would significantly impact the risk of human exposure to E. multilocularis and T. gondii. and should be prevented using effective means., Matthieu Bastien, Amélie Vaniscotte, Benoit Combes, Gérald Umhang, Estelle Germain, Valentin Gouley, Alice Pierlet, Thomas Quintaine, Marie-Amélie Forin-Wiart, Isabelle Villena, Dominique Aubert, Franck Boué, Marie-Lazarine Poulle., and Obsahuje bibliografii
During an ongoing systematic survey on species diversity of myxozoans parasitising allogynogenetic gibel carp Carassius auratus gibelio (Bloch) in China, plasmodia were detected in the fins, lip, jaw, gill chamber, gill arches, operculum and oral cavity of infected fish. Combining the morphological and molecular data, the present species was identified as Myxobolus turpisrotundus Zhang, Wang, Li et Gong, 2010. Histopathological examination revealed that despite infecting different organs, M. turpisrotundus always occurred in dermis, demonstrating its affinity to this tissue. Histopathological effect of M. turpisrotundus on the host is relatively mild except parasites in the gill arches producing compression of the adipose tissue and heavy adductor muscles deformation with lymphohistiocytic infiltrates. In addition, the plasmodia in different sites were with the same complex structure arrangement: cup-like cells with unknown derivation, a thin collagenous fibril layer, areolar connective tissue, basement membrane and host epithelial cell. Ultrastructural analysis showed that the parasite has monosporic pansporoblast and sporogenesis followed the usual pattern of most of the myxosporeans., Qingxiang Guo, Yanhua Zhai, Zemao Gu, Yang Liu., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In the parthenogenetic monogeneans of the genus Gyrodactylus Nordmann, 1832, the genetic diversity within or between hosts is determined by the relative roles of lateral transmission and clonal propagation. Clonality and limited transmission lead to high-amplitude metapopulation dynamics and strong genetic drift. In Baltic populations of the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, the local mitochondrial diversity of Gyrodactylus arcuatus Bychowsky, 1933 is very high, and spatial differentiation weak. To understand the transmission dynamics in a single location, the transmission of the parasite from adults to next generation sticklebacks was investigated in a northern Baltic brackish water location. By sequencing 777 nt of cox1, as many as 38 separate mitochondrial haplotypes were identified. In August, the intensity of gyrodactylid infection on adult hosts was high, the haplotype diversity (h) was extreme and differentiation between fish was negligible (total h = 0.926, mean h = 0.938). In October, only 46% of the juvenile sticklebacks carried G. arcuatus. The number of parasites per young fish followed a Poisson distribution 0.92 ± 1.04 (mean ± SD) on October 2, and was clearly overdispersed 2.38 ± 5.00 on October 25. The total haplotype diversity of parasites on juveniles was nearly as high as in adults (h = 0.916), but the mean per fish was only h = 0.364 (FST = 0.60), due to low intensity of infection and rapid clonal propagation of early arrivals. The initial first come first served advantage of the first gyrodactylid colonisers will be lost during the host adulthood via continuous transmission. Nesting and polygamy are suggested as factors maintaining the high genetic diversity of the parasite population. The transmission dynamics and, consequently, the population structure of Baltic G. arcuatus is fundamentally different from that of G. salaris Malmberg, 1957, on the Baltic salmon Salmo salar Linnaeus., Jaakko Lumme, Marek S. Ziętara., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We deployed branch traps in an ash (Fraxinus) plantation to investigate how Agrilus planipennis behavior is associated with Fraxinus pennsylvanica condition and dispersal patterns. Data were collected from traps with or without the presence of beetle visual decoys, and from a yearly survey of exit holes. The traps were placed on trees that were either clearly declining, with most foliage arising from epicormic sprouting, or on apparently healthy trees, with little evidence of damage or decline. We calculated correlations of exit holes among neighboring tree rings and also between exit holes and male trap captures. The damaged trees the traps were hung upon had more cumulative exit holes observed than the corresponding healthy trees. However, there was otherwise no evidence that the experiment was biased by differences in exit hole patterns of the surrounding trees. Male captures were greater on decoy-baited traps than controls and this decoy effect was most clearly apparent late in the season when traps were placed on healthy trees. There were also patterns of correlations between male captures and exit hole numbers that may be indicative of short-range mate finding-and dispersal behaviors. Female captures were sparser, but were positively affected by decoys on healthy and declining trees early in the season. Thus, the results suggest that the placement of such traps on healthier trees will maximize detection, and the branch traps also show promise for further use in dispersal studies., Michael J. Domingue, Jennifer Berkebile, Kim Steiner, Loyal P. Hall, Kevin R. Cloonan, David Lance, Thomas C. Baker., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Aphis fabae and Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are insect pests that damage sugar beet and bean crops. Both are responsible for losses in yield and transmission of viral diseases, and may be present on the same host at the same time. Three parasitoid species, Aphidius colemani, Lysiphlebus testaceipes and Lysiphlebus fabarum (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) have the potential to be used as biological control agents against at least one of these species of aphids. As a first step prior to the implementation of a biological control program, our aim was to understand the host selection behaviour of the parasitoids, particularly when both aphids are present. We recorded the host acceptance (number of insertions of the ovipositor / number of antennal contacts), suitability (number of mummies / the number of insertions of the ovipositor) and emergence (number of adults emerging from mummies) of these three aphid parasitoids when parasitizing the two aphids. We also analyzed the effect of the host plant on the host preference of the parasitoid. Females of each parasitoid species (n = 15) were exposed to 20 aphids of A. fabae or M. persicae, or a mixture of these two species of aphids, for 15 min, on a leaf disc of each of the two host plants, sugar beet and bean. Higher host acceptance and suitability were recorded for A. colemani attacking both species of aphid: A. fabae (43 and 46%) and M. persicae (43 and 46%) on beet and bean plants respectively, compared to L. testaceipes and L. fabarum. L. testaceipes and L. fabarum showed a clear preference for A. fabae. L. fabarum accepted M. persicae on both plants only when it was mixed with A. fabae, probably due to a confusion effect. We found that the host plant played a significant role in host acceptance, host suitability. We conclude that A. colemani is the better of the three parasitoids studied for the biological control in bean, and particularly, sugar beet crops. and Loulou Albittar, Mohannad Ismail, Claude Bragard, Thierry Hance.