Seasonal polyphenism in adults may be a season-specific adaptation of the adult stage and/or a by-product of adaptive plasticity of the juvenile stages. The swallowtail butterfly Papilio xuthus L. exhibits seasonal polyphenism controlled by photoperiod. Adults emerging in spring from pupae that spend winter in diapause have smaller bodies than adults emerging in summer from pupae that do not undergo diapause. Pupal diapause is induced by short-day conditions typical of autumn. To explore the interactive effects of temperature and developmental pathways on the variation in adult body size in P. xuthus, we reared larvae at two temperatures (20°C, 25°C) under two photoperiods (12L : 12D and 16L : 8D). Pupal weight and adult forewing length were greater in the generation that did not undergo diapause and were greater at 25°C than at 20°C. Thus, body size differences were greatest between the individuals that were reared at the longer day length and higher temperature and did not undergo diapause and those that were reared at the shorter day length and lower temperature and did undergo diapause. Unlike in other Lepidoptera, larvae of individuals that undergo diapause had shorter developmental times and higher growth rates than those that did not undergo diapause. This developmental plasticity may enable this butterfly to cope with the unpredictable length of the growing season prior to the onset of winter. Our results indicate that there are unexplored variations in the life history strategy of multivoltine Lepidoptera., Shinya Komata, Teiji Sota., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Eristalis pertinax varies seasonally, with the spring morph more hairy than the summer morph. We measured the size and the venation of the wings of the seasonal morphs. Wings of the spring morph were significantly larger than those of the summer morph and those of females were larger than those of males. There were also significant differences between the morphs in wing venation and their allometric relationship. The differences between sexes were larger than differences between seasonal morphs. The allometry can account for the sexual dimorphism but not seasonal dimorphism. The differences between seasonal morphs in wing shape were relatively large with very few intermediate individuals. The differences were comparable to those between two related species of Syrphidae. Genetic analyses based on markers in nuclear and mitochondrial genomes unequivocally revealed that spring and summer morphs of E. pertinax form a single population and should not be regarded as separate taxa. Thus seasonal variability in this species is a rare example of polyphenism in Diptera., Lukasz E. Mielczarek, Andrzej Oleksa, Katarzyna Meyza, Adam Tofilski., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Trematode sporocysts and rediae reproduce by parthenogenesis, forming clonal groups in the molluscan host. It has recently become popular to consider these groups as eusocial colonies, with division of labour between rediae morphs: small 'soldiers' incapable of reproduction defend the colony, while large rediae reproduce. Alternatively, clonal groups can be considered as self-sustaining infrapopulations. We tested these two hypotheses in the light of new data on rediae of Himasthla elongata (Mehlis, 1831) from snails Littorina littorea (Linnaeus) concerning ultrastructure, growth character and composition of their groups. Clonal groups under study contained rediae of different age and maturity stages: small (young) rediae, rediae with early cercarial embryos, rediae with late embryonic cercariae, rediae with fully formed motile cercariae, rediae with redial embryos and degenerating rediae. Small rediae had a reproductive organ, the germinal mass, whereas most large rediae with developing cercariae did not, which contradicts the eusocialconcept. Overall distribution of rediae by size and by gut to body length ratio was bimodal, which agrees with the eusocial concept ('soldiers' and 'reproductives' as modal size classes). On closer inspection, however, the bimodal size-frequency distributions (SFD) turned out to be the sum of unimodal SFD of rediae at various stages of maturity. The overall bimodality was determined by the character of redial growth resulting in a relatively low occurrence of intermediate morphs and by the developmental arrest in young rediae. The facts that small rediae can attack other rediae and concentrate in the anterior parts of the mollusc can be explained by age-related feeding preferences and niche segregation. They are unlikely to be associated with the 'colony' defence against invaders. To sum up, clonal groups of H. elongata rediae in our study represented self-sustaining infrapopulations., Kirill V. Galaktionov, Irina M. Podvyaznaya, Kirill E. Nikolaev, Ivan A. Levakin., and Obsahuje bibliografii
