Three species of Pseudodactylogyrus Gusev, 1965 (Monogenea: Pseudodactylogyridae) were collected from the gills of Anguilla reinhardtii Steindachner and A. australis Richardson from several localities in Australia and eels imported to Japan from Australia. Pseudodactylogyrus gusevi sp. n. from A. reinhardtii (type host) and A. australis in Queensland, Australia is most similar to P. bini (Kikuchi, 1929), but can be differentiated by the shorter male copulatory tube, heavy sclerotisation of the vaginal tube and the presence of a small projection of the supplementary piece of the hamulus. Pseudodactylogyrus rohdei sp. n. from A. australis (type host) in Queensland, Australia is most similar to P. anguillae (Yin et Sproston, 1948), but differs in the possession of a longer cement gland and the presence of a small projection on the supplementary piece of the hamulus. Pseudodactylogyrus bini sensu Gusev, 1965 and P. anguillae sensu Gusev, 1965 are synonymised with P. gusevi sp. n. and P. rohdei sp. n., respectively. Pseudodactylogyrus mundayi sp. n. from A. australis, originating in Tasmania, Australia and sent alive to Japan, is most similar to P. kamegaii Iwashita, Hirata et Ogawa, 2002, from which it can be discriminated by the shorter male copulatory tube and the shorter vaginal tube. Dactylogyrus bialatus Wu, Wang et Jian, 1988 from Synechogobius ommaturus (Richardson) (Gobiidae) is transferred to Pseudodactylogyrus as P. bialatus comb. n. A phylogenetic tree based on the ITS2 region of six species of Pseudodactylogyrus including P. gusevi and P. mundayi shows that P. haze from a goby diverged first, and that species from eels are monophyletic, forming three lineages differing by their zoogeographical distribution. With the three new species and one new combination proposed in this paper, Pseudodactylogyrus is now comprised of eight species infecting anguillid and gobiid fish, and a key to species is presented., Kazuo Ogawa, Makoto Iwashita, Craig J. Hayward, Akira Kurashima., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This review considers factors affecting the flight capacity of carabid beetles and the implications of flight for carabids. Studies from the Dutch polders in particular show that young populations of carabids consist predominantly of macropterous species and macropterous individuals of wing-dimorphic species. Also populations of wing-dimorphic carabid species at the periphery of their geographical range contain high proportions of macropterous individuals. However, studies from Baltic archipelagos show that older populations of even highly isolated island habitats contain considerable proportions of brachypterous species and individuals. This suggests that macroptery is primarily an adaptation for dispersal and that there exists a mechanism for subsequently reducing the ratio of macropterous to brachypterous species under stable conditions, due to the competitive advantage of brachyptery. Populations in isolated habitats, such as islands and mountains, have high proportions of brachypterous species. Many macropterous species do not possess functional flight muscles. Species of unstable habitats, such as tree canopies and wet habitats, are mostly macropterous. Brachypterous species tend to disappear from disturbed habitats. There is uncertainty regarding the extent to which carabid dispersal is directed and how much passive. Both Den Boer and Lindroth recognized that mostly macropterous individuals of macropterous and wing-dimorphic species disperse and found new populations, after which brachyptery tends to rapidly appear and proliferate in the newly founded population. It is most likely that the allele for brachyptery would arrive via the dispersal of gravid females which had mated with brachypterous males prior to emigration. Whilst many studies consider wing morphology traits of carabid beetles to be species-specific and permanent, a number of studies have shown that the oogenesis flight syndrome, whereby females undertake migration and subsequently lose their flight muscles by histolysis before eventually regenerating them after reproducing, has been reported for a growing number of carabid species. Wing morphology of carabid beetles clearly offers strong potential for the study of population dynamics. This field of study flourished during the 1940's to the late 1980's. Whilst a considerable amount of valuable research has been performed and published, the topic clearly holds considerable potential for future study., Stephen Venn., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The aim of the present work was to determine whether Dermacentor reticulatus (Fabricius), tick species common in eastern Poland could be infected with Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908). A total of 664 unfed D. reticulatus ticks were collected from six localities of Lublin province (eastern Poland) within the framework of study for the presence of bacterial, viral and parasitological infections, with use of PCR and confirmed by sequencing analysis. The prevalence of T. gondii DNA of B1 gene in the total examined D. reticulatus ticks was 3.2%. The infection varies greatly depending on the locality of tick collection (0-16.7%). Preliminary identification of clonal type (I or II/III) by Restriction Fragments Length Polymorphism PCR (RFLP-PCR) with use B1 gene showed that all isolates of T. gondii belonged to type I. RFLP analysis using genetic markers SAG1, 5'-SAG2, 3'-SAG2, SAG3, and GRA6 on B1-positive samples showed that only a single isolate proved