A New Species of Paracoccus Ezzat and McConnell (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) from Southern Brazil.

Resumo: O gênero mealybug Paracoccus Ezzat & McConnell (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha : ococcidae Pseud ) em todo o mundo tem oito espécies neotropicais descritas, incluindo duas espécies conhecidas do Brasil. Neste artigo, descrevemos uma terceira espécie do Brasil: Paracoccus galzerae Pacheco da Silva & Kaydan sp. n . , com base na morfologia de fêmeas adultas coletadas sobre as raízes da Conyza bonariensis (Asteraceae ) em vinhedos na cidade de Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul. Uma chave de identificação revista incluindo a nova espécie é fornecida para a região Neotropical. Abstract: The worldwide mealybug genus Paracoccus Ezzat & McConnell (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseud ococcidae) has eight described Neotropical species, including two species known from Brazil. In this article, we describe a third species from Brazil: Paracoccus galzerae Pacheco da Silva & Kaydan sp. n., based on the morphology of adult females collected on the roots of Conyza bonariensis (Asteraceae) in vineyards in Bento Gonçalves City, Rio Grande do Sul. A revised identification key including the new species is provided for the Neotropical region.

No evidence of transmission of grapevine leafroll-associated viruses by phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae).

Abstract Grapevine leafroll disease is associated with several species of phloem-limited grapevine leafrollassociated viruses (GLRaV), some of which are transmitted by mealybugs and scale insects. The grape phylloxera, Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (Fitch) Biotype A (Hemiptera: Phylloxeridae), is a common vineyard pest that feeds on the phloem of vine roots. There is concern that these insects may transmit one or more GLRaV species, particularly GLRaV-2, a species in the genus Closterovirus. A field survey was performed in vineyards with a high incidence of grapevine leafroll disease and D. vitifoliae was assessed for acquisition of GLRaV. In greenhouse experiments, the ability of D. vitifoliae to transmit GLRaV from infected root sections or vines to co-planted virus-free recipient vines was tested. There were no GLRaV-positive D. vitifoliae in the field survey, nor did D. vitifoliae transmit GLRaV- 1, ?2, ?3, or -4LV in greenhouse transmission experiments. Some insects tested positive for GLRaV after feeding on infected source vines in the greenhouse, however there was no evidence of virus transmission to healthy plants. These findings, in combination with the sedentary behaviour of the soil biotype of D. vitifoliae, make it unlikely that D. vitifoliae is a vector of any GLRaV.

Promoting Pollinating Insects in Intensive Agricultural Matrices: Field-Scale Experimental Manipulation of Hay-Meadow Mowing Regimes and Its Effects on Bees

Bees are a key component of biodiversity as they ensure a crucial ecosystem service: pollination. This ecosystem service is nowadays threatened, because bees suffer from agricultural intensification. Yet, bees rarely benefit from the measures established to promote biodiversity in farmland, such as agri-environment schemes (AES). We experimentally tested if the spatio-temporal modification of mowing regimes within extensively managed hay meadows, a widespread AES, can promote bees. We applied a randomized block design, replicated 12 times across the Swiss lowlands, that consisted of three different mowing treatments: 1) first cut not before 15 June (conventional regime for meadows within Swiss AES); 2) first cut not before 15 June, as treatment 1 but with 15% of area left uncut serving as a refuge; 3) first cut not before 15 July. Bees were collected with pan traps, twice during the vegetation season (before and after mowing). Wild bee abundance and species richness significantly increased in meadows where uncut refuges were left, in comparison to meadows without refuges: there was both an immediate (within year) and cumulative (from one year to the following) positive effect of the uncut refuge treatment. An immediate positive effect of delayed mowing was also evidenced in both wild bees and honey bees. Conventional AES could easily accommodate such a simple management prescription that promotes farmland biodiversity and is likely to enhance pollination services.

Conifer defence against insects: microarray gene expression profiling of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) induced by mechanical wounding or feeding by spruce budworms (Choristoneura occidentalis) or white pine weevils (Pissodes strobi) reveals large

Conifers are resistant to attack from a large number of potential herbivores or pathogens. Previous molecular and biochemical characterization of selected conifer defence systems support a model of multigenic, constitutive and induced defences that act on invading insects via physical, chemical, biochemical or ecological (multitrophic) mechanisms. However, the genomic foundation of the complex defence and resistance mechanisms of conifers is largely unknown. As part of a genomics strategy to characterize inducible defences and possible resistance mechanisms of conifers against insect herbivory, we developed a cDNA microarray building upon a new spruce (Picea spp.) expressed sequence tag resource. This first-generation spruce cDNA microarray contains 9720 cDNA elements representing c. 5500 unique genes. We used this array to monitor gene expression in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) bark in response to herbivory by white pine weevils (Pissodes strobi, Curculionidae) or wounding, and in young shoot tips in response to western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis, Lepidopterae) feeding. Weevils are stem-boring insects that feed on phloem, while budworms are foliage feeding larvae that consume needles and young shoot tips. Both insect species and wounding treatment caused substantial changes of the host plant transcriptome detected in each case by differential gene expression of several thousand array elements at 1 or 2 d after the onset of treatment. Overall, there was considerable overlap among differentially expressed gene sets from these three stress treatments. Functional classification of the induced transcripts revealed genes with roles in general plant defence, octadecanoid and ethylene signalling, transport, secondary metabolism, and transcriptional regulation. Several genes involved in primary metabolic processes such as photosynthesis were down-regulated upon insect feeding or wounding, fitting with the concept of dynamic resource allocation in plant defence. Refined expression analysis using gene-specific primers and real-time PCR for selected transcripts was in agreement with microarray results for most genes tested. This study provides the first large-scale survey of insect-induced defence transcripts in a gymnosperm and provides a platform for functional investigation of plant-insect interactions in spruce. Induction of spruce genes of octadecanoid and ethylene signalling, terpenoid biosynthesis, and phenolic secondary metabolism are discussed in more detail.

