Manipulation of oviposition and overwintering site choice of common green lacewings with synthetic lure (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)

Common green lacewings (Chrysoperla carnea species complex) are important predators of several insect pests, particularly aphids. Due to their potential in biological control, several efforts have been made to find means to retain common green lacewing adults or even to increase their numbers at a given site. In the course of field experiments conducted in Hungary and Norway, we tested the effect of a known ternary bait (phenylacetaldehyde, methyl salicylate, acetic acid) on oviposition and overwintering site choice of common green lacewings. In an orchard in Hungary, overwintering chambers were set up with and without baits. For the experiment on oviposition in Norway, a number of lacewing eggs were compared on trees with and without baits in selected sectors of the canopy. With the ternary bait, more common green lacewings could be attracted to overwintering chambers, and also significantly more eggs were found in the vicinity of baits than in other selected parts of the canopy, suggesting that this bait has the potential to manipulate both overwintering site choice and oviposition site choice of these important beneficial insects.     

Habitat selection by Drosophila melanogaster larvae

Drosophila melanogaster larvae are used to examine habitat choice behavior and its effect on a component of preadult fitness (pupal survivorship). We established strains of flies by collecting pupae from two microhabitats from an orchard. Strain differences in pupation site choice (on versus off fruit) persisted in a field-like laboratory assay without artificial selection. To produce heterogeneous environments, air temperature and soil water content were varied in these assays. A habitat suitability difference measure was used to determine for each environment, which microhabitat (on or off fruit) resulted in greater pupal survivorship. We found 1) that habitat choice behavior had both plastic and heritable components, 2) that strain-by-environment interactions influenced habitat choice behavior and pupal survivorship and, 3) a significant positive correlation between habitat suitability and larval habitat choice behavior.     

Field estimates of survival do not reflect ratings of mimetic similarity in wasp-mimicking hover flies

The evolution of mimicry, and particularly the persistence of undefended Batesian mimetic forms that are imperfect copies of their defended models, remains a central question in evolutionary biology. Previous work has demonstrated that variation in mimetic fidelity in artificial prey can alter survival. However, no studies have validated the assumption that detailed laboratory-based measurements of mimetic fidelity are actually reflected in survival in natural field experiments. Here, we demonstrate that, in line with previous studies, the mimetic similarity of 77 hover fly (Diptera: Syrphidae) species to the common wasp Vespula alascensis is strongly related to the number of abdominal stripes exhibited by the flies. We then produce three artificial pastry baits: (1) a “model” which is chemically defended and has two stripes, (2) a one-stripe mimic, and (3) an unstriped mimic. Based on the ratings study, we predicted that the one-stripe mimic would exhibit survival intermediate between the unstriped mimic and the model. Baits were deployed in experiments each involving 81 baits (27 of each kind), at 3 sites, with experiments replicated 10 times at each site for a total deployment of 2,430 baits. Proportional hazards models show that both one-striped and model baits survived equally well and significantly better than the unstriped baits, suggesting categorical prey identification rather than the use of stripe number as a continuous trait, as was suggested by the laboratory study. These findings suggest that, while humans and avian predators can distinguish mimics from models in the laboratory using a range of traits, behaviour in the field may not reflect this ability. This absence of a link between continuous measures of mimetic fidelity and prey selection may contribute to the maintenance of imperfect mimicry, but more studies using near-natural experimental paradigms are needed to investigate the phenomenon further.     

Antagonistic selection between adult thorax and wing size in field released Drosophila melanogaster independent of thermal conditions

Attempts to explain size variation in Drosophila and other small insects often focus on the larval stage and association between development time and size, but patterns are also influenced by direct selection on size-related traits in the adults. Here we use multiple field releases of Drosophila melanogaster to test the association between size and one component of field fitness, the ability of Drosophila to locate resources for feeding and breeding. We find antagonistic selection between wing length and thorax length in both males and females, such that capture at baits is higher for flies with relatively larger thorax lengths and smaller wings. However flies with large wings relative to thoraces disperse further as reflected in the longer distances moved to baits. These patterns did not depend strongly on weather conditions, suggesting that selection on adult size is at least partly independent of temperature. Antagonistic selection between size traits can generate changes in size along gradients if the distribution of resources in the environment varies and selects for different dispersal patterns, particularly as dispersal is relatively higher under warmer conditions.     

