Saddle and camp in the Rockies; an expert's picture of game conditions in the heart of our hunting country,

Mode of access: Internet.

Thirty-one years on the plains and in the mountains, or, The last voice from the plains : an authentic record of a life time of hunting, trapping, scouting and Indian fighting in the far West /

Mode of access: Internet.

Fishing and hunting /

Description based on: 1896.

The Sporting repository : containing horse racing, hunting, coursing, shooting, archery, trotting and tandem matches, cocking pedestrianism, pugilism, anecdotes on sporting subjects, interspersed with essays, tales, and a great variety of miscellaneous articles.

"This edition is limited to 500 copies".

California hunting regulations.

Mode of access: Internet.

A novel venom peptide from an endoparasitoid wasp is required for expression of polydnavirus genes in host hemocytes

Maternal factors introduced into host insects by endoparasitoid wasps are usually essential for successful parasitism. This includes polydnaviruses (PDVs) that are produced in the reproductive organ of female hymenopteran endoparasitoids and are injected, together with venom proteins, into the host hemocoel at oviposition. Inside the host, PDVs enter various tissue cells and hemocytes where viral genes are expressed, leading to developmental and physiological alterations in the host, including the suppression of the host immune system. Although several studies have shown that some PDVs are only effective when accompanied by venom proteins, there is no report of an active venom ingredient(s) facilitating PDV infection and/or gene expression. In this study, we describe a novel peptide (Vn1.5) isolated from Cotesia rubecula venom that is required for the expression of C. rubecula bracoviruses (CrBVs) in host hemocytes (Pieris rapae), although it is not essential for CrBV entry into host cells. The peptide consists of 14 amino acids with a molecular mass of 1598 Da. In the absence of Vn1.5 or total venom proteins, CrBV genes are not expressed in host cells and did not cause inactivation of host hemocytes.

Spider fauna of soybean crops in south-east Queensland and their potential as predators of Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Spiders are among the most abundant predators recorded in grain crops in Australia. They are voracious predators, and combined with their high abundance, may play an important role in the reduction of pest populations. The significance of spider assemblages as biological control agents of key pests such as Helicoverpa spp. in Australian agroecosystems is largely unknown. A thorough inventory was made of the spider fauna inhabiting unsprayed soybean fields at Gatton, south-east Queensland. One-hundred-and-two morphospecies from 28 families were collected using vacuum sampling and pitfall traps across two summer seasons (2000-01, 2001-02). No-choice feeding tests in the laboratory, using eggs and larvae of Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) as prey, were used to ascertain the predatory potential of each spider group. The field-collected spider assemblage ate on average 2.4 (+/-0.7 standard error) to 5.0 (+/-0.8) eggs per 24 h per spider (10-25% of those available), depending on level of starvation. Clubionidae were the only spiders to readily consume eggs in the laboratory (mean of 18.4 +/- 1.5 eggs per starved spider and 8.2 +/- 3.9 per non-starved spider after 24 h). Starved spiders consumed 9.4 (+/- 0.1) first-instar larvae per 24 h per spider (90% of those available). This information was combined with field observations and literature from Australian and overseas studies to assess the potential of spider groups as predators of Helicoverpa spp. Lycosidae, Clubionidae, Oxyopidae, Salticidae and Thomisidae have the capacity to contribute to control of Helicoverpa spp.

Spider ballooning in soybean and non-crop areas of southeast Queensland

Ballooning is a form of aerial movement practiced by most miniature and some adult spiders. Very few studies have investigated the composition and rate of spider ballooning in Australian agroecosystems. Water traps were used to compare ballooning rates in irrigated soybean crops and nearby non-crop areas in southeast Queensland over two summer seasons. The highest ballooning rate (14.8 spiders/m(2) per day) was recorded in a soybean field, non-crop areas (7.0 spiders/m(2) per day) and a dry land mungbean field (6.8 spiders/m(2) per day) having similar rates. Spider ballooning in soybean increased throughout the season and showed three peaks and intervening troughs. A similar pattern in ballooning peaks was observed in non-crop areas however the numbers were lower. Peaks in ballooning activity where synchronised across habitat types and some spider groups. Composition of the ballooning fauna was different from that of the ground-dwelling fauna, some families being present in both. Ballooning is an important behaviour in terms of population dynamics for a number of spider groups in soybean and the implications for pest control are discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier BN. All rights reserved.

