Differences in mosquito communities in six cities in Oklahoma

Vector-borne diseases in the United States have recently increased as a result of the changing nature of vectors, hosts, reservoirs, pathogens, and the ecological and environmental conditions. Current information on vector habitats and how mosquito community composition varies across space and time is vital to successful vector-borne disease management. This study characterizes mosquito communities in urban areas of Oklahoma, United States, an ecologically diverse region in the southern Great Plains. Between May and September 2016, 11,996 female mosquitoes of 34 species were collected over 798 trap nights using three different trap types in six Oklahoma cities. The most abundant species trapped were Culex pipiens L. complex (32.4%) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) (12.0%). Significant differences among mosquito communities were detected using analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) between the early (May-July) and late (August-September) season. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) further highlighted the cities of Altus and Idabel as relatively unique mosquito communities, mostly due to the presence of Aedes aegypti (L.) and salt-marsh species and absence of Aedes triseriatus (Say) in Altus and an abundance of Ae. albopictus in Idabel. These data underscore the importance of assessing mosquito communities in urban environments found in multiple ecoregions of Oklahoma to allow customized vector management targeting the unique assemblage of species found in each city.Peer reviewedNatural Resource Ecology and ManagementEntomology and Plant PathologyIntegrative Biolog

Data from: Disrupting information alters the response to a signal trait in both sexes of Nicrophorus beetles

Effective signals transfer information in a way that enhances the fitness of the sender. Signal traits are often sexually dimorphic. However, in some species males and females display similar signals, and these mutual signals are less often studied. Competition for resources occurs in both males and females, and mate choice is likely to occur whenever mates vary in quality and reproductive investment is high. Nicrophorus burying beetles compete intrasexually over the carrion resources on which they biparentally raise their young. Nicrophorus species also often have clypeal membranes which scale hyperallometrically with body size, exaggerating the apparent body size of larger individuals. To examine the potential signaling function of clypeal membranes, we examined the behavioral responses of male and female Nicrophorus orbicollis and N. pustulatus burying beetles to same- and opposite-sex social partners which had their membranes painted black or clear. We found evidence that blocking the information in clypeal membranes affected intrasexual aggressive interactions for both sexes of both species. Blocking a female’s signal reduced the likelihood of mating attempts for male N. pustulatus, whilst blocking a male’s signal influenced female rejection behaviors in N. orbicollis. Our results show that males and females can experience similar selection pressures, and suggest that examining mutual signals in a broader range of systems will expand our understanding of evolutionary differences and similarities between the sexes

Contrasting Influence of Natural Nighttime Illumination on Capture Rates of the American Burying Beetle and Roundneck Burying Beetle (Coleoptera: Silphidae)

Fig. 3. Seasonal dynamics of illumination of the moon (%) and raw trap counts for the A) Oklahoma and B) Nebraska data sets. Raw counts do not account for trap number, clouds, or other weather variables.Published as part of Wormington, Jillian D., Risser, Kyle, Hoback, W. Wyatt, Giles, Kristopher L., Greenwood, Carmen & Luttbeg, Barney, 2017, Contrasting Influence of Natural Nighttime Illumination on Capture Rates of the American Burying Beetle and Roundneck Burying Beetle (Coleoptera: Silphidae), pp. 339-347 in The Coleopterists Bulletin 71 (2) on page 346, DOI: 10.1649/0010-065X-71.2.339, http://zenodo.org/record/536395

Data from: Shaped by the past, acting in the present: transgenerational plasticity of anti-predatory traits

Phenotypic expression can be altered by direct perception of environmental cues (within-generation phenotypic plasticity) and by the environmental cues experienced by previous generations (transgenerational plasticity). Few studies, however, have investigated how the characteristics of phenotypic traits affect their propensity to exhibit plasticity within and across generations. We tested whether plasticity differed within and across generations between morphological and behavioral anti-predator traits of Physa acuta, a freshwater snail. We reared 18 maternal lineages of P. acuta snails over two generations using a full factorial design of exposure to predator or control cues and quantified adult F2 shell size, shape, crush resistance, and anti-predator behavior - all traits which potentially affect their ability to avoid or survive predation attempts. We found that most morphological traits exhibited transgenerational plasticity, with parental exposure to predator cues resulting in larger and more crush-resistant offspring, but shell shape demonstrated within-generation plasticity. In contrast, we found that anti-predator behavior expressed only within-generation plasticity such that offspring reared in predator cues responded less to the threat of predation than control offspring. We discuss the consequences of this variation in plasticity for trait evolution and ecological dynamics. Overall, our study suggests that further empirical and theoretical investigation is needed in what types of traits are more likely to be affected by within-generational and transgenerational plasticity

F2_Behavior_WMorphology

This file contains the results of anti-predator behavioral trials and morphological measures for those individuals. "snail.ID" = individual snail ID, "Condition" = pre- or post-cue addition, "check.number" = observation number before or after the addition of cue, "centroid" = size, "Dvpop" = divergence vector, "numberincup" = snail density in home arena, "line" = maternal line, "Treatment" = F2 treatment (C = control, P = predator), "Treatment.parent" = F1 treatment (C = control, P = predator

CrushSnailSheet

This was the data sheet used to examine the explanatory variables influencing crush resistance. Columns included are: "Snail.ID.no" = snail ID number, "Newton" = force required to break shell, "line" = maternal snail line, "numberincup" = snail density in each housing arena, "Dvpop" = divergence vector, "centroid" = siz

morphoanalysisF2DVs

This file was used to look for a treatment (F1 and F2) on morphology (shape and size). Columns included are: "centroid" = size, "Dvpop" = divergence vector, "line" = maternal line, "treatment" = F2 treatment (C = control, P = predator), "ptreatment" = F1 treatment (C = control, P = predator), "numberincup" = snail density in home arena