Age Determination of the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis, using Wing Pigmentation

A red pigment is contained in the wing veins of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). This insect is the main vector of the plant-pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa Wells (Xanthomonadales: Xanthomonadaceae), the causal agent of Pierce's disease of grapevines. Over the course of the H. vitripennis lifespan, the red pigment darkens and eventually becomes brown/black in color. These pigments are believed to be pheomelanin and eumelanin, respectively. The age of H. vitripennis can be determined by calculating the amount of red pigment found in the wings by analyzing high resolution wing photographs with image analysis software. In this study, a standard curve for the age determination of H. vitripennis was developed using laboratory—reared insects of known ages varying from 1 to 60 days. The impact of three environmental conditions on these readings was also investigated and found to have little effect on the age determination, and could be easily accounted for. Finally, field collected insects from several Central Texas vineyards were successfully analyzed for age determination suggesting that the annually reported influx of H. vitripennis was composed almost entirely of older insects

The Effects of Host-Feeding on Synovigenic Egg Development in An Endoparasitic Wasp, Itoplectis naranyae

Many adult parasitoids feed on host insects, a behavior known as host-feeding. Feeding on hosts is essential to maximizing female fecundity, but its contribution to reproduction varies from species to species. The relationship between fecundity and host-feeding was examined in the solitary endoparasitoid wasp Itoplectis naranyae Ashmead, (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) to assess the significance of host-feeding in female reproduction. Adult female wasps did not respond to hosts when they were 0–1 days old, but subsequently increased their oviposition and host-feeding activities with increasing female age. While newly emerging females had no mature eggs in their ovary, the number of mature eggs increased rapidly thereafter, a process termed synovigeny. Female wasps were capable of maturing eggs without host-feeding, and this suggested that they produced a certain portion of eggs from nutritional reserves that had been stored during the larval stage. Behavioral observations revealed that I. naranyae was a destructive host-feeder as the host was damaged during feeding. Female fecundity was greater in females that had previously fed on hosts than those did not, indicating that host-feeding was involved in egg production. There was a time-delayed relation between host-feeding events and additional egg production; at least 3 days were required to mature eggs from nutrients gained via feeding on hosts. The significance of host-feeding in I. naranyae reproduction is discussed in the context of its life history traits

Carbohydrate Diet and Reproductive Performance of a Fruit Fly Parasitoid, Diachasmimorpha tryoni

Augmentative releases of parasitoid wasps are often used successfully for biological control of fruit flies in programs worldwide. The development of cheaper and more effective augmentative releases of the parasitoid wasp Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) may allow its use to be expanded to cover Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a serious pest of many vegetables and most fruit production in Australia. This demands a fuller understanding of the parasitoid's reproductive biology. In this study, mating status, fecundity, and size of female D. tryoni were determined under laboratory conditions. A range of pre-release diets, 10% concentrations of honey, white sugar, and golden syrup, were also assessed in the laboratory. Mature egg loads and progeny yields of mated and unmated parasitoid females were statistically similar, demonstrating that mating status was not a determinant of parasitoid performance. Female lifespan was not negatively impacted by the act of oviposition, though larger females carried more eggs than smaller individuals, indicating a need to produce large females in mass-rearing facilities to maintain this trait. White sugar gave the highest adult female lifespan, while honey and golden syrup shared similar survivorship curves, all significantly greater compared with water control females. Pre-release feeding of D. tryoni, particularly with white sugar, may enhance the impact of released parasitoids on B. tryoni. These findings are important because honey is currently the standard diet for mass-reared braconids, but white sugar is less than one-third the cost of other foods; however further work is required to assess postrelease performance of the parasitoid

Determination of reference values for optical properties of liquid phantoms based on Intralipid and India ink

A multi-center study has been set up to accurately characterize the optical properties of diffusive liquid phantoms based on Intralipid and India ink at near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Nine research laboratories from six countries adopting different measurement techniques, instrumental set-ups, and data analysis methods determined at their best the optical properties and relative uncertainties of diffusive dilutions prepared with common samples of the two compounds. By exploiting a suitable statistical model, comprehensive reference values at three NIR wavelengths for the intrinsic absorption coefficient of India ink and the intrinsic reduced scattering coefficient of Intralipid-20% were determined with an uncertainty of about 2% or better, depending on the wavelength considered, and 1%, respectively. Even if in this study we focused on particular batches of India ink and Intralipid, the reference values determined here represent a solid and useful starting point for preparing diffusive liquid phantoms with accurately defined optical properties. Furthermore, due to the ready availability, low cost, long-term stability and batch-to-batch reproducibility of these compounds, they provide a unique fundamental tool for the calibration and performance assessment of diffuse optical spectroscopy instrumentation intended to be used in laboratory or clinical environment. Finally, the collaborative work presented here demonstrates that the accuracy level attained in this work for optical properties of diffusive phantoms is reliable. (C) 2014 Optical Society of Americ

Coherent and Squeezed States: Introductory Review of Basic Notions, Properties, and Generalizations

A short review of the main properties of coherent and squeezed states is given in introductory form. The efforts are addressed to clarify concepts and notions, including some passages of the history of science, with the aim of facilitating the subject for nonspecialists. In this sense, the present work is intended to be complementary to other papers of the same nature and subject in current circulation.Comment: 50 pages, misprints corrected, some new references included. To appear in "Integrability, Supersymmetry and Coherent States. A Volume in Honor of Professor Veronique Hussin