Pollution of the water environment by foreign substances is an important factor affecting the health of fish, their reproduction and hygienic quality. Almost 100,000 chemical compounds are currently used, and get into the environment. This article describes the causes and sources of water pollution and deals with the known effects of particular contaminants, including mercury, on freshwater fish, i. a. in terms of their position in the food chain. and Tomáš Randák.
Recently a large number of studies have reported an increase in the variability in the climate, which affects behavioural and physiological adaptations in a broad range of organisms. Specifically, insects may be especially sensitive to climatic fluctuations, as their physiology and life history traits, like those of other ectotherms, are predominantly affected by environmental factors. Here we aimed to investigate climate-induced changes in several morphometric measures of the Heath Fritillary in North-Eastern Hungary, which is a highly diverse transitional area. During this study we tested the following hypotheses: (i) climate affects genitalia and body size to various degrees (ii) increasing variability in climate induces higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry and variance in all morphological characters. To our knowledge, this study is the first to analyse simultaneously wing size and structure of genitalia of a butterfly in response to variability in climate. Our findings suggest that wing and genital traits may exhibit similar degrees of stability in response to a more variable climate, although the response in terms of forewing size differs from that of other body measurements and the structure of the genitalia. These findings suggest that global climate change may affect lepidopteran body metrics over longer periods of time. Our findings parallel the results of investigations showing that insect morphology might be modified by environmental changes, which is especially the case for those body parts that are phenotypically very variable. However, we found no evidence that increasing variability in climate would induce higher levels of fluctuating asymmetry and greater variability in morphological characters., Edit Juhász, Zsolt Végvári, János P. Tóth, Katalin Pecsenye, Zoltán Varga., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The article primarily describes the original results of Czech research into interactions between ants and plants in Central Europe. The role of myrmecophily is illustrated by long-term case studies (mountain pastures, industrial deposits) at the ecosystem level. Facilitation and acceleration of spontaneous vegetation succession by the ants’ activity with their nest construction and seed dispersal can be used as a tool in assisted ecological restoration. and Pavel Kovář.
Šakal obecný (Canis aureus) je nový druh fauny savců České republiky. Na naše území se přirozenou cestou rozšířil z jihovýchodní Evropy. První věrohodný doklad pochází z Uherského Hradiště (2006), další pak z Brna (2009) a z Benešovska (střední Čechy, 2011). Řada dalších neověřených pozorování i nálezy z příhraničních oblastí Šumavy naznačují, že expanze druhu pokračuje., The Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) is a quite new member of the fauna of the Czech Republic. So far, three verified records in the environs of Uherské Hradiště (2006), Brno (2009) and Benešov (Central Bohemia, 2011) have been obtained. A number of other unverified observations and findings from the border areas of the Šumava Mountains (Bohemian Forest) suggest that the expansion of the species is ongoing., Miloš Anděra., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
During summer 2011, severe outbreak of the Spruce Bark Beetle (Ips typographus) occurred in the Šumava National Park (NP). We aim to elucidate the laws governing population dynamics of this species and conclude that logging of all infested trees in the NP buffer zones, accompanied by a non-intervention policy in the core zones, is a strategy that will protect both, forests surrounding the NP and the most valuable mountain spruce stands in the Šumava NP. and Pavel Kindlmann, Karel Matějka, Petr Doležal.
In herbivorous insects, differences in the degree of specialization to host plants emerge when the distribution of an herbivore differs from that of its host plants, which results in a mosaic of populations differing in performance on the different host plants. Using a specialized butterfly, Battus polydamas archidamas Boisduval, 1936, which feeds exclusively on the genus Aristolochia, we test whether host plant co-occurrence and associated differences in host quality modify local adaptation in terms of larval preference and performance. We compared individuals from a monospecific host stand of Aristolochia chilensis with those from a mixed host stand of A. chilensis and A. bridgesii. Individuals were reared in a reciprocal transfer experiment in which source population and the host species fed to larvae were fully crossed in a two-by-two factorial experiment in order to quantify their preference, performance (development time, size and growth rate) and survival. Individuals from both populations preferred the species they ate during their larval development over the other host, which indicates host plant-induced preference with non-adaptive implications. Larvae from mixed and monospecific stands grew faster and survived better when reared on A. bridgesii than A. chilensis. Larvae from a monospecific host stand grew slower and fewer individuals survived under the same local conditions, which is contrary to expectations. Therefore, rearing the butterfly on A. bridgesii consistently resulted in better performance, which indicates that the monospecific population is less well adapted to its host than the mixed population. Variation in the occurrence of the two host plants in the two populations can result in divergent selection due to the variation in plant quality, which in this case could result in opposing adaptive processes., Rodrigo S. Rios, Cristian Salgado-Luarte, Gisela C. Stotz, Ernesto Gianoli., and Obsahuje bibliografii