to be type I with all five markers, another type was classified to type I according to four markers, while another five isolates had only type I alleles at GRA6, which cannot be regarded as type I confirmation. It must be pointed out that the used DNA isolation method by boiling with ammonium hydroxide enables to receive the total DNA from ticks, but may be not quite suitable for genotyping. In conclusion, this study indicates that besides Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus), also D. reticulatus should be considered as a potential vector of T. gondii. The presumption of tick-borne transmission as an alternative pathway of disease spreading could well explain the high prevalence of toxoplasmosis among the herbivorous mammals and birds. However, this hypothesis needs verification by further experimental and ecological studies., Angelina Wójcik-Fatla, Jacek Sroka, Violetta Zając, Anna Sawczyn, Ewa Cisak, Jacek Dutkiewicz., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) infects humans resulting in acute toxoplasmosis, an infection that in immunocompetent people is typically mild but results in persistent latent toxoplasmosis. In that T. gondii appears to affect dopamine synthesis and because addicting drugs affect midbrain dopamine transmission, latent toxoplasmosis could influence substance use. Using both the third and continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we used logistic regression to test for associations between T. gondii seropositivity and subject self-report of having ever used tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine. In the third NHANES dataset, which included data for tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, T. gondii seropositivity was associated with a reduced likelihood of self-reported marijuana (OR = 0.71 [95% CI: 0.58; 0.87]; p = 0.001) and cocaine use (OR = 0.72 [95% CI: 0.56; 0.91]; p = 0.006). In the continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys dataset, which included data for all six substances, T. gondii seropositivity was associated with a reduced likelihood of self-reported tobacco (OR = 0.87 [95% CI: 0.76; 1.00]; p = 0.044), marijuana (OR = 0.60 [95% CI: 0.50; 0.72]; p < 0.001), heroin (OR = 0.60 [95% CI: 0.42; 0.85]; p = 0.005) and methamphetamine use (OR = 0.54 [95% CI: 0.38; 0.77]; p = 0.001). We observed interactions between sex and T. gondii seropositivity in the prediction of self-reported use of tobacco and alcohol. Further, T. gondii seropositivity appeared to remove the protective effect of education and economic status against self-reported cigarette smoking. These findings suggest that T. gondii seropositivity may be inversely associated with some but not all types of substance use in US adults., Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Evan L. Thacker, Bruce L. Brown, Dawson W. Hedges., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Toxoplasmosis is caused by intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908). Cats and other felids are the definitive hosts. It could be transmitted to man and animals by consumption of infected undercooked meat and contaminated food items including drinking water. Results of toxoplasmosis epidemiological surveys in animals and humans in South-West, North-West, North-East and North-Central Zones of Nigeria have been reported with greater impact on the health of pregnant women and HIV-infected individuals. Meanwhile, studies in states within the South-South and South-East Zones are relatively scanty or non-existent. Overall, the seroprevalence of human toxoplasmosis in Nigeria is estimated at 32% with the following reports for North-West (32%), North-East (22%), North-Central (24%) and South-West (37%). Information on the genetic diversity of isolates of T. gondii in humans and animals including the role of the environment in transmission and maintenance of the disease are highly needed., John Asekhaen Ohiolei, Clement Isaac., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Interactions involving host plants (cowpea, groundnut, cotton, sunflower, greengram, blackgram) an insect herbivore, black legume aphid Aphis craccivora Koch (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and a predator, the zigzag beetle Cheilomenes sexmaculata (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were investigated during 2014-2015. The preference of the aphid A. craccivora for host plants measured in terms of growth and multiplication was cowpea > groundnut > greengram > blackgram > sunflower > cotton (most preferred to least preferred). Cowpea was the most preferred host plant for growth and multiplication of A. craccivora. Aphid's oviposition period was longest, fecundity greatest; adult longevity longest (188.40 ± 28.87 h; 52.00 ± 10.92; 231.60 ± 40.41 h), and nymphal mortality was lowest (0%) when reared on cowpea followed by groundnut, greengram and blackgram. Aphids had highest nymphal mortality (100%), with very few or no live adults produced, when reared on sunflower and cotton, the least preferred host of A. craccivora in this study. At the third trophic level, both the larvae and the adults of the coccinellid, Cheilomenes sexmaculata, consumed more of the aphids reared on groundnut than of those reared on blackgram, greengram, cowpea, sunflower and cotton. The biochemical constituents (phenols) present in cotton and sunflower, which contributed to the aphid's nymphal mortality, also affected the feeding behaviour of the coccinellid., Snehasish Routray, Karnam V. Hari