Two new localities of Aneuretus simoni Emery (Formicidae: Aneuretinae) from Knuckles mountain range

Aneuretus is the only extant ant genus of the tribe Aneuretini of which all the other genera are extinct. Aneuretus simoni (Sri Lankan relict ant), the sole extant species of monotypic subfamily Aneuretinae, is endemic to Sri Lanka and has been of interest due to its intermediate evolutionary position between advanced and primitive groups of ants. Presently this species is considered as one of the world‟s three critically endangered ant species, mainly due to its limited distribution within the island. Current localities of A. simoni include three lowland rain forests; Sinharaja, Gilimale and Kirikanda, and a second growth forest – Pompekelle. A recent survey conducted from October 2011 to March 2012 to study litter ants in Knuckles mountain range discovered this rare ant species from two forest types (Moraella lowland rain forest and semi evergreen forest at Rambukoluwa) outside the Knuckles Conservation Forest.Moraella lowland rain forest (7.364075 N 80.734975 E) is a 95 ha mixed dipterocarp forest fragment located in Panwila division in Kandy district, at an elevation of 500-700 m within the valleys of Hulu ganga basin of south-western foothills of Knuckles range. Semi evergreen forests are the major natural vegetation type in eastern lowlands below 700 m in the Knuckles range and are seasonally dry. The study sites were located in Rambukoluwa area (7.54849 N 80.79133 E) in Matale district. Moraella forest belongs to the wet zone while study site in Rambukoluwa area belongs to intermediate zone of the country. In each forest type, three 100 m transects were laid and ants were collected within twelve 1 m2 quadrates along each transect using two methods; Winkler extraction (in six quadrates) and hand collection (in six quadrates). All the ants were preserved in 70% alcohol. Environmental parameters such as air temperature, altitude, relative humidity were also measured at each quadrate. In Moraella forest, air temperature and relative humidity were from 23.1- 26.2 °C and from 65.1- 94% respectively whereas those ranged from 24.7-29.7 °C and from 67.6-79.9% in semi evergreen forest during the study period. Forty four workers of A .simoni were collected from four quadrates along only one transect (elevation 592 m) in Moraella forest while 111 workers were collected from three quadrates along two transects (average elevation 549 m and 552 m) in semi evergreen forest. Relative abundance of A. simoni in Moraella forest (1 %) was much lower compared to that in the semi evergreen forest (2.6 %). Of the A. simoni workers collected, 92% were collected by Winkler extraction method and it seems to be an effective method to collect this species.Compared to the hand collection method So far A. simoni has been recorded only from the lowland wet zone of the country. The new discovery of this species in semi evergreen forests in Rambukoluwa extends its distribution to Matale district and is the first record of this species from the intermediate zone of the countryRecord of A. simoni from recently discovered Moraella lowland rain forest is one indication of the potential high biodiversity in this unique disappearing forest fragment. The present findings highlight the necessity of re-assessing the conservation status of A. simoni in Sri Lanka

Buzzing Wild Bee Visits Enhance Seed Set in Eggplant, Solanum melongena

Sixty percent of the angiosperms with poricidal anthers are buzz-pollinated by bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes). Plant taxa with Solanum-type flowers have larger anthers and shorter filaments. Solanum melongena (Solanaceae) is more commonly and efficiently pollinated by buzz pollinators. The present study documented bees and their diurnal pattern of visitation to flowers, relationship between their handling time and flower age, and the effect of bee visits on fruit and seed set in S. melongena in two sites in Kandy District. Efficiency of buzz pollination over pollination in the absence of bees was determined using open buds and buds covered with pollinator exclusion bags. On average, 150 days were taken to complete the life cycle of Solanum melongena. Three buzzing bees and two nonbuzzing bees in site I and five buzzing bees and two nonbuzzing bees in site II were recorded. Handling time of Pachynomia sp. and Hoplonomia westwoodi indicates that bees spend more time at new flowers than at old flowers. Handling time is higher in the smaller bee, Pachynomia sp., than in the larger bee, H. westwoodi. Statistical data on pollinator exclusion experiment revealed that the fruit set and seed set of S. melongena are enhanced by buzz-pollinating bees

Temperature and Tissue Type Impact Development of Lucilia cuprina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Sri Lanka

Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann; Diptera: Calliphoridae) is a facultative ecto-parasitic fly, distributed throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world. This blow fly species is of medical, veterinary, and forensic importance due to it being used in maggot debridement therapy (MDT), a causative agent of myiasis, and a decomposer of vertebrate carrion. The current study examined the combined effects of temperature and tissue type on the development of L. cuprina. Specimens were reared on three tissue types; swine muscle, swine liver, and bovine muscle at 20°C, 25°C, 27°C, and 38°C. The optimum condition for L. cuprina development was for immatures reared on bovine muscle (287.4 h) followed by those reared on swine muscle (288.0 h) and swine liver (288.4 h) at 27°C. The minimum temperature threshold of L. cuprina was deduced to be 14°C. No significant differences in larval width and length over time were determined for the tissue type