REPRODUCTIVE CHARACTER DISPLACEMENT OF EPICUTICULAR COMPOUNDS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO MATE CHOICE IN DROSOPHILA SUBQUINARIA AND DROSOPHILA RECENS

Interactions between species can alter selection on sexual displays used in mate choice within species. Here we study the epicuticular pheromones of two Drosophila species that overlap partially in geographic range and are incompletely reproductively isolated. Drosophila subquinaria shows a pattern of reproductive character displacement against Drosophila recens, and partial behavioral isolation between conspecific sympatric versus allopatric populations, whereas D. recens shows no such variation in mate choice. First, using manipulative perfuming experiments, we show that females use pheromones as signals for mate discrimination both between species and among populations of D. subquinaria. Second, we show that patterns of variation in epicuticular compounds, both across populations and between species, are consistent with those previously shown for mating probabilities: pheromone compositions differ between populations of D. subquinaria that are allopatric versus sympatric with D. recens, but are similar across populations of D. recens regardless of overlap with D. subquinaria. We also identify differences in pheromone composition among allopatric regions of D. subquinaria. In sum, our results suggest that epicuticular compounds are key signals used by females during mate recognition, and that these traits have diverged among D. subquinaria populations in response to reinforcing selection generated by the presence of D. recens.     

The influence of density on frequency-dependent food selection: a comparison of four experiments with wild birds

We compare the results of four experiments, conducted at different times and with different protocols, that explored the relationship between frequency-dependent selection and prey density in wild birds feeding on artificial populations of coloured baits. One (experiment 4) used pastry baits that differed only in the presence or absence of a red stripe, and this experiment provided no evidence for any kind of selective behaviour. The other three experiments used green and brown baits, and they all provided evidence for a trend towards increasing anti-apostatic selection with high densities (>100 baits m^–2). However, one of these (experiment 3) provided no evidence for frequency-dependent selection at low densities (0.5–20 baits m^–2), while the other two experiments concurred in suggesting a trend towards increasing apostatic selection with low densities (down to 2 baits m^–2). Together, these experiments both support and qualify the published findings of experiment 1 that frequency- dependent selection by wild birds on bait populations is modified by density. Experiment 4 indicates that frequency-dependent selection may break down entirely if bait types are too similar, while experiment 3 indicates that some details of this trend with density will depend either on the protocol used or on exogenous changes in the birds’ feeding behaviour. Received: 1 September 1999 / Accepted: 22 March 2000     

柑橘园扩张对生态系统服务和景观格局的影响——以江西省信丰县为例

柑橘园扩张是我国柑橘主产区较典型的土地利用/覆盖变化过程之一。但柑橘园扩张对区域生态系统服务和景观格局的影响尚不清楚,探明柑橘园种植的生态效应对柑橘主产区实现生态-经济协同发展具有重要的理论和现实意义。以江西省信丰县为研究区,基于第二次、第三次全国国土调查数据,借助InVEST模型、景观格局指数、图谱分析等方法,结合地形梯度和相关性分析,对柑橘园扩张所致的生态系统服务和景观格局变化及其权衡与关联进行分析。结果表明：①2010-2019年,柑橘园扩张方向以占用林地和耕地为主,柑橘园面积从9961.29 hm²增至12633.84 hm²,其中新增柑橘园7504.72 hm²,退出柑橘园4832.16 hm²,区域内柑橘园转换频繁。②柑橘园扩张导致信丰县景观格局总体呈现破碎化趋势,景观连通性降低,并对土壤保持服务和碳储量服务产生负向影响,对柑橘供给服务产生正向影响,对产水服务几乎无影响。③不同类型柑橘园在不同地形梯度上的扩张对生态系统服务的影响方向和程度存在差异。④在权衡与协同分析中,供给服务与支持服务呈权衡关系,碳储量-产水、碳储量-土壤保持等支持服务之间呈协同关系;景观破碎化与生态系统服务显著关联。研究结果可为经济作物大规模种植区的园地合理开发利用和生境保护提供科学依据。     

Intraspecific variation for resource use in Drosophila

Individuals within natural populations of Drosophila tripunctata and D. falleni varied significantly in their responses to alternative types of food baits; no such variation was detected in D. putrida. The food type at which laboratory-reared D. melanogaster tended to settle in the field was influenced by the type of food on which they had been kept prior to release. Although flies apparently forgot their previous experience within hours, its effect on their behaviour can be manifested for at least 1 day in the field. Mark -recapture experiments on wild flies are shown to be very inefficient at detecting individual variation in behaviour.     