Prasad., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Pigeon, doves and songbirds are hosts of the parasite Trichomonas gallinae (Rivolta, 1878), which causes avian trichomonosis. Raptors are infected when they digest infected prey. A high percentage of the diet of Eurasian sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus (Linnaeus) is comprised of birds. During the breeding season 2012 and 2013, we clinically tested 298 nestling Eurasian sparrowhawks from urban and rural areas of the Czech Republic for the presence of trichomonads. Sparrowhawk nestlings in the urban area were more infected (32.9%) than in the rural area (12.2%) in 2012 (χ2 = 6.184, P = 0.045). The number of infected nestlings dropped in the urban area (5.4%) and remained similar in the rural area (16.6%) in 2013. Sequences of ITS region and SSU rDNA confirmed that the isolates from infected sparrowhawk nestlings belonged to Trichomonas gallinae., Tomáš Kunca, Pavla Smejkalová, Ivan Čepička., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Ovipositing females from invasive (Krasnodar Territory of Russia) and native (Far East of Russia) populations of Harmonia axyridis were fed one of a set of diets ranging from 50 Myzus persicae aphids every day to 1 aphid every 10 days and all were also provided with a 10% sugar solution. The experiment was conducted at 20°C under short (12 h) and long (18 h) day conditions. Most of the females from the native population that consumed 50 or 10 aphids per day continued to oviposit under both long and short day conditions. Females that consumed 1 aphid per day or every 2 days practically stopped laying eggs but under long day conditions their ovaries were still active, whereas under short day conditions ca 50% of them were reproductively inactive (only germaria present) and had a well-developed fat body. Further reduction in diet resulted in an increase in the proportion of reproductively inactive females. However, about half of the females that terminated oogenesis under long day conditions had poorly developed fat bodies, which indicates that diapause was not induced. For the females from the invasive population, both photoperiodic and trophic effects were weak: under short day conditions, some females entered diapause when prey was abundant, whereas about 50% (independent of photoperiod) did not enter diapause when starved. This risk-spreading strategy, possibly, facilitates the adaptation of this invasive ladybird to unpredictable environmental conditions., Antonina A. Ovchinnikova, Andrey N. Ovchinnikov, Margarita Yu. Dolgovskaya, Sergey Ya. Reznik, Natalia A. Belyakova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
a1_During a recent parasitological survey of elasmobranchs along the coast of Argentina, two new species of eutetrarhynchid cestodes of the genera Dollfusiella Campbell et Beveridge, 1994 and Mecistobothrium Heinz et Dailey, 1974 were collected from batoids. Dollfusiella acuta sp. n. was found in four arhynchobatid skates, i.e. Sympterygia acuta Garman (type host), Sympterygia bonapartii Müller et Henle, Atlantoraja castelnaui (Miranda Ribeiro) and Atlantoraja platana (Günther), and Mecistobothrium oblongum sp. n. in the eagle ray Myliobatis goodei Garman. Dollfusiella acuta sp. n. has a tentacular armature consisting of basal rows of uncinate hooks, a distinct basal swelling with uncinate, falcate and bill hooks, and a heteroacanthous metabasal armature with heteromorphous hooks (bothrial uncinate hooks and antibothrial falcate hooks), hooks 1(1') not separated, testes in two columns and an internal seminal vesicle. The tentacular armature of M. oblongum sp. n. is characterised by basal rows of uncinate hooks, a basal swelling with uncinate and falcate hooks, a typical heteroacanthous metabasal armature with heteromorphous hooks (uncinate and falcate to spiniform), and hooks 1(1') separated and of a constant size along the tentacle. It also possesses an elongate scolex, numerous testes arranged in 5-6 irregular columns, and an internal seminal vesicle. The discovery of M. oblongum in M. goodei represents the first record of species of Mecistobothrium in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. An amended description of Dollfusiella cortezensis (Friggens et Duszynski, 2005) is also provided to clarify details of the scolex and tentacular armature. Members of Dollfusiella in the southwestern Atlantic are specific to a single host species or to a particular host family, while M. oblongum was found in a single host species., a2_Although globally some plerocerci of eutetrarhynchids have been found in teleosts, extensive examination of teleosts off the coast of Argentina suggests that the transmission pathways of these species are exclusively based on invertebrates as intermediate or paratenic hosts., Adriana Menoret, Verónica A. Ivanov., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Two new species of Copris Geoffroy, 1762 are described and illustrated: Copris (subgenus incertae sedis) caobangensis sp. n. from Caobang Province (northern Vietnam) and Copris (Copris) sonensis sp. n. from Thanhhoa Province (central Vietnam). Copris (Copris) szechouanicus Balthasar, 1958 is recorded in Vietnam for the first time and data on the morphology, distribution and ecology of this species are given. An updated species list and an identification key for the Copris species so far known from Vietnam are presented along with detailed photographs of the poorly known species., Van Bac Bui, Kenneth Dumack, Michael Bonkowski., and Obsahuje bibliografii