Controlling phlebotomine sand flies to prevent canine Leishmania infantum infection: A case of knowing your enemy

Leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum is a widespread zoonotic disease that can be transmitted to animals and humans by their vectors, blood-sucking phlebotomine sand flies. To prevent canine leishmaniosis across the whole Mediterranean region, vector control is essential. Because of phlebotomine breeding sites are diverse, environmental larval controls have limited practical value. Control methods of adults are being evaluated, such as selective baits based on sugar feeding of males and females or Attractive Toxic Sugar Baits (ATSB), and the indoor use of Long-Lasting-Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) treated with permethrin to prevent sand fly bites complementing the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) approach suggested by WHO. Although several strategies exist, the best control measure to prevent canine Leishmania infantum is to treat dogs using biocidal topical formulations based on legal insecticides (PTs18) or repellents (PTs19) (as collars, spot-ons and/or sprays) during the period when the vectors are active. This means we need to really know the biology and life cycle of the sand fly vector. According to available data, by mapping ambient temperatures we can already predict high risk areas where vector densities will be higher. In ongoing research, new candidates are emerging to fight against sand flies including natural plant extracts with low impacts on the environment and host animal. Other options in the future could be systemic insecticides to help reduce sand fly populations in high density areas. In parallel, health authorities and professionals involved in animal and public health (veterinarians, physicians, entomologists and epidemiologists) must work together in a One Health approach to minimize Leishmania infection. Veterinarians play a crucial role in liaising between key stake holders and dog owners to ensure the latter act responsibly in using repellents as a preventive measure against sand fly bites

Primary Extranodal, Extralymphatic Hodgkin Lymphoma of the Mandible

Primary extranodal, extralymphatic Hodgkin lymphomas (PEEHLs) are a rare occurrence. When they are encountered, they become diagnostic challenges. We are describing the uniqueness of a case of PEEHL affecting the mandible with his early response to the available chemotherapy

Enterobacteriaceae bacteremias among cancer patients: an observational cohort study

SummaryBackgroundEnterobacteriaceae bacteremia is a common complication in patients with neoplasm. The cancer itself, chemotherapy-induced immunosuppression, and other cancer-related procedures play a role as predisposing factors for this condition. However, despite the clear association between cancer and Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia, the distinctive clinical characteristics of patients with cancer presenting with Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia have not been well established.MethodsThe population studied was a prospective cohort of adult hospitalized patients with Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia in a tertiary care hospital. We compared the clinical variables and microbiological features between patients with an underlying neoplasm (n=203) and those without (n=259). STATA software was used for statistical association analysis.ResultsIn a bivariate analysis, older age, prior exposure to aminopenicillins, fewer days of symptoms, biliary source of bacteremia, greater severity of APACHE II score, lower white blood cell and platelet counts, and the presence of Klebsiella pneumoniae were more common in the neoplasm group. In a multivariable analysis, K. pneumoniae bacteremia (odds ratio (OR) 6.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.65–22.71; p=0.007), APACHE II score (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05–1.34; p=0.007), and exposure to aminopenicillins (OR 28.84, 95% CI 1.94–429.3; p=0.015) were associated with neoplasm. K. pneumoniae bacteremia was more commonly present in patients with lung and gastrointestinal cancers.ConclusionsWe have confirmed the association of K. pneumoniae bacteremia with underlying neoplastic disease, especially with gastrointestinal malignancies, which may allow stratification for initial empiric antibiotic therapy in this subset of patients. Prior exposure to aminopenicillins in the neoplasm group might contribute to this finding

Sobre la Presencia del Género Ibalia Latreille en España (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea: Ibaliidae)

2 paginasPeer reviewe

Los insectos de la isla de Coiba (Panamá). Abundancia y dinámica estacional. Análisis del caso de los himenópteros (Hexapoda Hymenoptera)