An IgM murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) was obtained against the excretory-secretory antigen (ES-Ag) of in vitro reared protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786). Western blotting revealed that the MAb recognised a 20.6 kDa protein of this ES-Ag. The MAb was used in sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (s-ELISA) for selective sensitisation of the solid phase with the protoscolex-specific protein from its ES-Ag and somatic antigen (S-Ag) to examine serum samples of 108 cows from a cystic echinococcosis (CE) endemic area for specific antibodies and to compare the results with those from necropsies and an indirect ELISA (i-ELISA). The sensitivity of s-ELISA/ES-Ag, s-ELISA/S-Ag and i-ELISA/S-Ag was 48%, 52% and 62%, respectively. The low sensitivity of the ELISA was probably caused by the fact that 13 cows (62%) were infected with sterile cysts (acephalocysts and/or calcified foci) only. A relatively high specificity (80%) of s-ELISA/ES-Ag was observed in cows with fertile cysts. It also detected antibodies in the serum of two cows that had recovered from the disease according to the necropsy. The i-ELISA/S-Ag gave false results in testing sera from a healthy animal and from a cow with tubercular foci. Further analysis will be necessary to define more precisely the value of this study, because the duration of antibody elimination from the bloodstream of recovered cattle remains unknown. The solution of this problem will increase the specificity of the proposed test in monitoring herbivorous animals for CE., Aitbay K. Bulashev, Zhanbolat A. Suranshiev, Orken S. Akibekov, Zhanara Zh. Akanova, Gulmira A. Abulgazimova., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Hunting dogs have probably a higher level of exposure to Neospora caninum Dubey, Carpenter, Speer, Topper et Uggla, 1988 and Toxoplasma gondii Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908 than other canine populations for their different lifestyle. The aim of our survey was to determine the seroprevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii in hunting dogs from southern Italy and assess risk factors related to these protozoan infections. Blood samples were collected from 398 hunting dogs (19 different breeds, aged from 5 month to 14 years). The sera were screened by indirect fluorescence antibody test; a titre ≥ 50 was considered positive. Antibodies to N. caninum and T. gondii were detected in 59 (15%) dogs with titres from 50 to 3 200 and in 94 (24%) dogs with titres from 50 to 1 600, respectively, with co-infection in 25 (6%) dogs. Statistical difference (p ≤ 0.05) was found only for infection with T. gondii between two age groups: ≥ 2-4 years (16%) and ≥ 4-7 years (33%); other observed characteristics were without statistical significance. Our results suggest that the hunting dogs could play an important role in the transmission cycle of N. caninum between wild animals and livestock. This is the first detection of antibodies to T. gondii in hunting dogs in Italy., Tereza Machačová, Eva Bártová, Kamil Sedlák, Radka Slezáková, Marie Budíková, Diego Piantedosi, Vincenzo Veneziano., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The consumption of horse meat has been epidemiologically linked to clinical toxoplasmosis in humans and neosporosis that may cause clinical illness in horses. Here we determined seroprevalence of antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908 and species of Neospora Dubey, Carpenter, Speer, Topper et Uggla, 1988 in horses from Italy. Blood samples were collected from 643 apparently healthy horses from 60 farms of 51 municipalities in southern Italy. The presence of antibodies against T. gondii and Neospora spp. were detected by indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT); a titre ≥ 50 was considered positive. The same sera were also tested for antibodies against Neospora spp. by a competitive-inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA); samples with ≥ 30% inhibition were considered positive. Antibodies against T. gondii and Neospora spp. were detected in 19 (3.0%) and 15 (2.3%) horses by IFAT, respectively, without statistical difference between gender, age and breeds (p-value ≥ 0.05). Antibodies against species of Neospora were detected in 70 (10.9%) horses by cELISA with statistical difference in gender (6.0-18.5%, p-value ≥ 0.05) and breeds (0-19.4%, p-value ≥ 0.05). Although T. gondii infection rates were low, the risk of human infection should not be dismissed, particularly in Italy where consumption of raw or undercooked horse meat has a long tradition., Eva Bártová, Tereza Machačová, Kamil Sedlák, Marie Budíková, Ugo Mariani, Vincenzo Veneziano., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) is an