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 endothelium of different organs displays a remarkable heterogeneity, although it presents many common functional and morphological features. However, despite our knowledge of heterogeneity among endothelial cells from different sites, the differences between brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC) and coronary microvascular endothelial cells (CMEC) are poorly defined. The aim of this study was to investigate whether BMEC are distinct from CMEC at the protein level. Using the proteomic approach, we comparatively analyzed the proteome of cultured BMEC and CMEC. We reproducibly separated over 2000 polypeptides by using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) at pH range of 3-10. Using PDQuest software to process the 2-DE gel images, forty-seven protein spots were differentially expressed in the two-endothelial cells. Of these, thirty-five proteins are highly expressed in BMEC, whereas twelve proteins are highly expressed in CMEC. Fifteen proteins in BMEC and seven proteins in CMEC were identified with high confidence by matrix-associated laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS). Our data suggested that BMEC and CMEC were different in several aspects including cytokine and growth-related molecules, stress-related proteins, metabolic enzymes, signal transduction proteins and others. The identification of a set of proteins preferentially expressed in BMEC and CMEC provided new data on the heterogeneity of the endothelium., L. Lu, P.-Y. Yang, Y.-Ch. Rui, H. Kang, J. Zhang, J.-P. Zhang, W.-H. Feng., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
Fifteen different mitochondrial haplotypes of the mtDNA gene COI encoding cytochrome C oxidase subunit I were identified in the 127 individuals of Adalia bipunctata studied. Two mitochondrial haplotypes, H9 and H10, differed greatly from the others. The mitochondrial polymorphism in A. bipunctata is ancient, though its age remains to be evaluated. It is shown that mitochondrial haplotypes H9 and H10 and others coexisted in the original population of A. bipunctata before it spread throughout Eurasia from Western Europe to the Baikal Area, and before the differentiation of the subspecies A. bipunctata fasciatopunctata, which differs from the European form in its elytral pattern. In order to evaluate the possible origin of the ancient mitochondrial haplotypes in the gene pool of A. bipunctata sequences of the mtDNA gene COI and of the rRNA second internal transcribed spacer of the four species of Adalia: A. bipunctata, A. decempunctata, A. frigida and A. tetraspilota, were compared. It is suggested that infection with Rickettsia had an important role in the preservation of the mitochondrial haplotypes H9 and H10 during the evolution of Adalia., Ilya Zakharov, Elena Shaikevich., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
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
In this study, susceptibility of inbred C57BL/6 and outbred NMRI mice to monosodium glutamate (MSG) obesity or diet-induced obesity (DIO) was compared in terms of food intake, body weight, adiposity as well as leptin, insulin and glucose levels. MSG obesity is an early-onset obesity resulting from MSG-induced lesions in arcuate nucleus to neonatal mice. Both male and female C57BL/6 and NMRI mice with MSG obesity did not differ in body weight from their lean controls, but had dramatically increased fat to body weight ratio. All MSG obese mice developed severe hyperleptinemia, more remarkable in females, but only NMRI male mice showed massive hyperinsulinemia and an extremely high HOMA index that pointed to development of insulin resistance. Diet-induced obesity is a late-onset obesity; it developed during 16-week-long feeding with high-fat diet containing 60 % calories as fat. Inbred C57BL/6 mice, which are frequently used in DIO studies, both male and female, had significantly increased fat to body weight ratio and leptin and glucose levels compared with their appropriate lean controls, but only female C57BL/6 mice had also significantly elevated body weight and insulin level. NMRI mice were less prone to DIO than C57BL/6 ones and did not show significant changes in metabolic parameters after feeding with high-fat diet., R. Matyšková, L. Maletínská, J. Maixnerová, Z. Pirník, A. Kiss, B. Železná., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