18 paginas, 7 figuras y 11 tablesInsects: Generallntroduction. Abundance and seasonal dynamícs of insects in Coiba. The case of the hymenoptera. An introduction to the insects is presented withln the global flora and fauna project of inventory of the National Park of lhe 1 land of Coiba (Panama). Preliminary results on entomology are conrribulcd in four artieles: One first work i devoted to investigate the abundance and temporal dynamic ' of insecls, cspecially hymenoplera, as measured by Malaise traps catches, in North of Coiba island. A second work presents faunistical results of the inventory of selected families of Hymenoptera parasítica Cynipoidea and Chalcidoidea: Figitidae, Chalcididae, Encyrtidae and Eucharitidae. A thlrd artiele deals with the butterflies of Coiba and fmally, the fourth work, presents a list of Odonata from the island. Field work data comes from three collecting trips to Coiba (two-five weeks long) between 1994 and 1996. Wet and dry seasons were sampled. Thirty one sites in the National Park were sampled representing almo. l aJl the main terrestrial habitats of Coiba. Sampling methods used were: Malai e trap, weep nct, yellow pan traps, pitfall traps and light trap, but most colIected dlUa come from Ihe rwo first techniques. Local abundance of insect orders and famílies of Hymenoptera, measured by Malaise traps samples from the north of the Coiba island, was investigated and the results compared with data from the Iiterature and unpublished author's Malaise traps data from two sítes in the centre of the Iberian Península. Local abundance of insects was comparatively higher than that registered in other tropicallocalities and intermediate in relatíon to the two sites in the Iberian Península. Local abundance of Hymenoptera was in average higher than those indicated by bibliographical data for other sites and countries but it was equal or lower in relation to the two sites in the lberian Península. Seasonal dynamícs of Ihe families of Hymenoptera: Eucoilidae, Figitidae, Chalcididae, Eucharitidae, Pteromalidae and Symphyta were investígaled from samples of a single Malaise trap operatíng along the whole 1994 annual cycle. Figitidae and Symphyta showed short phenological cycles from May to August and the other farnilies presented flight activity along the whole year. Eucoilidae, Chalcididae y Eucharitidae were, along one full year, more abundant in Coiba, as a whole, than in the two sites in central Spain; Pteromalidae y Figitidae showed an intermediate abundance in comparison with that localities and Symphyta was much less abundant in Coiba islandEste trabajo ha sido posible gracias a la colaboración de muchas personas a las que, desde aquí, queremo expre ar nuestro agradecimiento. En primer lugar a Santiago Castroviejo a quien debemos la invitación para participar en el proyecto de inventario de Coiba y la ayuda prestada en todo momento. Carmen Moreno y Timoteo Guijarro de la AECI en Panamá pusieron los medios, en la financiación, y todo su esfuerzo, eficacia y amabilidad en la logística de las expedición a la isla. Raúl Brenes, director del Parque Nacional Coiba y Juan Cuadras, como guía de la expedición fueron de inestimable ayuda. En especial queremos agradecer la e laboración del recluso Mali Mali por atender la operatividad de la trampa Malaise instalada en la estación Biológica a lo largo de todo el año 1994. Elvira Mingo, Vicenta Llorente Mª Paz Martín, Arabia Sánchez y Florita Tordesillas del MNCN colaboraron en la tarea de separación de ordenes de insectos en las muestras de Trampas Malaise, Carmen Rey en la separación de Hymenoptera Aculeata e /chneumonoidea y Ma Luisa Hinojosa en el montaje de ejemplares.Peer reviewe

Estudio Comparado de Diversidad de Eucoilinos Paleárticos (El ventorrillo, España ) y Neotropicales (P. N. Coiba, Panamá) (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea, Figitidae, Eucoilinae)