Effect of Temperature and Tissue Type on the Development of the Forensic Fly Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Chrysomya megacephala Fabricius is one of the most common myiasis-causing and carrion-feeding fly species in the tropics. This species has a worldwide distribution due to globalization and therefore is of critical importance to the public health sector and forensic investigations. Development studies carried worldwide show that Ch. megacephala reared at similar temperatures may require different amounts of time to complete their cycle of growth. The present study determined for the first time the life-history information of this species in Sri Lanka. Chrysomya megacephala colonies were reared on three different food sources (bovine muscle, swine muscle, and swine liver) considering the most common forensic entomology rearing mediums and the capability of Ch. megacephala to cause myiasis in cattle. Furthermore, colonies were reared at four temperature regimes representing several specific development conditions of this blowfly: 1) 20°C representing the estimation of the lower developmental threshold for this species in Sri Lanka; 2) 25 and 27°C representing typical room/environmental temperatures in Sri Lanka; and 3) 38°C as this is the typical living animal temperature, representing myiasis conditions. Results show that temperature significantly affected larval length and width over time; however, tissue type was not a significant factor. The fastest development was recorded at 38°C for immature feeding on bovine muscle (162.15 h), followed by those fed swine liver (184.15 h) and swine muscle (208.00 h). The calculated minimum temperature threshold for Ch. megacephala was 13°C. Data generated will be crucial for future forensic investigations involving living or deceased individuals colonized by this species

Myiasis incidences reported in and around central province of Sri Lanka

Background Myiasis, or the invasion of living tissues of humans and other mammals by dipterous larvae, is considered the world's fourth most common travel-associated skin disease after cutaneous larval migrants, pyodermas, and pruritic arthropod-reactive dermatitis. Method The present study recorded the cause, anatomical position, and severity of the wounds of myiasis patients admitted to 11 hospitals located in the central region of Sri Lanka from February 2016 to July 2017. Results Altogether, 28 myiasis incidences were noted within the study period. Of the total identified myiasis patients, nine were female while the remainder were male. The greatest number of patients was recorded from the Mawanella Base Hospital and Peradeniya Teaching Hospital (seven patients each). The ages of recorded patients ranged between 30 and 92 years with the average being 59.4 years. The greatest number of myiasis cases was diagnosed in wounds located in lower limbs (24). In addition, scalp, urogenital, and umbilical infestations were recorded. Eighteen out of the total patients had diabetes mellitus, and two patients suffered from filarial lymphedema. Psychiatric illnesses were a predisposing factor of larval infestation of six patients including the recorded scalp and two urogenital myiasis patients. Of the 28 myiasis cases, 27 were caused by the old world screwworm, Chrysomya bezziana Villeneuve (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and one by the blowfly, Chrysomya megacephala Fabricius (Diptera: Calliphoridae). Conclusion The awareness of patients with ulcers about this disease helps to decrease further risk of being infected by fly larvae

Evaluation of Development Datasets for Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) for Estimating the Time of Placement of Human and Swine Remains inTexas, USA

A basic tenet of forensic entomology is development data of an insect can be used to predict the time of colonization (TOC) by insect specimens collected from remains, and this prediction is related to the time of death and/or time of placement (TOP). However, few datasets have been evaluated to determine their accuracy or precision. The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) is recognized as an insect of forensic importance. This study examined the accuracy and precision of several development datasets for the black soldier fly by estimating the TOP of five sets of human and three sets of swine remains in San Marcos and College Station, TX, respectively. Data generated from this study indicate only one of these datasets consistently (time-to-prepupae 52%; time-to-eclosion 75%) produced TOP estimations that occurred within a day of the actual TOP of the remains. It is unknown if the precolonization interval (PreCI) of this species is long, but it has been observed that the species can colonize within 6 d after death. This assumption remains untested by validation studies. Accounting for this PreCI improved accuracy for the time-to-prepupae group, but reduced accuracy in the time-to-eclosion group. The findings presented here highlight a need for detailed, forensic-based development data for the black soldier fly that can reliably and accurately be used in casework. Finally, this study outlines the need for a basic understanding of the timing of resource utilization (i.e., duration of the PreCI) for forensically relevant taxa so that reasonable corrections may be made to TOC as related to minimum postmortem interval (mPMI) estimates