a1_Quantitative behavioural traits associated with egg-laying, such as the level of selectivity for host-supports and the size of egg clutches, are generally thought to be of great importance for the subsequent survival and development of offspring. These quantitative traits, however, are often difficult to assess reliably by direct observation in the field. This is particularly the case when the insects are very tiny, which is the case for most galling and leaf mining insects. However, a new approach, the "Melba" procedure, allows the indirect inference of these quantitative traits, using easily recorded field-data only. Application of this diagnostic procedure to a large series of samples of beech leaves (Fagus silvatica), harbouring either a leaf miner, Phyllonorycter maestingella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) or one or the other of two galling insects, Mikiola fagi or Hartigiola annulipes (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) indicates that the leaf miner differs significantly from the two species of galling insect in term of combined values of host-acceptance ratio and average clutch-size, while the two gall-inducing species remain substantially undistinguishable from each other according to these traits. Thus, the galling insects (i) show stronger selectivity for a host than does the miner at any given average clutch-size and (ii) show larger average clutch-size at any given level of selectivity. That is, for at least these three species, the galling insects show a greater level of selectivity when choosing leaves to oviposit on but, then, tend to lay larger egg-clutches. These differences may be due (i) to the gall-inducing process requiring far more of leaf tissues than being simply palatable, which makes it likely that galling species will be more selective in their choice of leaves than leaf miners and (ii) to the capacity of galls to become nutrient sinks, which may help explain why the galling insects laid larger, a2_egg clutches. However, whether these trends can be regarded as general rather specific to this particular case, depends on the outcome of future studies on other groups of insects with similar life histories., and Jean BÉGUINOT.
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
As part of a modern review of all Australian Collembola families, a key is provided to the nine genera of Brachystomellidae currently known from Australia, their morphology is compared, their distribution within and outside Australia is noted and the high diversity of genera in southern regions emphasised. Three Australian genera are endemic, five are also found in South America, South Africa and/or New Zealand and one has a cosmopolitan distribution. The distribution, ecology and habitat preferences of Australian genera are compared. Two genera, Cassagnella Najt & Massoud and Rapoportella Ellis & Bellinger, are newly diagnosed and additions to the description of C. anomala Womersley are given. Australian Cassagnella species appear restricted to southern, humid regions and C. anomala possesses some characters that indicate it is adapted to living in habitats that are periodically flooded. A new species, Rapoportella edwardi sp. n. is described in the rarer genus from drier eucalypt forests. The effect of agricultural practices on an introduced species of Brachystomella is noted and its indicator value emphasised. Possible threats to the endemic genera and species are noted., Penelope Greenslade., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This study of the proteins in the silk of the summer and winter cocoons of the horse chestnut leaf miner Cameraria ohridella revealed they can inhibit protease activity. The inhibitory activity of the summer silk was higher against both the fungal proteinase K and bacterial subtilisin than that of the winter silk. Also, the winter silk was more effective in inhibiting proteinase K than subtilisin. Further, it was demonstrated that some of the silk proteins are glycosylated probably by mannose carbohydrates. An electron microscopy study of the cocoons revealed the presence of silk fibres with different diameters in some pupal chambers. and Veronika Hněvsová, Dalibor Kodrík, František Weyda.
Growth and development rates in many insects are affected by photoperiod, which enables insects to synchronize their life histories with seasonal events, but this aspect of insect photoperiodism remains understudied. Here we use several experimental combinations of constant day length and temperature to determine whether there are quantitative developmental responses to photoperiod in the bug Scantius aegyptius and leaf beetle Timarcha tenebricosa. The thermal ecology of these two species is strikingly different: the former is thermophilic and active throughout summer and the latter is spring-active and avoids the hottest time of the year. In accordance with their contrasting natural thermal environments, S. aegyptius survives better and achieves a larger final body mass at the high experimental temperatures, while T. tenebricosa survives better and is heavier at the low experimental temperatures. Despite this polarity, long-day conditions accelerate larval development relative to a short-day photoperiod in both species, and this developmental response is stronger at low temperatures. Our re-visitation of previous literature in light of the new findings indicates that this similarity in photoperiodic response is superficial and that relatively faster development in midsummer is likely to have a different ecological role in summer- and spring-active species. In the former, it may allow completion of an additional generation during the favourable season, whereas in the latter, this acceleration likely ensures that the larval stage, which is vulnerable to heat, is completed before the onset of hot weather., Dmitry Kutcherov, Elena B. Lopatina, Sergei Balashov., and Obsahuje bibliografii