Faunistika není mrtvý obor zoologie. V prvním dílu diskutujeme záludnosti faunistiky a rozdíly mezi faunistikou a sběratelstvím. Měkkýši byli vybráni jako modelová skupina organismů, na nichž ukazujeme historii vývoje oboru v Českých zemích a vývoj měkkýší faunistiky., Faunistics is not a dead subject of zoology. The challenges of faunistics and the difference between faunistics and collecting are discussed. Molluscs were chosen as a model group to show the history of the subject in the Czech Republic and the development of mollusc faunistics., and Vojen Ložek, Lucie Juřičková.
Detailní výzkum recentní fauny umožňuje srovnání s výskytem jednotlivých druhů v období od glaciálu, přes oteplení na počátku holocénu, klimatické optimum holocénu i s nástupem zemědělství až po zhoršení podmínek v mladším holocénu. Fosilní záznamy mohou pomoci při vysvětlení absence konkrétních druhů na určitém místě v současnosti. Autoři článku také diskutují vliv ekologických fenoménů na lokální druhovou diverzitu - některé z nich druhovou bohatost zvyšují (říční, krasový a vrcholový fenomén), jiné ji snižují (hadcový a pískovcový fenomén). Faunistický výzkum musí probíhat ruku v ruce s taxonomickými studiemi. I v tak malakologicky prozkoumaných zemích, jako je Česká republika, jsou stále objevovány pro dané území nové druhy, včetně invazních – žádné území není prozkoumané jednou provždy. Článek zmiňuje některé důležité faunistické objevy na území České republiky, tak připomíná zásadní význam tohoto dnes podceňovaného oboru a nastiňuje také jeho výhled do budoucnosti., It is important to study the occurrence (presence vs. absence) of extant species; fossil records can help explaining the patterns. The role of ecological phenomena on local species diversity is discussed. The impact of ecological phenomena on local species diversity is discussed – some of them increase (river, karst and hilltop phenomena), while others decrease the species diversity (serpentine and sandstone phenomena). Faunistic research must go hand in hand with taxonomic research. Even in a well-explored country such as the Czech Republic, new species for this area are constantly being discovered including some invasive species, making faunistic research a never-ending story., and Lucie Juřičková, Vojen Ložek.
Parasitoid females may adjust offspring sex allocation according to the number and quality of hosts available. Because in solitary species only one offspring survives per host, already parasitized hosts are of low quality and generally rejected. Superparasitism (i.e., sequential oviposition by the same or different females) results in aggressive interactions and competition for nutritional resources among larvae. We examined variations in the offspring sex ratio of Dendrocerus carpenteri (Curtis) (Hymenoptera: Megaspilidae), a solitary ectoparasitoid developing as a hyperparasitoid on the prepupae and pupae of primary aphid parasitoids inside mummified aphids. Mated females produced a female-biased sex ratio of 0.433 (proportion of sons) when caged singly and provided with 12 mummies for 2 h; they parasitized an average of four mummies/h and rarely superparasitized. Superparasitism increased when two females were caged together and provided with 12 mummies, from 1.18 to 1.24 and 1.38 eggs/host parasitized in 1, 2 and 3 h, respectively. The offspring sex ratio became increasingly more female-biased with increase in superparasitism; however, sex ratio variations were not correlated with cohort size. One mated and one unmated female provided with 12 mummies and caged together for 1 h produced a mean cohort sex ratio of 0.645, which differed from the one predicted (0.717) by an algebraic model incorporating the assumptions that both females contribute equal numbers of offspring and that the mated female does not change her offspring-sex allocation strategy. The observed shift in the cohort sex ratio to an increased female-bias indicates that mated females of D. carpenteri change their behaviour when encountering parasitized mummies or a conspecific competitor in the same patch. By depositing fertilized rather than unfertilized eggs, a female can increase the proportion of her daughters among parasitoids competing for a diminishing host supply., Manfred Mackauer, Andrew Chow., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We studied the water balance, body fluid osmolality and survival of the oribatid mite, Pergalumna nervosa, when exposed to drought in field and laboratory experiments. In a replicated field experiment we artificially lowered the soil water content by putting roofs over selected plots, which reduced soil water potential to levels well below the permanent wilting percentage for plants (i.e. below -1.5 MPa). Even though a slight decrease in the abundance of P. nervosa (only found in the 0-5 cm soil layer) was recorded during the most severe drought stress (ca. -3.5 MPa), the majority of adult mites clearly survived these conditions for 3 weeks in the field without migrating to deeper soil layers. Exposing field collected adults in laboratory experiments simulating even more severe drought conditions revealed that P. nervosa can survive several weeks of gradually increasing drought stress (down to -7 MPa) with moderate water loss. The osmolality of body fluids increased as dehydration progressed, but apparently as a result of simple up-concentration of solutes and not the de novo synthesis of protective osmolytes. We compare and discuss these results in the light of what is known about other arthropods., Stine Slotsbo, Jesper G. Sørensen, Josef Stary, Martin Holmstrup., and Obsahuje bibliografii