Cryptic false spider mites: a new genus, Austrolinus, and a review of the family Linotetranidae (Acari : Prostigmata : Tetranychoidea)

The Linotetranidae (Acari: Tetranychoidea) is a poorly known group of cryptic false spider mites associated with grasses and sedges. We review the family at the world level, provide the first phylogenetic analysis of the family, and describe the first Australian representatives: Austrolinus, gen. nov. and two new species: A. arenulus and A. kinnearae. Linotetranidae is redefined, and keys are provided for the families of the Tetranychoidea, and for all described genera and species of Linotetranidae.

Costs increase as ritualized fighting progresses within and between phases in the sierra dome spider, Neriene litigiosa

Magnitudes and patterns of energy expenditure in animal contests are seldom measured, but can be critical for predicting contest dynamics and understanding the evolution of ritualized fighting behaviour. In the sierra dome spider, males compete for sexual access to females and their webs. They show three distinct phases of fighting behaviour, escalating from ritualized noncontact display (phase 1) to cooperative wrestling (phase 2), and finally to unritualized, potentially fatal fighting (phase 3). Using CO2 respirometry, we estimated energetic costs of male-male combat in terms of mean and maximum metabolic rates and the rate of increase in energy expenditure. We also investigated the energetic consequences of age and body mass, and compared fighting metabolism to metabolism during courtship. All three phases involved mean energy expenditures well above resting metabolic rate (3.5 X, 7.4 X and 11.5 X). Both mean and maximum energy expenditure became substantially greater as fights escalated through successive phases. The rates of increase in energy use during phases 2 and 3 were much higher than in phase 1. In addition, age and body mass affected contest energetics. These results are consistent with a basic prediction of evolutionarily stable strategy contest models, that sequences of agonistic behaviours should be organized into phases of escalating energetic costs. Finally, higher energetic costs of escalated fighting compared to courtship provide a rationale for first-male sperm precedence in this spider species. (C) 2004 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Presence of a novel small RNA-containing virus in a laboratory culture of the endoparasitic wasp Venturia canescens (Hymenoptera : Ichneumonidae)

Parasitoid wasps use a variety of mechanisms to alter their host's physiology to the benefit of the developing endoparasite inside the host larva. Association of certain wasps with viruses and virus-like particles (VLPs) that contribute to their success in parasitism is one of the fascinating evolutionary adaptations conferring active or passive protection for the endoparasite from the host immune system. Venturia canescens has been shown to produce VLPs that provide protection for the developing parasitoid egg inside the host, Ephestia kuehniella. Here, we report on the presence of a novel small RNA-containing virus from V. canescens, designated as VcSRV, occurring in the ovaries of the wasp. The virus particles are found together with VcVLPs in the lumen of the calyx region of the ovaries and are injected together with the egg and VcVLPs into E kuehniella larvae where they enter hemocytes. Alignment of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene of VcSRV indicates that the virus most likely belongs to the recently described genus Iflavirus. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parasitization of Manduca sexta larvae by the parasitoid wasp Cotesia congregata induces an impaired host immune response

During oviposition, the parasitoid wasp Cotesia congregata injects polydnavirus, venom, and parasitoid eggs into larvae of its lepidopteran host.. the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. Polydnaviruses (PDVs) suppress the immune system of the host and allow the juvenile parasitoids to develop without being encapsulated by host hemocytes mobilized by the immune system. Previous work identified a gene in the Cotesia rubecula PDV (CrV1) that is responsible for depolymerization of actin in hemocytes of the host Pieris rapae during a narrow temporal window from 4 to 8 h post-parasitization. Its expression appears temporally correlated with hemocyte dysfunction. After this time, the hemocytes recover, and encapsulation is then inhibited by other mechanism(s). In contrast, in parasitized tobacco hornworm larvae this type of inactivation in hemocytes of parasitized M. sexta larvae leads to irreversible cellular disruption. We have characterized the temporal pattern of expression of the CrV1-homolog from the C. congregata PDV in host fat body and hemocytes using Northern blots, and localized the protein in host hemocytes with polyclonal antibodies to CrV1 protein produced in P. rapae in response to expression of the CrV1 protein. Host hemocytes stained with FITC-labeled phalloidin, which binds to filamentous actin, were used to observe hemocyte disruption in parasitized and virus-injected hosts and a comparison was made to hemocytes of nonparasitized control larvae. At 24 h post-parasitization host hemocytes were significantly altered compared to those of nonparasitized larvae. Hemocytes front newly parasitized hosts displayed blebbing, inhibition of spreading and adhesion, and overall cell disruption. A CrV1-homolog gene product was localized in host hemocytes using polyclonal CrV1 antibodies, suggesting that CrV1-like gene products of C. congregata's bracovirus are responsible for the impaired immune response of the host. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of insect cell lines in an artificial diet for the parasitold wasp, Trichogramma pretiosum

