A preliminary check-list of the Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) of the Maltese Islands

A list of 147 species of Chalcidoidea from the Maltese Islands is presented 73 of which are here reported for the first time from this territory. They belong to 15 families as follows: Agaonidae (3); Aphelinidae (20 including 3 new records); Azotidae (1 new record); Chalcididae (3 new records); Encyrtidae (23 including 13 new records); Eulophidae (35 including 19 new records); Eupelmidae (7 including 2 new records); Eurytomidae (5 including 4 new records); Leucospidae (4); Mymaridae (2); Ormyridae (1 new record); Pteromalidae (33 including 21 new records); Signiphoridae (2); Tetracampidae (1 new record); Torymidae (7 including 5 new records). Out of the 73 new records, 55 were exclusively found in Malaise trap samples at Verdala Palace near Buskett, a semi-natural wooded area dominated by Pinus halepensis. Thirty species mentioned in the present study were reared from plant-galls, either during the present study or in former studies pertaining to Malta. Of these 8 are gall inducers and the rest are primary or secondary parasitoids of the gall inducers. This list must represent only a small proportion of the actual species richness expected to be found in the Maltese Islands since absolutely no field work was carried out in other diverse and potentially rich habitats, such as steppe, garigue, maquis, coastal habitats and valley systems, present on these islands.peer-reviewe

New records of ichneumon wasps (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from Malta

Recently some Maltese Hymenoptera were donated to the Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM) and some other material was sent to the Natural History Museum in London (BMNH) for identification by the second author. Amongst these specimens were six ichneumon wasp species new to the fauna of Malta. Ichneumonidae taxonomy and nomenclature follow Yu et al. (2012), and host records were traced through this resource. Identifications were based on keys provided by Szépligeti (1905), Schmiedeknecht (1909), Bajári (1960), Townes et al. (1965), Bajári & Móczár (1969), Townes (1969; 1970a; 1970b; 1971), Horstmann (1976), Gauld & Mitchell (1977), Fitton et al. (1988), Wahl (1993), and Tolkanitz (2007). The voucher specimens are deposited in the Hymenoptera Collection of HNHM, Budapest, Hungary (those indicated by a HNHM id. number below), and some duplicate specimens in D. Mifsud’s private insect collection (CDM) in Malta.peer-reviewe

Saltbush-associated Asphondylia species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in the Mediterranean Basin and their chalcidoid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea)

Numerous species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) have been recorded from saltbush (Chenopodiaceae: Atriplex) around the world but only 11 of them belong to the large cecidomyiid genus Asphondylia. Of these, two species were de-scribed in the late 19th century from complex bud galls on Atriplex halimus in the Mediterranean Basin. In the present study Asphondylia punica is redescribed, A. conglomerata is synonymized with it, and Asphondylia scopuli is described from Atriplex lanfrancoi, an endemic plant to the Maltese Islands. Descriptions are accompanied by information about the galls and life history of the gall midges, and a review of the parasitic Hymenoptera associated with A. scopuli is provided. Four species of parasitoids were found and attributed to the families Eurytomidae, Pteromalidae, Eupelmidae and Eulophidae, of which the pteromalid Mesopolobus melitensis is described as new.peer-reviewe

New records of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) from the Maltese Islands with an updated checklist

Thirty-three species of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) are newly recorded from the Maltese Islands, of which, 19 include host data. An updated checklist for the 181 chalcidoid species recorded from Malta is also included, which belong to 17 families as follows: Agaonidae (3), Aphelinidae (21, 1 as new record), Azotidae (1), Chalcididae (8 species, 5 as new records), Encyrtidae (24, 1 as new record), Eulophidae (51, 16 are new records), Eupelmidae (9, 2 as new records), Eurytomidae (6, 1 as new record), Leucospidae (4), Megastigmidae (1), Mymaridae (2), Ormyridae (1), Perilampidae (1 new record), Pteromalidae (39, 5 as new records), Signiphoridae (2), Tetracampidae (1) and Torymidae (7, 1 as new record).peer-reviewe

Braconid and ichneumonid (Hymenoptera) parasitoid wasps of Lepidoptera from the Maltese Islands

