The following six species of the Philometridae (Nematoda: Dracunculoidea) were recorded from marine fishes off the northern coast of Australia in 2015 and 2016: Philometra arafurensis sp. n. and Philometra papillicaudata sp. n. from the ovary and the tissue behind the gills, respectively, of the emperor red snapper Lutjanus sebae (Cuvier); Philometra mawsonae sp. n. and Dentiphilometra malabarici sp. n. from the ovary and the tissue behind the gills, respectively, of the Malabar blood snapper Lutjanus malabaricus (Bloch et Schneider); Philometra sp. from the ovary of the goldbanded jobfish Pristipomoides multidens (Day) (Perciformes: all Lutjanidae); and Digitiphilometroides marinus (Moravec et de Buron, 2009) comb. n. from the body cavity of the cobia Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus) (Perciformes: Rachycentridae). Digitiphilometroides gen. n. is established based on the presence of unique digital cuticular ornamentations on the female body. New gonad-infecting species, P. arafurensis and P. mawsonae, are characterised mainly by the length of spicules (252-264 µm and 351-435 µm, respectively) and the structure of the gubernaculum, whereas P. papillicaudata is characterised mainly by the body length (70 mm) of gravid female, extent of the oesophageal gland, size of caudal projections and the location in the host. Dentiphilometra malabarici differs from congeners mainly in the arrangement of circumoral teeth (in a single row), extent of the oesophageal gland and the absence of sclerotised teeth or protuberances on the oesophageal lobes in the mouth. Digitiphilometroides marinus has not previously been reported from fishes in Australian waters., František Moravec, Diane P. Barton., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The following six species of the Philometridae (Nematoda: Dracunculoidea) were recorded from marine fishes off the northern coast of Australia in 2015 and 2016: Philometra arafurensis sp. n. and Philometra papillicaudata sp. n. from the ovary and the tissue behind the gills, respectively, of the emperor red snapper Lutjanus sebae (Cuvier); Philometra mawsonae sp. n. and Dentiphilometra malabarici sp. n. from the ovary and the tissue behind the gills, respectively, of the Malabar blood snapper Lutjanus malabaricus (Bloch et Schneider); Philometra sp. from the ovary of the goldbanded jobfish Pristipomoides multidens (Day) (Perciformes: all Lutjanidae); and Digitiphilometroides marinus (Moravec et de Buron, 2009) comb. n. from the body cavity of the cobia Rachycentron canadum (Linnaeus) (Perciformes: Rachycentridae). Digitiphilometroides gen. n. is established based on the presence of unique digital cuticular ornamentations on the female body. New gonad-infecting species, P. arafurensis and P. mawsonae, are characterised mainly by the length of spicules (252-264 µm and 351-435 µm, respectively) and the structure of the gubernaculum, whereas P. papillicaudata is characterised mainly by the body length (70 mm) of gravid female, extent of the oesophageal gland, size of caudal projections and the location in the host. Dentiphilometra malabarici differs from congeners mainly in the arrangement of circumoral teeth (in a single row), extent of the oesophageal gland and the absence of sclerotised teeth or protuberances on the oesophageal lobes in the mouth. Digitiphilometroides marinus has not previously been reported from fishes in Australian waters., František Moravec, Diane P. Barton., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Three new species of Aberrapex Jensen, 2001 (Cestoda: Lecanicephalidea) have been collected from species of Myliobatis Cuvier along the coast of Argentina. Aberrapex ludmilae sp. n. parasitises M. goodei Garman in the San Matías Gulf. This species is unique in a combination of features including the shape and extent of the uterus, scolex size, testis distribution, and by lacking an external seminal vesicle and postovarian vitelline follicles. Aberrapex sanmartini sp. n. from M. goodei in San Blas Bay and A. vitalemuttiorum sp. n. from M. ridens Ruocco, Lucifora, Díaz de Astarloa, Mabragaña et Delpiani in coastal waters off Buenos Aires Province, are distinguished from all other congeners by the microthrix pattern on the scolex surface, uterus shape and extension, position of the connection of the uterine duct to the uterus, presence and extension of an external seminal vesicle, and its overall size and number of proglottids. The specimens of M. goodei and M. ridens show locally distinct cestode faunas, which are correlated with well-defined biogeographic regions. Some of these areas correspond with mating and nursery zones for species of Myliobatis., Adriana Menoret, Leonardo Mutti, Verónica A. Ivanov., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A new progonocimicid bug named Cicadocoris parvus sp. n. is described from the mid-Jurassic Haifanggou Formation at Daohugou, Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, northeastern China. It differs from other species by being distinctly smaller, veins dSc, R1 and Rs run parallel to one another and are nearly evenly spaced on left tegmen, widest length of apical half/basal half of left tegmen is 1.1 and that of right tegmen is 1.0. Thus, there are