To explore the debated phylogenetic relationship of two Hesperiidae subfamilies, Pyrginae and Eudaminae, and contribute to the understanding of the evolution of mitogenomic architecture in butterflies, we sequenced the complete mitogenome of Tagiades vajuna. The mitogenome is a typical circular duplex molecule of 15,359 bp. Apart from the standard 22 tRNAs, it has a tandem duplication of trnS(AGN) and trnE, which is unique in lepidopteran insects. Comparison with Ctenoptilum vasava indicates that the trnS1 duplication is not an ancestral state shared with other species of Tagiadini. Independent origin of the trnS1 duplications was further confirmed by the reconstruction of the ancestral character state based on the topology of the phylogram. Furthermore, comparative analysis of mitogenomes with and without tRNA duplications indicates that tRNA duplication does not alter the codon usage pattern. The mitogenome has negative AT- and GC-skews, and it is highly A+T-biased (79.7%). The AT-rich (or control) region (283 bp) contains "ATAGA" and "ATTTA" motifs. Regarding the phylogenetic analysis, we found that removal of the third codon position (3CP) from datasets used for the mitochondrial phylogenomics of Hesperiidae is likely to produce results that are more consistent: Pyrginae were rendered paraphyletic by Eudaminae in both analyses of the dataset from which the 3CP was removed (13 PCGs + all RNAs), but inclusion of the 3CP resulted in a destabilized topology, resulting in both monophyly and polyphyly. We conclude that even shallow-phylogenies of insects should pay close attention to compositional and mutational biases in mitogenomes., Fang-Fang Liu, Yi-Ping Li, Ivan Jakovlić, Xiang-Qun Yuan., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Diaeretiella rapae MacIntosh (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) is one of the most common and successful parasitoids of the cabbage aphid. The functional response of D. rapae towards cabbage aphids was examined in laboratory studies at three constant temperatures, 17°C, 25°C and 30°C. D. rapae exhibited a type II functional response at all three temperatures. The search rates were uninfluenced by temperature whereas handling times differed significantly between 17°C and 25°C, and between 17°C and 30°C, but not between 25°C and 30°C. This study is a first-step in the evaluation of the effectiveness of D. rapae as a biocontrol agent of Brevicoryne brassicae at different temperatures., Hamid R.S.Moayeri ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literarurty
1_Insects feeding on the foliage of oak were studied on a mountain where species of Mediterranean deciduous and evergreen oak coexist. There were 58 insect species (54 Lepidoptera, 1 Coleopteran and 3 Hymenoptera) belonging to twenty families in the assemblage feeding on eight species of Quercus, two of which are introduced from nearby regions. The overlap in occurrence in time and of feeding niches of the insects feeding on the foliage of the different species of oak was determined using the: (a) Poole-Rathcke method, which tests phenological overlap and (b) Petraitis method, which tests niche overlap. This indicated that insect families partition seasonal time in a random and the entire assemblage in a regular way. All groups of insects partitioned season randomly except for the pairs of monophagous-oligophagous and Palearctic-Eurosiberian species, which partition season regularly. Oak folivorous insects correctly perceive the three subgenera of oaks with the exception of the planted Q. robur pedunculiflora. The folivorous insects recorded on the Mediterranean evergreen oaks (subgenus Sclerophyllodrys) differ from those on the other two subgenera (Quercus and Cerris) and co-occurring deciduous trees. The hypothesis of complete general overlap is rejected for groups based on feeding specialization, zoogeographical categories and taxonomic families. The same was the case when the entire insect assemblage was considered. The percentage of specific niche overlap of the folivorous insects is low and greatest among the monophagous species (13.8%) and those with a Mediterranean distribution (15.4%). Voltinism is not very important for this assemblage and only seven species are bivoltine of which four fed on a different species of oak in the second generation., 2_The overall conclusion is that the co-occurrence in space of these species is possible because they occur regularly at different times during the season whereas that of insect groups based on zoogeographical, taxonomic or feeding specialization are randomly dispersed in time., Maria Kalapanida, Panos V. Petrakis., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
Lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are a classical group for studying the mechanisms that determine local and temporal trends in colour polymorphism. Here we report long term trends in variation in the percentage of different morphs in a population of Hippodamia variegata (Goeze) at Štúrovo, Slovakia (47°48´N, 18°43´E). The morphs differ in the number and location of the spots on their elytra. Beetles were sampled from stands of herbaceous plants using a standard method each year in August over a period of 74 years from 1937 to 2011. Twenty two morphs (out of 74 possible) were recorded in a total sample of 6,984 individuals. Four dominant morphs made up 90% of the total sample and varied in their annual frequency independently of one another. Frequency of "pale" morphs (0–3 spots per elytra), supposedly favoured by a warm climate, increased from 1981 to 2000s’ during a period of climate warming, but only after a decrease that took place between 1937 and 1981, which did not parallel a change in climate. Moreover, the differences in the extent of the melanization of the elytral surface are too small to significantly affect thermoregulation in the different morphs. Therefore, the results presented do not provide unequivocal support for climate change determining the long term trends in the variation in the proportions of the different morphs., Alois Honek ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The tendency for self-superparasitism and it's effects on the quality of the parasitoid Ooencyrtus pityocampae (Mercet) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) in parasitizing a new laboratory host, Philosamia ricini (Danovan) (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), were investigated. In this study, female parasitoids of various ages (1-, 3- and 5-day-old) were tested individually. Parasitoids were provided with 1-day-old P. ricini eggs at ratios of 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 host eggs per wasp. The tendency to superparasitize was dependent on the female's age and host density. Five-day-old females showed a strong tendency to superparasitize at low host densities. The development time of wasps in superparasitized eggs was longer than that of wasps in singly parasitized eggs. The size and longevity of adult parasitoids decreased significantly with superparasitism. This work contributes to the development of an efficient mass rearing and laboratory rearing of the parasitoid O. pityocampae using a new host., Hilal Tunca, Maurane Buradino, Etty-Ambre Colombel, Elisabeth Tabone., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The Alpine Longicorn (Rosalia alpina) is an endangered and strictly protected icon of saproxylic biodiversity. Here we present an overview of its distribution in the Czech Republic, its host plants, and habitat requirements. We also comment upon the forestry and conservation management of its last inhabited sites. and Lukáš Drag a kol.
The reproduction of the Splash Tetra (Copella arnoldi), which inhabits the Amazon freshwater river basin, has its peculiarities. These fish deposit their eggs on the bottom of leaf blades above the water surface, where atmospheric moisture is high. After spawning is over the males remain beneath the leaf and spray the fertilized eggs with water so that they do not dry out. But that is the end of their care for their offspring. The hatching fry falls from the leaf back into the water and begin their independent life. These fish usually start mass spawning during the rainy season. Fish breeders are well aware of this fact and often deliberately arrange similar conditions for their fish when breeding them in captivity. and Jaroslav Eliáš.
This paper presents biological notes on two species of Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae that emerged from old spongy-woody galls of Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu, 1951 collected in Sicily (Italy) in April 2015: Leptophyes sicula Kleukers, Odé et Fontana, 2010 (Phaneropterinae) and Cyrtaspis scutata (Charpentier, 1825) (Meconematinae). Between the end of April and the first few days of May a total of 30 neanids emerged from the galls, were reared and their life-cycle recorded. While L. sicula laid eggs in groups, C. scutata laid single eggs inside the galls; both species in a few years have adapted to exploiting this new shelter for egg laying. No interaction with the gall inducing insect was noted., Giuliano Cerasa, Bruno Massa., and Obsahuje bibliografii
When insect herbivores develop over many generations on the same plant species, their descendants may evolve physiological adaptations that enable them to develop more successfully on that plant species than naïve conspecifics. Here, we compared development of wild and lab-reared caterpillars of the cabbage moth, Mamestra brassicae, on a cultivar of cabbage Brassica oleracea (cv. Cyrus) and on a wild plant species, sorrel, Rumex acetosa, on which the wild strain had been collected and reared for two earlier consecutive generations. The lab strain had been reared on the same cabbage cultivar for more than 20 years representing > 200 generations. Survival to adult did not vary with strain or plant species. Both strains, however, developed significantly faster when reared on R. acetosa than B. oleracea. Pupae from the field strain were larger when reared on B. oleracea than on R. acetosa, whereas the identity of the plant species did not matter for the lab strain. Our results show that long-term rearing history on cabbage had little or no effect on M. brassicae performance, suggesting that some generalist herbivores can readily exploit novel plants that may be chemically very different from those on which they have long been intimately associated., Jeffrey A. Harvey, Eke Hengeveld, Miriama Malcicka., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We discuss and criticise the contention of Colombo (2012) that the central-marginal model does not apply to three species of chromosomally polymorphic acridid grasshoppers, and that chromosomal clines in these species are a consequence of temperature gradients. We also discuss Colombo’s interpretation of our own results on the South American melanopline grasshopper, Dichroplus pratensis Bruner., Claudio J. Bidau, Dardo A. Martí., and Obsahuje seznam literatury