Fourteen species of Ichneumonidae are here recorded from the Maltese Islands. Of these, all were reared from Lepidoptera hosts with the exception of Netelia (Paropheltes) inedita (Kokujev) which was collected from a malaise trap. Of these, the following species (or genera) are here reported for the first time from the Maltese Islands: Chirotica meridionalis Horstmann, Gelis carbonarius (de Stefani), G. exareolatus (Fӧrster), G. seyrigi Ceballos, Glypta sp., Meloboris sp., Netelia (Paropheltes) inedita (Kokujev), Ophion obscuratus Fabricius and Orthizema sp. Twenty-five species of Braconidae are also here reported from Lepidoptera hosts with the exception of Homolobus (Phylacter) meridionalis van Achterberg which was collected from a malaise trap. Of these, the following species (or genera) represent new records for the Maltese Islands: Apanteles metacarpalis (Thomson), Ascogaster sp., Clinocentrus excubitor (Haliday) [previously misidentified as C. exsertor (Nees) by Papp (2015)], Cotesia vestalis (Haliday) [previously misidentified as C. ruficrus (Haliday) by Papp (2015)], Dolichogenidea britannica (Wilkinson), Homolobus (Phylacter) meridionalis van Achterberg, Iconella ? meruloides (Nixon), Lysitermus tritoma (Bouček), Lysitermus suecius (Hedqvist), Microgaster messoria Haliday, Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael), Pholetesor circumscriptus (Nees) [previously misidentified as P. bicolor (Nees) by Papp (2015)] and Spathius pedestris Wesmael. Thus previous records of Clinocentrus exsertor and Pholetesor bicolor from Malta were found to be based on misidentifications and are here excluded from the braconid fauna of Malta. Maltese records of Cotesia abjecta (Marshall) and Cotesia jucunda (Marshall) by Papp (2015) were found to be misidentifications and should both refer to C. glomerata (Linnaeus). Thus, both Cotesia abjecta and Cotesia jucunda are also here removed from the braconid fauna of Malta. The record of Cotesia tibialis (Curtis) by Papp (2015) was also based on a misidentification and should be attributed to C. ruficrus (Haliday). Thus, C. tibialis is also removed from the braconid fauna of Malta.peer-reviewe

Acute stress enhances heterodimerization and binding of corticosteroid receptors at glucocorticoid target genes in the hippocampus

A stressful event results in secretion of glucocorticoid hormones, which bind to mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the hippocampus to regulate cognitive and affective responses to the challenge. MRs are already highly occupied by low glucocorticoid levels under baseline conditions, whereas GRs only become substantially occupied by stress- or circadian-driven glucocorticoid levels. Currently, however, the binding of MRs and GRs to glucocorticoid-responsive elements (GREs) within hippocampal glucocorticoid target genes under such physiological conditions in vivo is unknown. We found that forced swim (FS) stress evoked increased hippocampal RNA expression levels of the glucocorticoid-responsive genes FK506-binding protein 5 (Fkbp5), Period 1 (Per1), and serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (Sgk1). Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis showed that this stressor caused substantial gene-dependent increases in GR binding and surprisingly, also MR binding to GREs within these genes. Different acute challenges, including novelty, restraint, and FS stress, produced distinct glucocorticoid responses but resulted in largely similar MR and GR binding to GREs. Sequential and tandem ChIP analyses showed that, after FS stress, MRs and GRs bind concomitantly to the same GRE sites within Fkbp5 and Per1 but not Sgk1. Thus, after stress, MRs and GRs seem to bind to GREs as homo- and/or heterodimers in a gene-dependent manner. MR binding to GREs at baseline seems to be restricted, whereas after stress, GR binding may facilitate cobinding of MR. This study reveals that the interaction of MRs and GRs with GREs within the genome constitutes an additional level of complexity in hippocampal glucocorticoid action beyond expectancies based on ligand–receptor interactions

Exploring the opinions of community pharmacists on the implementation of satellite methadone clinics in Malta: a small island state.

Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was introduced in Malta in 1987 and is provided by the Substance Misuse Outpatient Unit (SMOPU), formerly referred to as Detox. Presently Malta’s national drug policy encourages healthcare professionals and service providers to work synergistically at a centralised level, which allows healthcare professionals to refer opioid-dependent users to SMOPU and receive their prescribed methadone dose from this facility. It is to be noted that MMT is free of charge from SMOPU and is currently not available from community pharmacies in Malta. The aim of this research was to assess the opinions and attitudes of community pharmacists regarding the implementation of methadone dispensing within the community setting. This was achieved by developing a cross-sectional survey in the form of a questionnaire. This consisted of mainly Likert scale and close-ended questions, and was distributed to all 191 community pharmacies in Malta. The target population was reasonably small and readily accessible, allowing all community pharmacies in Malta to be included. The cross-sectional questionnaire was first piloted to 20 community pharmacies, followed by the complete distribution and collection from the remaining community pharmacies over a period of eight weeks, starting from January 2019. Questionnaire responses were entered into SPSS version 23 to allow analysis for statistical significance, using graphs and charts to represent collected data. The total number of questionnaires distributed among community pharmacies in Malta amounted to 215. A total of 130 completed questionnaires were returned resulting in a response rate of 60.5% (n = 130). Overall, pharmacists are more willing to dispense buprenorphine rather than methadone with 48.5% of pharmacists willing to dispense buprenorphine. Pharmacists interested in dispensing methadone within the community setting falls to 33.1%. When analysing the role of the community pharmacist in reference to MMT, 54.6% agreed that it is the pharmacist’s role to dispense methadone to drug misusers and 72.3% of the participants felt that pharmacists must be trained specifically in order to do so. However, 30% and 77% of participants responded that MMT should be available through the NHS POYC scheme available in community pharmacies and health centres respectively. If MMT were made available privately within the community setting, 96.2% of participants wish to be reimbursed for their service as extra space or staff may be required to run the service. This study demonstrates that pharmacists in Malta are more willing to supply buprenorphine rather than methadone. Hesitancy to dispensing methadone over buprenorphine arises due to lack of proper training on MMT where buprenorphine requires no such training and deals with fixed doses. Also contributing significantly to this is the lack of education and knowledge of pharmacists on the overall subject of MMT. However, with more commitment to harm reduction, proper education and training may result in an increase in professional confidence as well as an improved attitude and patient service

Distinct epigenetic and gene expression changes in rat hippocampal neurons after Morris water maze training

Gene transcription and translation in the hippocampus is of critical importance in hippocampus-dependent memory formation, including during Morris water maze (MWM) learning. Previous work using gene deletion models has shown that the immediate-early genes (IEGs) c-Fos, Egr-1 and Arc are crucial for such learning. Recently, we reported that induction of IEGs in sparse dentate gyrus neurons requires ERK MAPK signaling and downstream formation of a distinct epigenetic histone mark (i.e. phospho-acetylated histone H3). Until now, this signaling, epigenetic and gene transcriptional pathway has not been comprehensively studied in the MWM model. Therefore, we conducted a detailed study of the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and serine10 in histone H3 (H3S10p) and induction of IEGs in the hippocampus of MWM trained rats and matched controls. MWM training evoked consecutive waves of ERK1/2 phosphorylation and H3S10 phosphorylation, as well as c-Fos, Egr-1 and Arc induction in sparse hippocampal neurons. The observed effects were most pronounced in the dentate gyrus. A positive correlation was found between the average latency to find the platform and the number of H3S10p-positive dentate gyrus neurons. Furthermore, chromatin immuno-precipitation (ChIP) revealed a significantly increased association of phospho-acetylated histone H3 (H3K9ac-S10p) with the gene promoters of c-Fos and Egr-1, but not Arc, after MWM exposure compared with controls. Surprisingly, however, we found very little difference between IEG responses (regarding both protein and mRNA) in MWM-trained rats compared with matched swim controls. We conclude that exposure to the water maze evokes ERK MAPK activation, distinct epigenetic changes and IEG induction predominantly in sparse dentate gyrus neurons. It appears, however, that a specific role for IEGs in the learning aspect of MWM training may become apparent in downstream AP-1- and Egr-1-regulated (second wave) genes and Arc-dependent effector mechanisms