Selection of carrion by the Australasian harrier (Circus approximate) in New Zealand

Abstract

The selection of carrion by Australasian harriers was studied by offering a choice of baits in the field. These trials tested preferences for carrion species, amount of flesh exposed, body posture, and colour of the carrion. Domestic hen pullets and Norway rats were chosen significantly more often than rabbits, opossums, or eels. Skinned rabbits were preferred to unskinned ones. Body posture of rabbit carcasses did not appear to affect a harrier's choice. White and blue baits were preferred to red, brown, or green baits. The most important factors involved in the selection of carrion by harriers appear to be the ease of handling of the carrion, and the colour of the bait.     

The evolutionary history of Drosophila buzzatii XXVII

The correlation between body size and longevity was tested in an Argentinian natural population of Drosophila buzzatii. Mean thorax length of flies newly emerging from rotting cladodes of Opuntia vulgaris was significantly smaller than that of two samples of flies caught at baits. The present results which might be interpreted as directional selection for longevity favoring larger flies are in agreement with previous results achieved in a Spanish natural population of D. buzzatii. Flies emerging from different substrates showed significant differences in thorax length, suggesting that an important fraction of phenotypic variance can be attributed to environmental variability. However, laboratory and field work in different populations of D. buzzatii showed a significant genetic component for thorax length variation.     

An ecological interaction between citrus fruit, Penicillium moulds and Drosophila immigrans Sturtevant (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract. 1. Potential Drosophila breeding sites were collected from a fruit market, and the adults allowed to emerge from them.
2. D.immigrans and D.melanogaster were the species with the highest frequency of emergences from citrus fruit.
3. D.immigrans was especially associated with citrus fruits infected with Penicillium italicum or P.digitatum , two specialist moulds of citrus. D.melanogaster was more often found in uninfected fruit.
4. In the laboratory D.immigrans larvae survived better than D.melanogaster larvae on Penicillium-infected citrus fruit.
5. These adaptations suggest that D.immigrans may have originally evolved as a citrus specialist, becoming a domestic species as these fruits were exploited commercially.     

Tracking the movement trajectory of newly emerged adult Chinese citrus flies with insect harmonic radar

Previous work reveals that the adult Chinese citrus fly, Bactrocera minax (Enderlein), emerges from the ground in citrus orchards and presumably disperses to alternate food sources in neighboring shrubs and trees, where it stays and becomes reproductively mature, and then later returns to the orchard to lay eggs. We investigated the trajectories of early emerged adult Chinese citrus flies, which were tracked with portable harmonic radar in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 in four different habitats in Hubei province of China that presumably provided food sources for adults. This study we investigated whether early emerged adult Chinese citrus flies migrate into forests. A total of 47 adults were tracked following release in a citrus orchard. Our results showed that a total of 33 adults released in a citrus orchard flew into the forest, and 14 adults that disappeared during the tracking process in the citrus orchard. A total of 10 adults (in 2014) that were tracked and released in the forest flew to the forest. Of the adult flies investigated, 54.5% flew directly into the forest, while the remaining 45.5% finally arrived in the forest after repeatedly adjusting their trajectories. When there were Castanea mollissima Blume (Fagaceae) in the surrounding forest, the proportion of frequency of adult landing on the plant represented 58.3% and 88.5% of landing on all species in 2014 and in 2015, respectively. We conclude that early emerged adult Chinese citrus flies in the mosaic-type citrus orchard of the hilly terrain landform dispersed into adjacent forest.     