In the present work, we have characterized the chromosomes of 13 Cassidinae beetles, belonging to four tribes, the broad aim being to increase the cytogenetic data and establish the mechanisms involved in chromosome evolution of this subfamily, which appear to be conserved karyotypically, i.e. 2n = 16 + Xyp. The analysis of mitotic and meiotic cells revealed a high diversity of diploid numbers (2n = 18, 2n = 22, 2n = 26, 2n = 32, 2n = 36, 2n = 40, 2n = 42), and the presence of sex chromosome system of the Xyp type in most species, with the exception of two representatives that exhibited Xyr and XY systems. C-banding showed constitutive heterochromatin predominantly localized in the pericentromeric region of the chromosomes, but differences regarding the number of chromosomes with positive C-bands, intensity of the blocks, and presence of additional bands in autosomes and/or sex chromosomes were observed among the species investigated. Our data revealed that the karyotype 2n = 16 + Xyp does not occur in all 13 tribes of the Cassidinae characterized cytogenetically, seeming to be only a shared feature among the species of the Cassidini. Variations in the C-band pattern, mainly in closely related species, suggest that the interspecific karyotype diversification occurred as a result of changes in the quantity and distribution of constitutive heterochromatin. The occurrence of the Xyp sex chromosome system in the tribe Mesomphaliini, which showed the highest diversity of simple and multiple systems among the coleopteran as a whole, reinforces the view that derived systems originated by chromosome rearrangements involving the Xyp ancestral system., Amália T. Lopes, Flávia R. Fernandes, Marielle C. Schneider., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The objective of this work was to evaluate the relative trap efficiency of the three modified traps baited with 1-octen-3-ol as attractant, Box, Nzi and Canopy, for horse fly (Tabanidae) survey. Nine traps (three traps per trap type) were tested in 3 × 3 Latin square designs during summer 2011 in riparian oak-ash forests in the Danube floodplain of Croatia. Overall, the traps caught 1,986 specimens of 11 horse flies species during the study period. The most abundant species caught was Tabanus bromius (58%), followed by Tabanus tergestinus (21%), Tabanus maculicornis (16%), Tabanus sudeticus (2%), Atylotus loewianus (1%) and Tabanus autumnalis (1%). Both the Box traps and the Nzi traps had significantly greater catch efficiencies than the Canopy traps (βbox = 2.47, X2 = 65.48, df = 1, P < 0.001 and βnzi = 1.54, X2 = 25.12, df = 1, P < 0.001, respectively). Nzi traps had a catch rate 4.65 (95% CI: 2.55, 8.48) times greater than Canopy traps and Box traps had a catch rate 11.77 (95% CI: 6.48, 21.39) times greater than Canopy traps. Based on Shannon-Wiener diversity indices Nzi traps were better suited for diversity survey and had higher (H' = 1.33) indices than Box (H' = 1.08) or Canopy traps (H' = 1.00)., Alma Mikuška, Selma Mlinarić, Lidija Begović, Erin Curran., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The growth parameters of the green lacewing, Chrysoperla nipponensis-B (Okamoto), were studied under laboratory conditions. The highest mortality was recorded in the immature stages (instars 1st, 2nd, 3rd and pupae) of C. nipponensis fed on the eggs of Corcyra cephalonica (37.26%). The sex ratios (proportion of female to male) when reared on the eggs of C. cephalonica and an artificial diet with ginger were 0.93 : 1.00 and 0.87 : 1.00, respectively. The maximum life spans of females reared on the eggs of C. cephalonica and an artificial diet with ginger were 63 and 64 days, respectively. The females reared on the eggs of C. cephalonica produced the highest number of eggs (10.4) on the fifth day of oviposition, whereas on the artificial diet with ginger it was 9.26 on the eighth day of oviposition. The net reproductive rate (Ro) and maximum gross reproductive rate (GRR) of C. nipponensis fed on the eggs of C. cephalonica were 69.50 and 223.10 females per female per generation, respectively, whereas for the artificial diet with ginger they were 117.24 and 236.89 females per female per generation, respectively. Mean generation time (T) was 37.06 and 48.16 for the eggs of C. cephalonica and artificial diet with ginger, respectively. The intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) was 0.11 and 0.09 females per female per day for the eggs of C. cephalonica and artificial diet with ginger, respectively. The finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.12 and 1.11 females per female per day for the eggs of C. cephalonica and artificial diet with ginger, respectively. The population doubling time (DT) was 6.05 days on the diet of eggs of C. cephalonica and 7.00 on the artificial diet with ginger., Shafique A. Memon, Dzolkhifli Omar, Rita Muhamad, Ahamd S. Sajap, Norhayu Asib, Arfan A. Gibal., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Two new microleafhopper genera of Empoascini within the subfamily Typhlocybinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), Condensella Xu, Dietrich & Qin gen. n., based on the type species C. filamenta Xu, Dietrich & Qin sp. n., and Endogena Xu, Dietrich & Qin gen. n., based on the type species E. flava Xu, Dietrich & Qin sp. n., are described from southern China and Thailand. Male habitus photos and illustrations of male genitalia of the two new species are provided. Comparative notes on related genera are provided. Phylogenetic relationships and the status of genus groups within the tribe are also discussed., Ye Xu, Christopher H. Dietrich, Wenhui Zhao, Daozheng Qin., and Obsahuje bibliografii