at least three species of Cicadocoris (Progonocimicidae) described from Daohugou. All these species are relatively abundant in the Haifanggou Formation and are remarkable representatives of the early Yanliao biota., Jia-Qian Jiang, Di-Ying Huang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We analyzed the abundance, distribution and niche overlap of species (Pianka's Ojk index) in tenebrionid beetle communities inhabiting different biotopes in Tyrrhenian and Adriatic sand dunes. The rank abundance distribution of the different species has the form of a geometric series in both communities as predicted by the niche preemption hypothesis for communities in harsh environments. Mean niche overlap values did not deviate significantly from null expectations, which indicates random interspecific interactions. These results, coupled with evidence of species habitat preferences, led us to conclude that the community organization of tenebrionid species inhabiting coastal dunes is determined more by habitat preferences than interspecific competition., Simone Fattorini, Davide Bergamaschi, Cristina Mantoni, Alicia T. R. Acosta, Andrea Di Giulio., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Changes in behaviour and cognition have been associated with latent infection from the apicomplexan protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) in both animal and human studies. Further, neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia have also been associated with latent toxoplasmosis. Previously, we found no association between T. gondii immunoglobulin G antibody (IgG) seropositivity and depression in human adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years (n = 1 846) in a sample representative of the United States collected by the Centers for Disease Control as part of a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from three datasets collected between 1999-2004. In the present study, we used NHANES data collected between 2009 and 2012 that included subjects aged 20 to 80 years (n = 5 487) and used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) to assess depression with the overall aim of testing the stability of the results of the prior study. In the current study, the seroprevalence of T. gondii was 13%. The percentage of subjects reporting clinical levels of depression assessed with the PHQ-9 was 8%. As before, we found no association between T. gondii IgG seroprevalence and depression (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.81-1.25; p = 0.944) while controlling for sex, educational attainment, race-ethnicity, age, poverty-to-income ratio and cigarette smoking. We also found no positive associations between anti-T. gondii antibody titre and depression (OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.96-1.06; p = 0.868). Moreover, we found no association between T. gondii seroprevalence or antibody titre and suicidal ideation (seroprevalence: OR = 1.22, 95% CI = .85-1.75; p = 0.277, titre: OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.98-1.14; p = 0.177)., Defining depression to also include subjects currently taking antidepressant medication even with non-elevated questionnaires did not find evidence of a positive association between latent toxoplasmosis and depression. In the present study, neither T. gondii seroprevalence nor anti-T. gondii antibody titre was positively associated with depression or suicidal ideation among subjects aged 20 to 80 years., Shawn D. Gale, Andrew N. Berrett, Bruce Brown, Lance D. Erickson, Dawson W. Hedges., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) is an intracellular parasite that can cause ongoing latent infection persisting for the duration of a non-definitive host's life. Affecting approximately one-third of the world's population, latent toxoplasmosis has been associated with neuropsychological outcomes and a previous report suggested an association between latent toxoplasmosis and adult height. Given the large number of people with latent toxoplasmosis and its potential associations with human height, we sought to better understand the association between latent toxoplasmosis and human morphology by evaluating seropositivity for T. gondii and multiple body measures reported in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III) and in the more recent continuous NHANES data sets from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for which data on T. gondii are available. In these analyses, latent toxoplasmosis was not associated with any of the body measures assessed in the NHANES datasets even after taking into account interactions between latent toxoplasmosis and testosterone suggesting that in these samples, latent toxoplasmosis is not associated with adult morphology including height., Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Bruce L. Brown, Dawson W. Hedges., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Climate change may facilitate shifts in the ranges and the spread of insect pests, but a warming climate may also affect herbivorous insects adversely if it disrupts the locally adapted synchrony between the phenology of insects and that of their host plant. The ability of a pest species to colonize new areas depends on its ability