51 páginas, 15 figuras, 7 tables[EN] The composition, richness and diversity of two eucoiline communities (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea, Figitidae, Eucoilinae) are studied and compared for the first time. The sites and period of study were the Biogeological Station of El Ventorrillo, in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains (Spain), from 1988 to 1991, and the Coiba Island National Park (Panama), in the the Central American sector of the Pacific Ocean, from 1994 to 1999. The Malaise trap was the main monitoring method, although sweep nets, yellow pan traps and ultraviolet light traps were used as complementary sampling methods. It is the first time eucoilines have been caught with ultraviolet light traps. 1,547 specimens of 123 species were collected, 29 species of 10 genera at El Ventorrillo and 95 species of 21 genera at Coiba. At the Mediterranean locality Kleidotoma, with 13 species, and Trybliographa, with 4, were the genera with the biggest number of species; 7 genera are recorded for the first time from the Iberian Peninsula: Diglyphosema, Disorygma, Ganaspis, Glauraspidia, Gronotoma, Hexacola and Kleidotoma. At Coiba Ganaspis, with 17 species, and Leptopilina with 13, were the genera with the most species; 11 genera are recorded for the first time from Panama: Bewelda, Coneucoela, Didyctium, Dieucoila, Hexacola, Kleidotoma, Leptopilina, Micreriodes (first record for the Neotropical Region), Nordlandiella, Striatovertex and Triplasta, and 16 species are stated as new to science but not formally described yet. Only 4 genera (Ganaspis, Hexacola, Kleidotoma and Rhoptromeris) and 1 species (Hexacola hexatoma (Htg)) were found at both localities. At El Ventorrillo shared genera were dominant (40% of shared genera versus 20% of exclusive genera), while Coiba showed the reverse situation (81.8% of exclusive genera versus 18.2% of shared genera). Differences in the composition of the two studied communities are discussed in terms of the possible tropical origin of the eucoilines and the environmental relative humidity as a likely limiting ecological factor to eucoiline dispersion. Results from cumulative species curves indicate that the sampling effort was sufficient and that the number of species found is representative of eucoiline diversity at both localities. Several ecological parameters are used in the description and discussion of functional and structural characteristics of the two studied eucoiline communities. Malaise trap data from one entire annual cycle year indicate that the El Ventorrillo inventory of eucoilines was more exhaustive than the Coiba inventory, although many species not caught by Malaise traps were collected by other sampling methods, especially by sweeping. We conclude that to obtain exhaustive inventories of 52 eucoilines from Palaearctic ecosystems, the joint use of Malaise traps and sweeping is advisable, but it is essential at tropical sites. It is the first study where the eucoilines, as representative of a hyperdiverse group of microhymenoptera, are used to check the RESTAR functions approach (or the higher taxa richness approach) to estimate the diversity of an ecosystem. Proven monophyletic supraspecific categories are used to calculate the RESTAR functions for the first time. This approach is shown as a valid methodology to estimate the diversity of eucoiline communities, both for the Palaearctic and Neotropical Regions. It is much more useful when we confirm a better fit using monophyletic genera-groups than with genera and for Neotropical communities, more difficult to monitor (higher values of β) than Palaearctic ones.[ES] Se estudia y compara por primera vez la composición, riqueza y diversidad de dos comunidades de eucoilinos (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea, Figitidae, Eucoilinae), una paleártica, en España, y otra neotropical, en Panamá. Las localidades estudiadas fueron la Estación Biogeológica de El Ventorrillo en la Sierra de Guadarrama, en la España central, desde 1988 a 1991, y el Parque Nacional de la Isla de Coiba (Panamá), en el Pacífico centroamericano, desde 1994 hasta 1999. El método de muestreo principal fue la trampa Malaise, complementado con otros métodos como la red entomológica de barrido, las trampas bandeja coloreadas y trampas de luz ultravioleta, siendo la primera vez que se cogen eucoilinos con trampas de luz. Fueron capturados 1.547 individuos para un total de 123 especies inventariadas, 29 de 10 géneros en El Ventorrillo y 95 de 21 géneros en Coiba . En El Ventorillo los géneros con más especies fueron Kleidotoma, con 13, y Trybliographa, con 4. 7 géneros se citan por primera vez para la Península Ibérica: Diglyphosema, Disorygma, Ganaspis, Glauraspidia, Gronotoma, Hexacola y Kleidotoma. En Coiba los géneros más especiados fueron Ganaspis, con 17 especies, y Leptopilina, con 13. 11 géneros se citan por primera vez para Panamá: Bewelda, Coneucoela, Didyctium, Dieucoila, Hexacola, Kleidotoma, Leptopilina, Micreriodes (primera cita para la Región Neotropical), Nordlandiella, Striatovertex, Triplasta, y 16 son probables especies nuevas para la ciencia, aún no descritas. Únicamente cuatro géneros (Ganaspis, Hexacola, Kleidotoma y Rhoptromeris) y una especie (Hexacola hexatoma (Htg)) se obtuvieron en las dos localidades. En El Ventorrillo predominan los géneros compartidos entre las dos comunidades (un 40% de similitud, frente a un 20% de exclusividad), mientras que en Coiba el componente mayoritario es el de géneros exclusivos (un 81.8% de exclusividad, frente a un 18.2% de similitud). Las diferencias en la composición de las dos comunidades se discuten en función del posible origen tropical de los eucoilinos y de la variable de la humedad relativa ambiental como probable factor limitante. Los resultados de las curvas de acumulación de especies muestran que el esfuerzo de muestreo ha sido suficiente y las especies encontradas son representativas de la diversidad de eucoilinos de las dos localidades. Se describen y discuten las características estructurales y funcionales de las dos comunidades estudiadas en función del análisis de distintos parámetros ecológicos. Los datos de muestreo con trampa Malaise, correspondientes a un ciclo anual completo, indican que el inventario de eucoilinos resulta más exhaustivo para el ecosistema paleártico que para el neotropical, si bien un alto porcentaje de las especies no capturadas con trampa Malaise se consiguen capturar con otras técnicas de muestreo, especialmente con red de barrido; se concluye que complementar el método de la trampa Malaise con el de red de barrido es recomendable en ecosistemas paleárticos, pero imprescindible en ecosistemas neotropicales, si se quiere contar con inventarios significativos de la diversidad de eucoilinos. Este es el primer estudio que ensaya la utilización de los eucoilinos, como grupo de microhimenópteros hiperdiversos, para probar el método de las funciones RESTAR (o the higher taxa richness approach) para estimar la diversidad de los ecosistemas. Por vez primera se utilizan categorías supraespecíficas de naturaleza monofilética demostrada en el cálculo de las funciones RESTAR. Se demuestra que las funciones RESTAR son un método válido para estimar la diversidad de comunidades de eucoilinos, tanto en el Paleártico como en el Neotrópico. Este método resulta aún más valioso cuando comprobamos que las comunidades neotropicales, más costosas de inventariar (mayor β) que las paleárticas, presentan mejor ajuste con grupos de géneros monofiléticos que con géneros.Este trabajo se ha beneficiado de la financiación de la Consejería de educación de la Comunidad de Madrid (proyecto C188/91 de la AECI en Panamá (proyecto Coiba) y de la DGES, fondos del proyecto PB97-1241, concedidos a J.L.N.A.Peer reviewe