A novel method was used to study dispersal in the spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus (L.), under epidemic conditions (rapidly increasing population density) in the Šumava National Park. Infested spruce logs were coated with a fine fluorescent powder and the passively marked emerging beetles were captured in pheromone baited traps located at various distances from these logs. The number of marked beetles captured decreased exponentially with increasing distance from the release point. The sex ratio of the bark beetles was more female biased the further they were recaptured from the logs, being 57% and 60% at distances of up to 50 and 100 m, respectively. The maximum distance flown by a marked beetle recorded in this experiment was 1094 m. A model fitted to the data on dispersal indicates that 10% of the spruce bark beetles dispersed over distances of 55 m and 4 m in spring (overwintered parental generation) and summer (first filial generation), respectively. Differences between spring and summer swarming are briefly discussed., Petr Doležal, Jan Okrouhlík, Markéta Davídková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The mitochondrial genome of Mesomelena mesomelaena (Loew, 1848) is the first to be sequenced in the flesh fly subfamily Miltogramminae (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). The 14,559 bp mitogenome contains 37 typical metazoan mitochondrial genes: 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and 22 transfer RNA genes, with the same locations as in the insect ground plan. All the protein-coding genes have the start codon ATN, except for cox1 (TCG). Eight protein-coding genes have the stop codon TAA, while the remaining five have the stop codon T (cox1, cox2, nad5, and nad4) or TAG (cytb). Synonymous and non-synonymous substitution rates (Ks and Ka) for each protein-coding gene indicate that these genes evolved primarily under negative (or purifying) selection (Ka < Ks). Phylogeny of Sarcophagidae is proposed based on all the sarcophagid mitogenomes in GenBank, and the subfamily topology is reconstructed as (Sarcophaginae (Paramacronychiinae, Miltogramminae))., Liping Yan, Ming Zhang, Yunyun Gao, Thomas Pape, Dong Zhang., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Nutrition is one of the most important environmental factors that influence the development and growth in Drosophila. The food composition strongly affects their reproduction, welfare and survival, so it is necessary for flies to search for a mixture of macronutrients that maximizes their fitness. We have five D. melanogaster strains, which were reared for 13 years on five different substrates: standard cornmeal-agar-sugar-yeast medium and four substrates modified by adding tomato, banana, carrot and apple. This study was aimed at determining how such long-term rearing of flies on substrates with different protein content affects fitness traits (dynamics of eclosion, developmental time and egg-to-adult survival). Further, we determined how transferring flies reared on fruit/vegetable substrates to a standard laboratory diet affected their fitness. Results indicate that strains reared on the diet with the lowest content of protein and the highest C/N ratio had the slowest eclosion and developmental time, and lowest egg-to-adult survival (apple diet). The flies reared on the diet with the highest protein content and the lowest C/N ratio had the highest survival (tomato diet). Flies reared on the carrot diet, which is quite similar in protein content and C/N ratio to the standard cornmeal diet, had the fastest development. Transferring flies to the standard cornmeal diet accelerate eclosion and developmental time, but did not affect survival., Jelena Trajković, Vukica Vujić, Dragana Miličić, Gordana Gojgić-Cvijović, Sofija Pavković-Lučić, Tatjana Savić., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Forenzní entomologie představuje oblast aplikované biologie, která propojuje přírodní vědy a právní systém. Tento obor lze rozdělit na tři hlavní oblasti: problematiku škůdců potravin a zemědělských produktů, oblast parazitů lidí a zvířat (zejména otázku myiáz) a patrně nejznámější a nejčastěji využívanou oblast stanovení doby smrti člověka, resp. post mortem intervalu (PMI). Jeho základem je přirozený proces degradace mrtvých obratlovců v přírodě, kdy během sukcese tělo postupně kolonizují mouchy, brouci a další bezobratlí. Znalost těchto procesů nám dává možnost určit dobu kolonizace, a tím i PMI s přesností na den i několik týdnů po smrti člověka. Avšak pole působnosti forenzní entomologie je natolik široké, že článek přináší pouze malé nahlédnutí do základů tohoto multidisciplinárního oboru. Proto není překvapením, že přes všechny naše dosavadní znalosti a poznatky forenzní entomologie, každý den přináší stále nové otázky a odpovědi., Forensic entomology is a field of applied biology in which natural science and the judicial system interact. It can be divided into three main areas: the issue of pests, the field of human and animal parasites, mainly a phenomenon called myiasis, and probably the best known and most frequently used area of estimating the period of time since human death or post mortem interval (PMI). It is based on the natural process of degradation of animal cadavers and human corpses when during the process of succession flies, beetles and other invertebrates subsequently colonize a corpse. Good knowledge of the processes allows us to determine the time of colonization as well as PMI within a day even several weeks after the human death. However, the scope of forensic entomology is so wide that this article provides only a small insight into the foundations of this multidisciplinary field. Therefore it is not surprising that despite all of our current knowledge forensic entomology presents new questions and answers every day., and Hana Šuláková.