to adjust the timing of phenological events in its life cycle, particularly at high latitudes where there is marked seasonality in temperature and day length. Here we incubated eggs of three species of geometrid moth, Epirrita autumnata, Operophtera brumata and Erannis defoliaria from different geographical populations (E. autumnata and O. brumata from Northern Finland, E. autumnata and E. defoliaria from Southern Finland and all three species from Germany) in a climate chamber at a constant temperature to determine the relative importance of geographic origin in the timing of egg hatch measured in terms of cumulative temperature sums (degree days above 5°C, DD5); i.e. the relative importance of local adaptation versus phenotypic plasticity in the timing of egg hatch. In all three species, eggs from northern populations required a significantly lower temperature sum for hatching than eggs from southern populations, but the differences between them in temperature sum requirements varied considerably among species, with the differences being largest for the earliest hatching and northernmost species, E. autumnata, and smallest for the southern, late-hatching E. defoliaria. In addition, the difference in hatch timing between the E. autumnata eggs from Southern Finland and Germany was many times greater than the difference between the two Finnish populations of E. autumnata, despite the fact that the geographical distances between these populations is similar. We discuss how these differences in hatching time may be explained by the differences in hatch-budburst synchrony and its importance for different moth species and populations. We also briefly reflect on the significance of photoperiod, which is not affected by climate change. It is a controller that works parallel or in addition to temperature sum both for egg hatch in moths and bud burst of their host plants., Julia Fält-Nardmann, Tero Klemola, Mechthild Roth, Kai Ruohomäki, Kari Saikkonen., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Insects produce pigment and structural colours mainly for camouflage, signaling, physical protection or temperature regulation, and colour patterns can provide information about individual quality. Although the evolutionary function and nature of the variability in colouration are well known for many invertebrate taxa, there is little information on this topic for ants. We studied individual variation in the melanin-based colour traits of workers of the red wood ant, Formica rufa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), from 20 colonies in Southern Finland and revealed the type of colouration in this species. First, using the threshold approach we distinguished between continuous and discrete variations. Furthermore, the analyses affirmed nine discrete morphs in terms of the colouration on the head and eight on the pronotum, while only continuous variation were found on the other body parts. Measuring the size of a particular colour pattern, the intensity of colour expression (degree of melanization) and statistical analyses allowed an assessment of the intra-individual variation in both discrete and continuous patterns. The results revealed substantial modularity in the above mentioned colouration traits. In workers of F. rufa there were individuals with a dark head and light coloured thorax and vice a versa. Size of the dark pigment colour patterns exhibited less modularity than the degree of melanization. Finally, the interrelation between colouration traits and individual body size revealed their size-dependent origin. Small individuals had relatively larger areas of colour on the head and thorax than big individuals. These results are likely to facilitate further taxonomical and ecological studies on red wood ants, as they show it is possible to assess colouration traits in ants. However, more studies are needed on the function of polymorphism and modular colouration in this group of ants., Oksana Skaldina, Jouni Sorvari., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The present study was designed to determine the influence of temperature and the addition of potassium dichromate solution (K2Cr2O7) on the efficiency of sporulation of Eimeria bovis (Zublin, 1908), a coccidian species most commonly diagnosed in European bison Bison bonasus (Linnaeus). Sporulation under conventional conditions (2.5% dichromate solution, 23 °C) was completed on the fourth day of incubation (control), whereas the oocyst development took two days more at the temperature of 18 °C, and two days less at 28 °C. Additionally, experimental sporulation of E. bovis at the temperature of 23 °C in the environment of sterilised tap water (without any preservation) took 9 days more compared to control. Finally, oocyst development took 16 weeks when the faces were stored in the refrigerator (3-5 °C) without any special additives. Overall, our results indicate that K2Cr2O7, besides the temperature, plays a crucial role in the process of sporulation of oocysts under laboratory conditions, as the longest delay in sporogony was observed when the faeces were stored without any other additives in the temperature of the refrigerator., Anna M. Pyziel, Aleksander W. Demiaszkiewicz., and Obsahuje bibliografii