obligate intracellular, parasitic protozoan within the phylum Apicomplexa that causes toxoplasmosis in mammalian hosts (including humans) and birds. Since meat of wild boar, Sus scrofa (Linnaeus), has been demonstrated to be a potential source of human infection, a careful evaluation of the prevalence of infection with T. gondii in hunted animals is needed to protect public health. In the Var area in southeastern France, we performed a spatio-temporal survey in order to investigate the prevalence of IgG antibodies in wild boars shot by hunters in the Canjuers military camp during two subsequent hunting seasons. Of 841 wild boars screened, antibodies (IgG) to T. gondii (modified agglutination test, cut-off 1 : 6) were found in 141 (16.8%) muscle extract samples. A significant association (p < 0.001) was found between positivity and age, but not gender, and hunting districts. The results obtained indicate that consumption of raw or undercooked meat from wild boars carries an important risk of infection with T. gondii. Wild boars may be considered as a bioindicator of parasite circulation in this ecosystem., Cédric Roqueplo, Radu Blaga, Jean-Lou Marié, Isabelle Vallée, Bernard Davoust., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) is an obligatory intracellular protozoan parasite prevalent in animals and humans worldwide having medical and veterinary importance on account of causing abortion or congenital disease in intermediate hosts, including man. Since T. gondii has already been identified in the milk of goats, Capra aegagrus hircus (Linnaeus), the possibility of acquiring infection by ingesting unpasteurised goat milk should be taken into consideration. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine the presence of T. gondii DNA in goat milk. First, 73 goats (females) from 36 farms located in Poland were examined serologically by direct agglutination test (DAT) to estimate the T. gondii serological status. Milk samples from 60 selected lactating females were examined for the presence of T. gondii DNA by Real time PCR and nested PCR (B1 gene). To estimate the clonal type of detected T. gondii, multiplex PCR was performed using 6 markers. In DAT, positive results were found in 70% of 73 goats. Among examined 60 milk samples, 65% were positive in Real time PCR and 43% in nested PCR. It is noteworthy that 11 samples positive in PCR were collected from seronegative goats. The multilocus PCR analysis mostly revealed the occurrence of genotype III, which is relatively rare in Europe. The recorded high prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in tested goats (70%), associated with a high prevalence of T. gondii DNA in goat milk samples (65%), indicates a potential risk of the parasite transmission through goat milk ingestion., Jacek Sroka, Paweł Kusyk, Ewa Bilska-Zając, Jacek Karamon, Jacek Dutkiewicz, Angelina Wójcik-Fatla, Violetta Zając, Krzysztof Stojecki, Mirosław Różycki, Tomasz Cencek., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Nocturnal pollinators such as moths have received less attention than diurnal insects. To elucidate whether nocturnal moths are important pollinators, we observed both the diurnal and nocturnal visitors to the flowers of Uncaria rhynchophylla (Rubiaceae) in a warm-temperate forest in central Japan. The diurnal visitors included various taxonomic groups (e.g., bees, hoverflies and butterflies). The nocturnal visitors were exclusively moths (Geometridae, Erebidae, Noctuidae and Crambidae). Pollen grains of U. rhynchophylla were attached to both diurnal and nocturnal visitors. Although diurnal flower visitors carried pollen grains of other plant species, nocturnal moths did not carry heterospecific pollen grains. These results suggest that nocturnal moths, as well as diurnal insects, are important pollinators of U. rhynchophylla., Daichi Funamoto, Shinji Sugiura., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Seven new species of chewing lice in the genus Resartor Gustafsson et Bush, 2017 are described and illustrated. They are: Resartor albofulvus sp. n. ex Heterophasia desgodinsi desgodinsi (Oustalet); Resartor apimimus sp. n. ex Heterophasia picaoides wrayi (Ogilvie-Grant); Resartor aterrimus sp. n. ex Minla ignotincta mariae La Touche; Resartor extraneus sp. n. ex Lioparus chrysotis swinhoii (Verreaux); Resartor guangxiensis sp. n. ex Trochalopteron milnei sinianum Stresemann; Resartor longisuturalis sp. n. ex Actinodura cyanouroptera wingatei (Ogilvie-Grant); Resartor seminudus sp. n. ex Leiothrix argentauris tahanensis (Yen). All species differ in the shape of the head, shape of the male genitalia and abdominal chaetotaxy. A checklist and a key to the species of Resartor are provided., Daniel Roland Gustafsson, Xingzhi Chu, Sarah Elizabeth Bush, Fasheng Zou., and Obsahuje bibliografii