Inventario de himenópteros parasitoides (Cynipoidea y Chalcidoidea,. Hymenoptera, Insecta) de la isla de Coiba (Panamá)

23 paginas, 16 figuras y 3 tablesInventory of Parasitic Hymenoptera (Cynipoidea and Chalcidoidea Hymenoptera, Insecta). A preliminary list is provided concerning an inventory of parasitic Hymenoptera fauna from Coiba island (Panama). The selected inventoried families were: Figitidae (Cynipoidea) and Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae and Eucharitidae (Chalcidoidea). The work represent the rust relevant collecting and published data of that hyrnenopteran families from Coiba and from continental Panama. Three collecting trips (two-five weeks long) were made to Coiba island between 1994 and 1996 and twenty nine collecting sites, representing most Coiba ecosystems and hymenopteran habitats were samp1ed. Insects were collected mainly by means of sweep net and Malaise traps. Cynipoidea.- An amount of 1602 individuals of Cynipoidea was collected. Taxa identified can be surnmarised as follows: "Figitinae": two unidentified species of Neralsia Cameron; Aspicerinae: two species of Prosaspicera Kieffer and Balna nigriceps Cameron, 1883. The later is redescribed and illustrated with electronscan photographs. The following Eucoilinae genera are listed, mostly representing the first record for Panama: Dieucoila Ashmead, Eucoila Westwood, Ganaspis Ftirster, Hexacola Ftirster, Kleidotoma Westwood, Nordlandiel/a Diaz, Odonteucoila Ashmead, Rhabdeucoela Kieffer, Rhoptromeris Ftirster, Tropideucoila Ashmead and Trybliographa Ftirster. Chalcidoidea.- Four genera of Chalcididae are recorded: Brachymeria Westwood, Conura Spinola, Haltichella Spinola and Notaspidium Dalla Torre, 1897. A preliminary identification 1ist of Conura species is presented: thirty-four species are listed, thirteen of them representing new species. A list of thirty-one genera of Encyrtidae is presented: Acerophagoides Blanchard, Acerophagus Smith, Adelencyrtus Ashmead, Aenasius Walker, Anagyrus Howard, Anicetus Howard, Apoanagyrus Compere, Apsilophrys De Santis, Archinus Howard, Arhenophagus Aurivillius, Blepyrus Howard, Cerchysiella Girault, Cheiloneurus Watwood, Chrysoplatycerus Ashmead, Encyrtus Latreille, Forcipestricis Burks, Gyranusoidea Compere, Helegonatopus Perkins, Hexacladia Ashmead, Lamennaisia Girault, Leptomastix Ftirster, Mahencyrtus Masi, Meniscocephalus, Metaphycus Mercet, Oencyrtus Ashmead, Prionomastix Mayr, Psyllaephagus Ashmead, Zaomma Ashmead and Zaommoencyrtus Girault. Four genera, representing at least nine species of Eucharitidae, two of them probably new for science, are recorded: Orasema Cameron, Dilocantha Shipp, Kapala Cameron, Obeza Heraty and Pseudochalcura Ashmead. Taxonomic list from the faunistic surveys in Coiba is discussed and compared with available data from Pan ama and Costa Rica in order to estimate the global richness of the studied groups in the island. A rough estimation of global fauna of Hymenoptera in Coiba, from the data of the selected groups of parasitic Hymenoptera, is also made, and numbers are compared with available data from other islands.Nuestra más sincera gratitud a la inestimable contribución al trabajo de Gerard Delvare (CIRAD, Montpellier), John Noyes (Natural History Museum of London) y John Heraty (University of California) que identificaron las muestras de Chalcididae, Eflcyrtidae y Eucharitidae. Respectivamente damos las gracias también a Nigel Fergu 00 (Natural Hi tory Museum of London) por el envío de material tipo de Balna. La ayuda técnica de Josefo Bedoya fue indispensable en la renluación de la fotografías de microscopio electrónico de barrido.Peer reviewe

