The spider community in organic cotton crops in southern Spain

Frente al manejo tradicional, el cultivo ecológico proporciona una alternativa a los problemas de aparición de resistencias, residuos y contaminación ambiental, además de favorecer un aumento de la biodiversidad del ecosistema por el efecto beneficioso sobre la fauna auxiliar. En los agroecosistemas, la acción conjunta de los enemigos naturales de los fitófagos puede mantener a las poblaciones de muchos de ellos por debajo del umbral económico de daño. Uno de los grupos de depredadores menos conocidos en los estudios de control natural de las plagas del algodón son las arañas (Orden Araneae), de modo que se realizaron prospecciones en parcelas de algodón orgánico situadas en el sur de España: Córdoba, Sevilla y Cádiz. Los ejemplares se recolectaron mediante la batida directa de las plantas. La especie más abundante resultó ser Cheiracanthium sp. (Miturgidae), seguida de otras especies como Philodromus sp. (Philodromidae), los tomísidos Thomisus onustus, Runcinia grammica y Synema globosum (Thomisidae), Salticus sp. (Salticidae) y Larinia lineata (Araneidae). Además se recogieron individuos de las familias Theridiidae y Linyphiidae. Este trabajo, por tanto, es una primera aproximación en el conocimiento de las especies y su abundancia en el cultivo ecológico del algodón, lo que supone una base para futuras investigaciones en el marco del control de fitófagos mediante arañas.Compared to traditional management, organic farming provides an alternative to the problems of the appearance of resistance, residues and environmental pollution, as well as favoring an increase in ecosystem biodiversity through beneficial effects on other fauna. In agroecosystems, the combined action of natural enemies on phytophages can maintain populations of many of them below economic damage thresholds. One of the least known groups of predators in studies on the natural control of cotton pests are the spiders (Order Araneae), therefore surveys were conducted in plots of organic cotton situated in southern Spain: Córdoba, Sevilla and Cádiz. Specimens were collected by beating the plants. The most abundant species was Cheiracanthium sp. (Miturgidae), followed by other species such as Philodromus sp. (Philodromidae), the crab spiders Thomisus onustus, Runcinia grammica and Synema globosum (Thomisidae), Salticus sp. (Salticidae) and Larinia lineata (Araneidae). In addition, individuals were collected from the families Theridiidae and Linyphiidae. This work, therefore, is a first step in understanding the species and their abundance in organic cotton crops, and will be the basis for future research in the area of phytophage control by spider

Knowledge management in small companies in Tepic, México.

La administración del conocimiento ha tenido un considerable avance en años recientes, lo cual ha incidido en la aparición de estudios sobre cómo una organización puede adquirir, almacenar, desarrollar y compartir el conocimiento generado por sus miembros. Este estudio explora y analiza 40 pequeñas empresas de menudeo en Nayarit, mediante la metodología propuesta por el eKnowledge Center (2000), cuya encuesta se utiliza como modelo de administración del conocimiento en las empresas estudiadas

Toxicity of several d-endotoxins of Bacillus thuringiensis against Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from Spain

Toxicity and larval growth inhibition of eleven insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis were evaluated against neonate larvae of Helicoverpa armigera, a major pest of important crops in Spain and other countries, by a whole-diet contamination method. The most active toxins were Cry1Ac4 and Cry2Aa1, with LC50 values of 3.5 and 6.3 μg/ml, respectively. At the concentrations tested, Cry1Ac4, Cry2Aa1, Cry9Ca, Cry1Fa1, Cry1Ab3, Cry2Ab2, Cry1Da, and Cry1Ja1, produced a significant growth inhibition, whereas Cry1Aa3, Cry1Ca2, and Cry1Ea had no effect

Lack of Evidence for Transmission of Verticillium dahliae by the Olive Bark Beetle Phloeotribus scarabaeoides in Olive Trees