Trichogramma species are mass-produced for biological control using host eggs. Artificial diets have been developed to reduce production costs, however, most include insect haemolymph as a major component, which still results in a significant expense. Medium conditioned with insect cell lines has produced some success as a haemolymph replacement in artificial diets for several parasitoid wasp species. Trichogramma australicum Girault (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) was the first species to develop successfully to the adult stage on diets containing concentrated HeliothiS zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) cells. Tricho-gramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) was subsequently grown to the adult stage on a similar cell line diet. This success encouraged a systematic investigation into the use of insect cell lines in Trichogramma artificial diets. We compared the effect of diets containing insect cells with diets containing conditioned cell line media. Diets containing insect cells produced significantly more pupae than diets containing conditioned medium and, although not significant, produced a higher number of adults. Second, we compared the effect of diets containing cell lines established from ovary-associated tissue of H. zea and embryo tissue of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) on T pretiosum development. Trichogramma pretiosum development was not significantly different on diets containing cells from the two origins and tissue types. Third, the effect of cell storage on T pretiosum development was observed. HeliothiS zea cells in medium were stored at 4 degrees C and room temperature (22 degrees C for one, two, four and seven days before addition to artificial diets. Cell viability was calculated for these storage treatments. HeliothiS zea cells could be stored at 4 degrees C for up to seven days with no detrimental effect on T pretiosum development. Tricho-gramma pretiosum development did not depend on cell viability. The use of insect cell lines as a haemolymph replacement has the potential to significantly reduce production costs and simplify Trichogramma artificial diets with the eventual aim of replacing host production in mass rearing facilities. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Refinement of a cell line based artificial diet for rearing the parasitoid wasp, Trichogramma pretiosum

An artificial diet incorporating insect cells originally developed for Trichogramma australicum Girault (Hymenoptera: Tricho-grammatidae) was successfully used to rear Trichogramm pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). To refine the diet, individual components were removed. Chicken egg yolk and the insect cells were identified as the most important components for T. pretiosum development. Their removal resulted in few pupae and no adults. Removal of Grace's insect medium, a common component of artificial diets, was found to markedly improve the development of T pretiosum, producing 60% larva to pupa transition and 19% pupa to adult transition. There was no significant difference in T pretiosum development on diets in which milk powder, malt powder or infant formula were interchanged, despite differences in nutrient composition. The use of yeast extract resulted in significantly higher survival to the adult stage when compared with yeast hydrolysate enzymatic and a combination of yeast extract and yeast hydrolysate enzymatic. Comparison of four antimicrobial agents showed the antibacterial agent Gentamycin and the antifungal agent Nystatin had the least detrimental effect on T pretiosum development. The use of insect cell line diets has the potential to simplify artificial diet production and significantly reduce T pretiosum production costs in Australia compared to diets using insect hemolymph or the use of natural or factitious hosts. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The functions of societies and the evolution of group living: Spider societies as a test case

Many models have been advanced to suggest how different expressions of sociality have evolved and are maintained. However these models ignore the function of groups for the particular species in question. Here we present a new perspective on sociality where the function of the group takes a central role. We argue that sociality may have primarily a reproductive, protective, or foraging function, depending on whether it enhances the reproductive, protective or foraging aspect of the animal's life (sociality may serve a mixture of these functions). Different functions can potentially cause the development of the same social behaviour. By identifying which function influences a particular social behaviour we can determine how that social behaviour will change with changing conditions, and which models are most pertinent. To test our approach we examined spider sociality, which has often been seen as the poor cousin to insect sociality. By using our approach we found that the group characteristics of eusocial insects is largely governed by the reproductive function of their groups, while the group characteristics of social spiders is largely governed by the foraging function of the group. This means that models relevant to insects may not be relevant to spiders. It also explains why eusocial insects have developed a strict caste system while spider societies are more egalitarian. We also used our approach to explain the differences between different types of spider groups. For example, differences in the characteristics of colonial and kleptoparasitic groups can be explained by differences in foraging methods, while differences between colonial and cooperative spiders can be explained by the role of the reproductive function in the formation of cooperative spider groups. Although the interactions within cooperative spider colonies are largely those of a foraging society, demographic traits and colony dynamics are strongly influenced by the reproductive function. We argue that functional explanations help to understand the social structure of spider groups and therefore the evolutionary potential for speciation in social spiders.