Dispersal of Phraortes illepidus (Phasmida: Phasmatidae) Eggs by Workers of the Queenless Ant, Pristomyrmex punctatus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Eggs of some stick insects bear external appendages called capitula. Foraging worker ants attracted by capitula disperse eggs in a response similar to the responses of workers to elaiosome-bearing seeds of many plants. For this study, we conducted rearing experiments in the laboratory to elucidate the interspecific relation between the queenless ant, Pristomyrmex punctatus Smith, and the stick insect, Phraortes illepidus (Brunner von Wattenwyl) of which eggs bear capitula. Eggs of P. illepidus were proposed to P. punctatus in the laboratory. Capitula were removed from most of the eggs not only when ants were starved but also when ants were well-fed. In large rearing containers, eggs were transported by ants from their place of origin. Many eggs were transferred horizontally on the surface. Although some eggs were found in the artificial ant nests, it is likely that stick insects are not in active ant nests at the time of hatching in nature because of P. punctatus nest-moving habits. The percentage of eggs buried in the sand was small. Furthermore, most of the buried eggs were found at less than 3 cm depth. Results show that many P. illepidus hatchlings can reach host plants safely without being attacked by ant workers. These results suggest that P. punctatus can be a good partner of P. illepidus. Ants disperse eggs of slow-moving stink insects in exchange for some nutrition from capitula

Role of Interparticle Space in Hollow Spheres of Silica-Based Solid Acids on Their Acidic Properties and Activity for Hydrolytic Dehydrogenation of Ammonia Borane

Porous materials with micropores and mesopores have attracted much attention as materials potentially applied in various fields such as absorbents, catalysts, energy storage, and so on. The kind of materials showed intrinsic properties compared with other types of materials such as fine particles. This chapter reviewed our recent research about hollow silica-alumina composite spheres for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane. This chapter has mainly discussed about the role of interparticle space in the hollow spheres on their acidic properties and activity for the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane

Oolong tea increases energy metabolism in Japanese females

Oolong tea is a traditional Chinese tea that has long been believed to be beneficial to health such as decreasing body fat. We were interested in this assertion and tried to evaluate the effect of oolong tea on energy expenditure (EE) in comparison with green tea. The subjects were eleven healthy Japanese females (age 20±1 y body mass index(BMI) 21.2±2.5kg/m2)who each consumed of three treatments in a crossover design : 1) water, 2) oolong tea, 3) green tea. Resting energy expenditure (REE) and EE after the consumption of the test beverage for 120 min were measured using an indirect calorimeter. The cumulative increases of EE for 120 min were significantly increased 10% and 4% after the consumption of oolong tea and green tea, respectively. EE at 60 and 90 min were significantly higher after the consumption of oolong tea than that of water (Plt0.05). In comparison with green tea, oolong tea contained approximately half the caffeine and epigallocatechin galate, while polymerized polyphenols were double. These results suggest that oolong tea increases EE by its polymerized polyphenols