Verticillium wilt of olive, caused by Verticillium dahliae Kleb., is one of the most important diseases affecting olive crops in the Mediterranean area. With the aim to evaluate the role of Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Bernard) (olive bark beetle) as a dispersal vector of V. dahliae, several experiments were conducted in semi-controlled conditions from May 2009 to April 2012. Groups of olive trees (2.5-year-old) certified free from V. dahliae were covered by a mosquito net and exposed to adults of P. scarabaeoides by three different ways: (1) branches or trunks collected in several olive orchards from trees severely affected by Verticillium wilt and showing apparent entry holes (mating galleries) of P. scarabaeoides; (2) adults of olive bark beetle extracted from damaged branches collected in the field; (3) adults from damaged branches that were superficially inoculated with V. dahliae. The fungus V. dahliae was not detected either by microbiological and molecular techniques from shoots of olive trees with galleries of the insect or from any of the tissues of the collected beetle adults from the galleries. Additionally, Verticillium wilt disease symptoms were not observed in olive trees exposed to the olive bark beetles. Moreover, the pathogen was never detected from any beetle adults that were recovered from the mating galleries of branches or trunks collected in several olive orchards from trees severely affected by Verticillium wilt. We conclude that P. scarabaeoides is not a vector of V. dahliae under the investigated experimental conditions

Western European Populations of the Ichneumonid Wasp Hyposoter didymator Belong to a Single Taxon

Hyposoter didymator (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) is a generalist solitary endoparasitoid of noctuid larvae. In the present work, we tested whether populations of H. didymator were divided in several genetically distinct taxa as described for many other generalist parasitoid species, and whether differences in H. didymator parasitism rates were explained by the insect host species and/or by the plant on which these hosts were feeding on. The genetic analysis of natural populations collected in different regions in France and Spain on seven different insect hosts and seven different host plants (775 individuals) showed that H. didymator populations belong to a unique single taxon. However, H. didymator seems to be somewhat specialized. Indeed, in the fields it more often parasitized Helicoverpa armigera compared to the other host species collected in the present work. Also, H. didymator parasitism rates in field conditions and semi-field experimental studies were dependent on the host plants on which H. armigera larvae are feeding. Still, H. didymator can occur occasionally on non-preferred noctuid species. One hypothesis explaining the ability of H. didymator to switch hosts in natura could be related to fluctuating densities of the preferred host over the year; this strategy would allow the parasitoid to avoid seasonal population collapses

Western European Populations of the Ichneumonid Wasp Hyposoter didymator Belong to a Single Taxon

Hyposoter didymator (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) is a generalist solitary endoparasitoid of noctuid larvae. In the present work, we tested whether populations of H. didymator were divided in several genetically distinct taxa as described for many other generalist parasitoid species, and whether differences in H. didymator parasitism rates were explained by the insect host species and/or by the plant on which these hosts were feeding on. The genetic analysis of natural populations collected in different regions in France and Spain on seven different insect hosts and seven different host plants (775 individuals) showed that H. didymator populations belong to a unique single taxon. However, H. didymator seems to be somewhat specialized. Indeed, in the fields it more often parasitized Helicoverpa armigera compared to the other host species collected in the present work. Also, H. didymator parasitism rates in field conditions and semi-field experimental studies were dependent on the host plants on which H. armigera larvae are feeding. Still, H. didymator can occur occasionally on non-preferred noctuid species. One hypothesis explaining the ability of H. didymator to switch hosts in natura could be related to fluctuating densities of the preferred host over the year; this strategy would allow the parasitoid to avoid seasonal population collapses

Search for supersymmetry in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV using identified top quarks

A search for supersymmetry is presented based on proton-proton collision events containing identified hadronically decaying top quarks, no leptons, and an imbalance p(T)(miss) in transverse momentum. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). Search regions are defined in terms of the multiplicity of bottom quark jet and top quark candidates, the p(T)(miss) , the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta, and themT2 mass variable. No statistically significant excess of events is observed relative to the expectation from the standard model. Lower limits on the masses of supersymmetric particles are determined at 95% confidence level in the context of simplified models with top quark production. For a model with direct top squark pair production followed by the decay of each top squark to a top quark and a neutralino, top squark masses up to 1020 GeVand neutralino masses up to 430 GeVare excluded. For amodel with pair production of gluinos followed by the decay of each gluino to a top quark-antiquark pair and a neutralino, gluino masses up to 2040 GeVand neutralino masses up to 1150 GeVare excluded. These limits extend previous results.Peer reviewe