Capturing natural-colour 3D models of insects for species discovery and diagnostics

Collections of biological specimens are fundamental to scientific understanding and characterization of natural diversity - past, present and future. This paper presents a system for liberating useful information from physical collections by bringing specimens into the digital domain so they can be more readily shared, analyzed, annotated and compared. It focuses on insects and is strongly motivated by the desire to accelerate and augment current practices in insect taxonomy which predominantly use text, 2D diagrams and images to describe and characterize species. While these traditional kinds of descriptions are informative and useful, they cannot cover insect specimens "from all angles" and precious specimens are still exchanged between researchers and collections for this reason. Furthermore, insects can be complex in structure and pose many challenges to computer vision systems. We present a new prototype for a practical, cost-effective system of off-the-shelf components to acquire natural-colour 3D models of insects from around 3 mm to 30 mm in length. ("Natural-colour" is used to contrast with "false-colour", i.e., colour generated from, or applied to, gray-scale data post-acquisition.) Colour images are captured from different angles and focal depths using a digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera rig and two-axis turntable. These 2D images are processed into 3D reconstructions using software based on a visual hull algorithm. The resulting models are compact (around 10 megabytes), afford excellent optical resolution, and can be readily embedded into documents and web pages, as well as viewed on mobile devices. The system is portable, safe, relatively affordable, and complements the sort of volumetric data that can be acquired by computed tomography. This system provides a new way to augment the description and documentation of insect species holotypes, reducing the need to handle or ship specimens. It opens up new opportunities to collect data for research, education, art, entertainment, biodiversity assessment and biosecurity control. © 2014 Nguyen et al.

Nanomaterial-based ionic polymermetal composite insect scale flapping wing actuators

Small size actuators (8 mm x 1 mm), IPMNC (RuO2/Nafion) and IPMNC (LbL/CNC) are studied for flapping at the frequency of insects and compared to Platinum IPMC-Pt. Flapping wing actuators based on IPMNC (RuO2/Nafion) are modeled with the size of three dragonfly species. To achieve maximum actuation performance with Sympetrum Frequens scale actuator with optimized Young's modulus, the effect of variation of thickness of electrode and Nafion region of Sympetrum Frequens scale actuator is studied. A trade-off in the electrode thickness and Young's modulus for dragonfly size IPMNC-RuO2/Nafion actuator is essential to achieve the desirable flapping performance.

The effect of traditional handling, processing and storage methods on the quality of dried fish in small scale fisheries in Nigeria

Most of the fish marketed throughout Nigeria are in either smoked or dried form. The technological requirement for other forms of preservation like chilling and freezing cannot be afforded by the small scale fisher folk. Considerable quantities of fish processed for distant consumer markets are lost at handling, processing, storage and marketing stages. Significant losses occur through infestation by mites, insects, fungal infestation and fragmentation during transportation. This paper attempts to describe the effect of these losses on fish quality and suggests methods of protecting fish from agents of deterioration

In vivo dynamics of the internal fibrous structure in smooth adhesive pads of insects.

Many insects with smooth adhesive pads can rapidly enlarge their contact area by centripetal pulls on the legs, allowing them to cope with sudden mechanical perturbations such as gusts of wind or raindrops. The short time scale of this reaction excludes any neuromuscular control; it is thus more likely to be caused by mechanical properties of the pad's specialized cuticle. This soft cuticle contains numerous branched fibrils oriented almost perpendicularly to the surface. Assuming a fixed volume of the water-filled cuticle, we hypothesized that pulls could decrease the fibril angle, thereby helping the contact area to expand laterally and longitudinally. Three-dimensional fluorescence microscopy on the cuticle of smooth stick insect pads confirmed that pulls significantly reduced the fibril angle. However, the fibril angle variation appeared insufficient to explain the observed increase in contact area. Direct strain measurements in the contact zone demonstrated that pulls not only expand the cuticle laterally, but also add new contact area at the pad's outer edge.

Small-scale timber stand management techniques : a case study of woodlots in Isangati, Tanzania

Small-scale village woodlots of less than 0.5ha are the preferred use of land for local farmers with extra land in the village of Isangati, a small community located in the southern highlands of Tanzania. Farmers view woodlots as lucrative investments that do not involve intensive labor or time. The climate is ideal for the types of trees grown and the risks are minimal with no serious threats from insects, fires, thieves, or grazing livestock. It was hypothesized that small-scale village woodlot owners were not maximizing timber outputs with their current timber stand management and harvesting techniques. Personal interviews were conducted over a five month period and field data was collected at each farmer’s woodlots over a seven month period. Woodlot field data included woodlot size, number of trees, tree species, tree height, dbh, age, and spacing. The results indicated that the lack of proper woodlot management techniques results in failure to fully capitalize on the investment of woodlots. While farmers should continue with their current harvesting rotations, some of the reasons for not maximizing tree growth include close spacing (2m x 2m), no tree thinning, extreme pruning (60% of tree), and little to no weeding. Through education and hands-on woodlot management workshops, the farmers could increase their timber output and value of woodlots.