Introducción a los Hymenoptera de la Región Neotropical

20 paginas y 10 figurasLos himenópteros pueden ser definidos como «insectos holometábolos haplodiploides con piezas bucales masticadoras pero que carecen de élitros». Dos de los rasgos derivados que caracterizan al orden Hymenoptera bastarían para definir el orden como monofilético: poseer dos pares de alas membranosas, un par posterior más pequeño articulado al primero por uno o más ganchos pequeños (hámulos), y presentar un mecanismo de determinación del sexo haplodiploide, por el cual huevos fertilizados diploides normalmente dan lugar a hembras, y huevos haploides no fecundados dan lugar a machos. Sin embargo, Vilhelmsen (1997b) adicionalmente lista varias sinapomorfias que apoyarían la monofilia del grupoA Antonio Melic (Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa) por su permiso para reproducir y actualizar el capítulo de Nieves-Aldrey y Fontal-Cazalla (1999) para esta publicación.Peer reviewe

A Fully Web-illustrated Morphological Phylogenetic Study of Relationships among Oak Gall wasps and their Closest Relatives (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)

73 paginas, 13 figuras, 3 tables et al..Large morphological phylogenetics analyses are often poorly documented because of the constraints of traditional print journals, making it difficult to critically evaluate the data and build on it in future studies. We use modern information technology to overcome this problem in a comprehensive analysis of higher relationships among oak gall wasps and their closest relatives. Our morphological characters are documented by more than 2,000 images deposited in the open web image database Morphbank (http://www.morphbank.net), allowing one-click access from character and character state descriptions to the raw data. The oak gall wasps (Cynipidae: Cynipini) form one of the largest specialized radiations of galling insects with almost 1,000 described species attacking oaks or oak relatives. According to previous morphological studies, the Cynipini form a monophyletic clade, the Woody Rosid Gallers (WRG), together with three small cynipid tribes (Diplolepidini, Eschatocerini, and Pediaspidini). The WRG all attack woody representatives of the rosid clade of eudicots. Little was previously known about higher WRG relationships. We studied 54 exemplar taxa of WRG, including representatives from 34 of the 41 valid genera of oak gall wasps, and two outgroups. The study resulted in 308 characters, 283 from morphology and 25 from biology and distribution; most of these are original to the present paper. Parsimony analyses supported the monophyly of three major WRG lineages: Diplolepidini + Eschatocerini, Pediaspidini + Paraulax, and Cynipini. The poorly known South American genus Paraulax, developing in galls on Nothofagus, is moved from Cynipini to Pediaspidini to reflect these results. The single Japanese species described in Paraulax by Shinji (types lost) is transferred to Ceroptres as C. quereicola (Shinji 1938) comb. nov. Two major lineages of oak gallers were recognized in most analyses: (1) the Neuroterus-group (Neuroterus, Pseudoneuroterus, the previously recognized genus Trichagalma, Plagiotrochus, possibly also Palearctic Dryocosmus and Aphelonyx+Disholcaspis); and (2)the Cynips-group (Cynips, Belonocnema, Atrusca, Acraspis, Philonix, Biorhiza and Trigonaspis). The large and problematic genus Andricus was paraphyletic in some analyses and monophyletic in others, with Disholcaspis spectabilisbeing the sister to other Cynipini in the former case and European Callirhytis in the latter. Our results suggest that WRG are conservative in their host plant preferences but there is no evidence for parallel insect-plant cladogenesis. Distributional patterns suggest a possible origin for the oak gall wasps in the Nearctic but the picture is otherwise complicated. Both heterogeny, the cyclical alternation of sexual and parthenogenetic generations, and heteroecy, the use of different sections of Quercus as host for the two generations, appear to have evolved twice within the WRG.The work was in part supported by Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse (JL), by an NSF grant to FR for Morphbank development (DBI-0446224), and by the HymAToL NSF grant to Dr. M. Sharkey (DEB-0337220). JLNA was funded by the Spanish project DGES PB97-1241 and FFC was supported by a grant from the Biogeological Station of ”El Ventorrillo.Peer reviewe