La basileía "revolucionaria" de Nabis

El rey Nabis de Esparta es caracterizado por las fuentes literarias antiguas como un tirano al haber emprendido una serie de reformas radicales que, particularmente en sus contenidos sociales, atentaban contra el orden establecido y ponían en peligro la supremacía en el Peloponeso de una conservadora liga aquea sostenida en las clases propietarias y respaldada por las imparables legiones romanas. Es el propósito del presente artículo analizar las bases de esa monarquía "revolucionaria" de Nabis, así como el alcance, los objetivos y la fortuna final de sus medidas, que supusieron un intento de acomodarse a la realidad de los estados helenísticos sin renunciar por ello a las señas de identidad y al acervo cultural espartano. La finalidad última era reconquistar parte de su pasado esplendor militar y lograr un lugar digno, si no hegemónico, en el complejo e inestable tablero geopolítico peloponésico, pero la elite aquea no cesó hasta acallar toda reivindicación socioeconómica en la sociedad lacedemonia.

La basileía "revolucionaria" de Nabis

El rey Nabis de Esparta es caracterizado por las fuentes literarias antiguas como un tirano al haber emprendido una serie de reformas radicales que, particularmente en sus contenidos sociales, atentaban contra el orden establecido y ponían en peligro la supremacía en el Peloponeso de una conservadora liga aquea sostenida en las clases propietarias y respaldada por las imparables legiones romanas. Es el propósito del presente artículo analizar las bases de esa monarquía "revolucionaria" de Nabis, así como el alcance, los objetivos y la fortuna final de sus medidas, que supusieron un intento de acomodarse a la realidad de los estados helenísticos sin renunciar por ello a las señas de identidad y al acervo cultural espartano. La finalidad última era reconquistar parte de su pasado esplendor militar y lograr un lugar digno, si no hegemónico, en el complejo e inestable tablero geopolítico peloponésico, pero la elite aquea no cesó hasta acallar toda reivindicación socioeconómica en la sociedad lacedemonia.

Influence of food supplementation on the fitness of two biological control agents: a predatory nabid bug and a bollworm pupal parasitoid

Many arthropod predators and parasitoids exhibit either stage-specific or lifetime omnivory, in that they include extra-floral nectar, floral nectar, honeydew or pollen in their immature and/or adult diet. Access to these plant-derived foods can enhance pest suppression by increasing both the individual fitness and local density of natural enemies. Commercial products such as Amino-Feed®, Envirofeast®, and Pred-Feed® can be applied to crops to act as artificial-plant-derived foods. In laboratory and glasshouse experiments we examined the influence of carbohydrate and protein rich Amino-Feed UV® or Amino-Feed, respectively, on the fitness of a predatory nabid bug Nabis kinbergii Reuter (Hemiptera: Nabidae) and bollworm pupal parasitoid Ichneumon promissorius (Erichson) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Under the chosen conditions, the provision of either wet or dry residues of Amino-Feed UV had no discernable effect on immediate or longer-term survival and immature development times of N. kinbergii. In contrast, the provision of honey, Amino-Feed plus extrafloral nectar, and extrafloral nectar alone had a marked effect on the longevity of I. promissorius, indicating that they were limited by at least carbohydrates as an energy source, but probably not protein. Compared with a water only diet, the provision of Amino-Feed plus extrafloral nectar increased the longevity of males and females of I. promissorius by 3.0- and 2.4-fold, respectively. Not only did female parasitoids live longer when provided food, but the total number of eggs laid and timing of deposition was affected by diet under the chosen conditions. Notably, females in the water and honey treatments deposited greater numbers of eggs earlier in the trial, but this trend was unable to be sustained over their lifetime. Egg numbers in these treatments subsequently fell below the levels achieved by females in the Amino-Feed plus extrafloral nectar and cotton extrafloral nectar only treatments. Furthermore, there were times when the inclusion of the Amino-Feed was beneficial compared with cotton extrafloral nectar only. Artificial food supplements and plant-derived foods are worthy of further investigation because they have potential to improve the ecosystem service of biological pest control in targeted agroecosystems by providing natural enemies with an alternative source of nutrition, particularly during periods of prey/host scarcity.

Influence of Observer Presence on Pacific Damsel Bug Behavior: Who is Watching Whom?

When direct observations are used to study animal behavior the presence of the observer may alter the animal and hence influence the data being collected, yet few studies have quantified this effect. We conducted direct observation studies in the glasshouse to assess the relative influence of observer presence on the behavior of Pacific damsel bugs, Nabis kinbergii, a potentially important predator of crop pests. Comparisons of predator activity, predator distribution, prey (Helicoverpa armigera) mortality and prey distribution between frequently observed and minimally observed treatments, during diurnal and nocturnal observation sessions showed that the frequency of observer presence had no apparent impact on Pacific damsel bug behavior. This is the first documented test of the impact of observer presence in an insect system. To place our results in context, we reviewed 15 papers on the influence of observer presence in a range of animals. We established that just over half of these papers found evidence for an effect. Nevertheless, direct observations should be useful in further studies of Pacific damsel bug behavior, and researchers using direct observations to study the behavior of other animals should be cognizant of observer effects during design and interpretation of their study.

