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2. Specialized feeding of Euconnus pubicollis (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae) on oribatid mites: prey preferences and hunting behaviour
- Creator:
- Jaloszynski, Pawel and Olszanowski, Ziemowit
- Type:
- article, články, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Zoologie, zoologie, entomologie, Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae, Cyrtoscydmini, Euconnus, Palaearctic, prey preferences, eeding behaviour, Acari, Oribatida, 2, and 59
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- 1_Prey preferences and feeding-related behaviour of a Central European species of Scydmaeninae, Euconnus pubicollis, were studied under laboratory conditions. Results of prey choice experiments involving 50 species of mites belonging to 24 families of Oribatida and one family of Uropodina demonstrated that beetles feed mostly on ptyctimous Phthiracaridae (over 90% of prey) and only occasionally on Achipteriidae, Chamobatidae, Steganacaridae, Oribatellidae, Ceratozetidae, Euphthiracaridae and Galumnidae. The average number of mites consumed per beetle per day was 0.27 ± 0.07, and the entire feeding process took 2.15–33.7 h and showed a clear linear relationship with prey body length. Observations revealed a previously unknown mechanism for capturing prey in Scydmaeninae in which a droplet of liquid that exudes from the mouth onto the dorsal surface of the predator’s mouthparts adheres to the mite’s cuticle. Morphological adaptations associated with this strategy include the flattened distal parts of the maxillae, whereas the mandibles play a minor role in capturing prey. Mechanisms for overcoming the prey’s defences depended on the body form of the mite. When attacking oribatids that adopt the ptychoid defence (encapsulation) Euconnus opened the prodorsum and pressed the anal and genital plates deeply into the idiosoma, whereas it fed on all other mites by entering their bodies through small gnathosomal or/and genital openings, after breaking off mouthparts or/and genital plates., 2_The preferential feeding of a specialized and locally abundant ant-like stone beetle on one family of Oribatida, documented here for the first time, has implications for the population dynamics of the prey and raises questions about predator-prey co-evolution and costs of an unusually prolonged period spent feeding when at risk from competition and attack by larger predators, typical of the habitats where Scydmaeninae occur., Pawel Jaloszynski, Ziemowit Olszanowski., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public
3. The occurrence and preference of Botanophila flies (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) for particular species of Epichloë fungi infecting wild grasses
- Creator:
- Lembicz, Marlena, Górzynska, Karolina, Olszanowski, Ziemowit, Michelsen, Verner, and Leuchtmann, Adrian
- Type:
- article, články, model:article, and TEXT
- Subject:
- Zoologie, zoologie, entomologie, Diptera, Anthomyiidae, Botanophila, egg morphology, fungi, Clavicipitaceae, Epichloë, molecular phylogeny, Poland, 2, and 59
- Language:
- English
- Description:
- Specific associations between species frequently occur in ecological interactions. The aim of this study was to determine the preferences of anthomyiid flies of the genus Botanophila for particular species of fungi as sites for laying eggs and as food for both larvae and adults. The associations of their eggs, larvae and flies with the stromata of different species of Epichloë fungi infecting 7 species of grass in Poland were analyzed. Scanning electron microscopy of the surface of their eggs and an analysis of the genetic sequences of their mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COII) were used to identify the taxa of the flies studied. Three types of eggs were distinguished based on their shape, colour and the presence of dorsal folds and sculpturing on the shells. Tentatively, these eggs were assigned to the following species: B. laterella, B. phrenione, B. dissecta and B. lobata. COII sequences obtained from larvae that hatched from two of the types of eggs formed three distinct clades associated with the reference sequences for Botanophila phrenione, B. lobata (new to the fauna of Poland) and a putative species, “Taxon 1”. Only one of these flies (B. lobata) was restricted to a single species of Epichloë (E. bromicola on Elymus repens); B. phrenione was recorded mainly from E. typhina infecting three different species of grass. The results of this study confirm that there is not a close species specific association between this fungus and this insect., Marlena Lembicz ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
- Rights:
- http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ and policy:public