Natural History of Curtis Island, Bass Strait - 3. Entomology

The insects collected on Curtis Island during a survey in February 1971 are enumerated and discussed. Representatives of 16 orders are identified to family. Notes on the relative abundance and habitats of these groups arc provided, and the ecological characteristics of the fauna briefly discussed

The lacewings (Insecta, Neuroptera) of Tasmania

A synopsis is given, with keys provided for identification, of the 40 species of Neuroptera known from Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands. Nine families are represented; the Australian mainland families Neurorthidae, Berothidae, Psychopsidae, Nemopteridae and Ascalaphidae have not been recorded. A family-level key to larvae is given.Notes on the biology and distribution of all species are provided. Endemism is low, and only two species, Kempynus longipennis (Walker) and Dictyochrysa latifascia Kimmins, are believed to be restricted to the State; most other species are widespread in southeastern Australia or more widely distributed

A Method for Subsampling Terrestrial Invertebrate Samples in the Laboratory: Estimating Abundance and Taxa Richness

Significant progress has been made in developing subsampling techniques to process large samples of aquatic invertebrates. However, limited information is available regarding subsampling techniques for terrestrial invertebrate samples. Therefore a novel subsampling procedure was evaluated for processing samples of terrestrial invertebrates collected using two common field techniques: pitfall and pan traps. A three-phase sorting protocol was developed for estimating abundance and taxa richness of invertebrates. First, large invertebrates and plant material were removed from the sample using a sieve with a 4 mm mesh size. Second, the sample was poured into a specially designed, gridded sampling tray, and 16 cells, comprising 25% of the sampling tray, were randomly subsampled and processed. Third, the remainder of the sample was scanned for 4–7 min to record rare taxa missed in the second phase. To compare estimated abundance and taxa richness with the true values of these variables for the samples, the remainder of each sample was processed completely. The results were analyzed relative to three sample size categories: samples with less than 250 invertebrates (low abundance samples), samples with 250–500 invertebrates (moderate abundance samples), and samples with more than 500 invertebrates (high abundance samples). The number of invertebrates estimated after subsampling eight or more cells was highly precise for all sizes and types of samples. High accuracy for moderate and high abundance samples was achieved after even as few as six subsamples. However, estimates of the number of invertebrates for low abundance samples were less reliable. The subsampling technique also adequately estimated taxa richness; on average, subsampling detected 89% of taxa found in samples. Thus, the subsampling technique provided accurate data on both the abundance and taxa richness of terrestrial invertebrate samples. Importantly, subsampling greatly decreased the time required to process samples, cutting the time per sample by up to 80%. Based on these data, this subsampling technique is recommended to minimize the time and cost of processing moderate to large samples without compromising the integrity of the data and to maximize the information extracted from large terrestrial invertebrate samples. For samples with a relatively low number of invertebrates, complete counting is preferred

Morphospecies and Taxonomic Species Comparison for Hymenoptera

The use of morphospecies as surrogates for taxonomic species has been proposed as an alternative to overcome the identification difficulties associated with many invertebrate studies, such as biodiversity surveys. Hymenoptera specimens were collected by beating and pitfall traps, and were separated into morphospecies by a non-specialist with no prior training, and later identified by an expert taxonomist. The number of Hymenoptera morphospecies and taxonomic species was 37 and 42, respectively, representing an underestimation error of 12%. Different families presented varying levels of difficulty, and although the species estimation provided by the use of morphospecies initially appeared to have a relatively minor error rate, this was actually an artefact. Splitting and lumping errors balanced each other out, wrongly suggesting that morphospecies were reasonable surrogates for taxonomic species in the Hymenoptera. The use of morphospecies should be adopted only for selected target groups, which have been assessed as reliable surrogates for taxonomic species beforehand, and some prior training to the non-specialist is likely to be of primary importance

Microcrystals coating the wing membranes of a living insect (Psocoptera: Psyllipsocidae) from a Brazilian cave

Two specimens of Psyllipsocus yucatan with black wings were found with normal individuals of this species on guano piles produced by the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus. These specimens have both pairs of wings dorsally and ventrally covered by a black crystalline layer. They did not exhibit any signs of reduced vitality in the field and their morphology is completely normal. This ultrathin (1.5 µm) crystalline layer, naturally deposited on a biological membrane, is documented by photographs, SEM micrographs, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The crystalline deposit contains iron, carbon and oxygen, but the mineral species could not be identified. Guano probably played a role in its formation; the presence of iron may be a consequence of the excretion of iron by the common vampire bat. This enigmatic phenomenon lacks obvious biological significance but may inspire bionic applications. Nothing similar has ever been observed in terrestrial arthropods

Control of tuberculosis in large cities in developed countries: an organizational problem

Tuberculosis (TB) is still a serious public health issue, even in large cities in developed countries. Control of this old disease is based on complicated programs that require completion of long treatments and contact tracing. In an accompanying research article published in BMC Public Health, Bothamley and colleagues found that areas with a ratio lower than one nurse per forty notifications had increased rates with respect to TB notifications, smear-positive cases, loss to follow-up and treatment abandonment across the UK. Furthermore, in these areas there was less opportunity for directly observed therapy, assistance with complex needs, educational outreach and new-entrant screening. In this commentary, we discuss the importance of improving organizational aspects and evaluating TB control programs. According to Bothamley and colleagues, a ratio of one nurse per forty notifications is an effective method of reducing the high TB incidences observed in London and in other cities in developed countries, or to maintain the decline in incidence in cities with lower incidences. It is crucial to evaluate TB programs every year to detect gaps early

Garden and landscape-scale correlates of moths of differing conservation status: significant effects of urbanization and habitat diversity

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria

Effect of a supplement rich in alkaline minerals on acid-base balance in humans

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Infochemical-tritrophic Interactions of Soybean Aphids-host Plants-natural Enemies and Their Practical Applications in Pest Management

The soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, is a newly invasive insect species that seriously threatens U.S. soybean production. This aphid pest has kept haunting many soybean growers by developing large colonies on soybeans in North America since 2000. Since its first appearance inWisconsin, it has spread to over half of US states and southern provinces in Canada. The heavy infestation of this pest whittles soybean growers’ profits and causes hundreds of million dollar losses. The present chapter will mainly describe efforts in studying aphid chemical ecology and sensory physiology for understanding how male aphids find their mates and host plants. It will also cover research efforts to understand host plant associated volatiles being used as cues for overwintering host plant location. In addition, findings on how soybean plant defensive system works against aphid infestation, as well as how those induced plant volatiles are used by aphid’s natural enemies for prey location will be presented. Finally, the use the basic understandings for developing useful tools for soybean aphid practical control will be discussed