Temporal variation in arthropod sampling effectiveness: the case for using the beat sheet method in cotton

Predatory insects and spiders are key elements of integrated pest management (IPM) programmes in agricultural crops such as cotton. Management decisions in IPM programmes should to be based on a reliable and efficient method for counting both predators and pests. Knowledge of the temporal constraints that influence sampling is required because arthropod abundance estimates are likely to vary over a growing season and within a day. Few studies have adequately quantified this effect using the beat sheet, a potentially important sampling method. We compared the commonly used methods of suction and visual sampling to the beat sheet, with reference to an absolute cage clamp method for determining the abundance of various arthropod taxa over 5 weeks. There were significantly more entomophagous arthropods recorded using the beat sheet and cage clamp methods than by using suction or visual sampling, and these differences were more pronounced as the plants grew. In a second trial, relative estimates of entomophagous and phytophagous arthropod abundance were made using beat sheet samples collected over a day. Beat sheet estimates of the abundance of only eight of the 43 taxa examined were found to vary significantly over a day. Beat sheet sampling is recommended in further studies of arthropod abundance in cotton, but researchers and pest management advisors should bear in mind the time of season and time of day effects.

Efeito do plantio direto, aplicação de miral e uso de subsolagem na incidência de inimigos naturais em cultura de feijão em Guaíra-SP.

As aranhas, juntamente com Cycloneda sanguínea, Chrysoperia externa, Callida sp, Nabis sp., Zelus sp. e Podisus nigrispinus constituem importantes agentes de controle das pragas da cultura de feijão na região de Guaíra-SP. Este experimento teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito do plantio direto e uso do nematicida Miral e subsolagem na população de inimigos naturais da parte aérea e subterrânea dessa cultura. A avaliação foi feita quando a cultura estava no estagio R8 (enchimento das vagens), sendo os tratamentos aplicados: PC (plantio convencional), PCM (planto convencional com aplicação de Miral), PCS (plantio convencional com uso de subsolagem no preparo do solo), PCSM (plantio convencional com uso de Miral e subsolagem), PD (plantio direto), PCM (plantio direto com uso de Miral), PDS (plantio direto com subsolagem) e PDSM (plantio direto com uso de Miral e subsolagem); cada tratamento teve 4 repetições. Para inimigos naturais da parte aérea, as medias dos tratamentos foram os percentuais de 10,52, 18,75, 16,04, 19,71, 19,75, 15,86, 13,21 e 15,29, respectivamente. Para os inimigos naturais de pragas subterrâneas foram obtidos os percentuais de 0,0, 8,82, 6,12, 8,69, 4,17, 1,55, 0,0 e 0,62, respectivamente. Observa-se que no plantio convencional a aplicação de Miral e o uso de subsolagem bem como a interação entre ambos tiveram efeito benéfico sobre os inimigos naturais, causando o aumento dos mesmos quando comparados com a testemunha (PC). Ja para os tratamentos com uso de plantio direto, tanto a subsolagem como a aplicação de Miral e a interação de ambos prejudicou os inimigos naturais.

Inimigos naturais da parte aérea da cultura de feijão tratada co EM (Efficient Microorganisms), na região de Guaíra.

Os inimigos naturais de pragas da cultura de feijão constituídas por aranhas, Chrysoperla externa, Cycloneda sanguínea, Zelus sp., Geocoris sp. e Nabis sp. são importantes controladores de pragas dessa cultura. Este trabalho teve como objetivo testar o efeito de EM (efficient microorganisms) sobre a fauna de organismos benéficos. Foram avaliados 5 campos, sendo três deles conduzidos pelo sistema de plantio convencional (campos 1,2 e 3) e dois deles pelo sistema de plantio direto (campos 4 e 5). No campo 1 foram feitas 3 avaliações com a cultura nos estágios V4, R6 e R7, tendo sido encontrados nas parcelas tratadas com EM (PCEM), 19,735, 17,89%, 7,87% de inimigos naturais, enquanto nas parcelas testemunhas sem aplicação de EM (PC), 25,70%, 15,94% e 13,54%. No campo 2 foram feitas 2 avaliações nos estágios R6 e R7, tendo sido encontrados nas parcelas PCEM 20,20% e 15,84%; nas parcelas PC esses percentuais foram de 18,83, e 13,66. No campo 3 foram feitas 2 avaliações nos estagios R7 e R9, obtendo-se em PCEM, 18,16% e 20,37%, enquanto em PC, 22,59% e 14,90% de inimigos naturais. No campo 4 foi feita uma única avaliação no estagio R7 e os resultados foram de 21,47% (PDEM) e 22,89% (PD). No campo 5 foram feitas duas avaliações nos estágios R6 e R7, obtendo-se em PDEM 22,05% e 18,89%; no tratamento PD, 28,80 e 24,54%. Estes resultados se referem ao primeiro ano de aplicacao de EM, devendo ser repetidas nos anos seguintes, nos quais se espera maior percentual de inimigos naturais nas parcelas tratadas com EM que na parcelas testemunhas, o que já esta ocorrendo nos campos 2 e 3.