Revealing hidden species distribution with pheromones: the case of Synanthedon vespiformis (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) in Sweden

Synanthedon vespiformis L. (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) is considered a rare insect in Sweden, discovered in 1860, with only a few observations recorded until a sex pheromone attractant became available recently. This study details a national survey conducted using pheromones as a sampling method for this species. Through pheromone trapping we captured 439 specimens in Southern Sweden at 77 sites, almost tripling the number of previously reported records for this species. The results suggest that S. vespiformis is truly a rare species with a genuinely scattered distribution, but can be locally abundant. Habitat analyses were conducted in order to test the relationship between habitat quality and the number of individuals caught. In Sweden, S. vespiformis is thought to be associated with oak hosts, but our attempts to predict its occurrence by the abundance of oaks yielded no significant relationships. We therefore suggest that sampling bias and limited knowledge on distribution may have led to the assumption that this species is primarily reliant on oaks in the northern part of its range, whereas it may in fact be polyphagous, similar to S. vespiformis found as an agricultural pest in Central and Southern Europe. We conclude that pheromones can massively enhance sampling potential for this and other rare lepidopteran species. Large-scale pheromone-based surveys provide a snapshot of true presences and absences across a considerable part of a species national distribution range, and thus for the first time provide a viable means of systematically assessing changes in distribution over time with high spatiotemporal resolution

Characterization and comparison of microsatellite markers derived from genomic and expressed libraries for the desert locust

The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) has been feared agricultural pest since early civilization, with plagues documented in ancient texts. Population genetic studies of the desert locust are needed to determine genetic variation and movement pattern for efficient control of the pest. In this study, we complemented the limited available microsatellite collection for the desert locust with 34 new polymorphic and multiplexed microsatellite loci. To this aim, we screened an expressed sequence tags library and constructed a partial genomic library enriched for dinucleotide repeats to develop high-throughput and high-quality genotyping assays. We then paid particular attention to quality control and carefully validated 26 of these novel microsatellites and six previously described loci for the absence of null alleles in Western African field populations. This large panel of high-quality microsatellite markers provides new opportunity to infer dispersal rates between populations of the desert locust and help prioritize early monitoring and control. Furthermore, high potential for cross-taxa utility of markers was observed within Schistocerca genus, which includes other locust pest species, with reliable amplification achieved for at least ten of loci per species. Microsatellite markers developed from transcriptome resources were largely devoid of null alleles and were conserved across species compared with those derived from traditional genomic libraries. Accordingly, the number of highly reliable microsatellite markers was greatly improved compared with that of previous studies on Orthopteran species, and this strategy might be broadly applied in other insect species prone to null alleles. © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.status: publishe

Characterization and comparison of microsatellite markers derived from genomic and expressed libraries for the desert locust

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Microbial indicators as a diagnostic tool for assessing water quality and climate stress in coral reef ecosystems

Microorganisms play a fundamental role in the functioning and stability of coral reef ecosystems. However, environmental disturbances can trigger alterations to the natural microbial community composition and their functional traits with potentially detrimental consequences for host organisms, such as corals, sponges and algae and concomitant implications for the entire coral reef ecosystem. Coral reefs are increasingly affected by localized impacts such as declining water quality and global pressures derived from human-induced climate change, which severely alters the natural conditions on reefs and can push dominating benthic life forms towards the limit of their resistance and resilience. Microorganisms can respond very rapidly to these altered environmental conditions so defining their natural variability over spatial and temporal gradients is critical for early and accurate identification of environmental disturbances. The rapid response of microbes to environmental change is likely to confer significant advantages over traditional reef monitoring methods, which are based on visual signs of health deterioration in benthic coral reef macroorganisms. This review discusses the potential of microbes as early warning indicators for environmental stress and coral reef health and proposes priorities for future research