Influence of ground beetles (Carabidae) as biological agent to control of the Mediterranean fruit fly pupae,Ceratitis capitata,in Iranian citrus orchards

Damage by Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in the northern Iranian citrus orchards has been led to spray by different chemical pesticides. The present study was conducted in the citrus orchard in Mazandaran province of Iran where with the exception of mineral oil treatments for scale insects, had not been sprayed with synthetic insecticides for six years. The purpose of this study was initially to investigate faun and seasonal activity of predaceous ground carabid beetles in the citrus orchards. Additionally, their role as predators of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) pupae was evaluated under laboratory and field conditions. Predation in laboratory was evaluated by no choice feeding experiments while predation under field conditions was evaluated by molecular detection of the pest DNA in the gut contents of field-collected Carabids. A total of 3437 beetles of ten carabid species were collected from a non-chemical treatment citrus orchard. The results of the seasonal density fluctuation indicated increasing population in spring reaching the highest in September, simultaneously with the peak of fruit fly damage, and thereafter decreasing during winter when the pest was overwintering. However, three species, Harpalus rufipes, Broscus karelinii and Brachinus brevicollis were most abundant in the field collection but the results of no-choice experiments in the laboratory indicated H. rufipes, B. karelinii and Pterostichus macer were the most voracious predators on pupae. Results of gut content analysis of the voracious species indicated the positive testing for pest DNA in 79.16 % of H. rufipes, 76.92 % of B. karelinii and 75 % of P. macer of analyzed beetles. The results of the study strongly indicated that in citrus orchards where intensive spraying is eliminated, natural enemies such as Carabid beetles could play an important role in reducing pests such as medfly.     

Males Benefit from Mating with Outbred Females in Drosophila littoralis: Male Choice for Female Genetic Quality?

The evolution and expression of mate choice behaviour in either sex depends on the sex‐specific combination of mating costs, benefits of choice and constraints on choice. If the benefits of choice are larger for one sex, we would expect that sex to be choosier, assuming that the mating costs and constraints on choice are equal between sexes. Because deliberate inbreeding is a powerful genetic method for experimental manipulation of the quality of study organisms, we tested the effects of both male and female inbreeding on egg and offspring production in Drosophila littoralis. Female inbreeding significantly reduced offspring production (mostly due to lower egg‐to‐adult viability), whereas male inbreeding did not affect offspring production (despite a slight effect of paternal inbreeding on egg‐to‐adult viability). As inbreeding depressed female quality more than male quality, the benefits of mate choice were larger for males than for females. In mate choice experiments, inbreeding did not affect male mating success (measured as a probability to be accepted as a mate in a large group), suggesting that females did not discriminate among inbred and outbred males. In contrast, female mating success was affected by inbreeding, with outbred females having higher mating success than inbred females. This result was not explained by lower activity of inbred females. Our results show that D. littoralis males benefit from mating with outbred females of high genetic quality and suggest adaptive male mate choice for female genetic quality in this species. Thus, patterns of mating success in mate choice trials mirrored the benefits of choice: the sex that benefited more from choice (i.e. males) was more choosy.     

地埂植物篱对大型土壤动物多样性的影响

为了解地埂植物篱作为农田边界对于大型土壤动物多样性的影响,2006年冬季和2007年春季对桑园、桑埂、橘园、橘埂和农田大型土壤动物群落结构进行了调查,共获得大型土壤动物 4533只,隶属于3门、9纲、24类.结果表明,不同土地利用方式大型土壤动物群落的个体密度、类群数和DG多样性指数均存在显著差异.无论在冬季还是在春季,地埂植物篱桑埂和橘埂的个体密度、类群数和DG多样性指数均显著高于农田;冬季桑园和橘园的个体密度、类群数和DG多样性指数也显著高于农田.大型土壤动物群落的个体密度和类群数在垂直分布上与土壤含水量、全N和有机质含量的垂直分布规律一致,均随着土层深度的增加而递减.主成分分析表明,桑埂、橘埂和橘园的大型土壤动物群落组成与桑园和农田存在显著差异,桑园与农田也存在显著差异.地埂植物篱的存在对于大型土壤动物多样性保护具有重要意义.     

An evolutionary limit to male mating success

The well-known phenotypic diversity of male sexual displays, and the high levels of genetic variation reported for individual display traits have generated the expectation that male display traits, and consequently male mating success, are highly evolvable. It has not been shown however that selection for male mating success, exerted by female preferences in an unmanipulated population, results in evolutionary change. Here, we tested the expectation that male mating success is highly evolvable in Drosophila bunnanda using an experimental evolution approach. Female D. bunnanda exhibit a strong, consistent preference for a specific combination of male cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). We used female preference to select for male mating success by propagating replicate populations from either attractive or unattractive males over 10 generations. Neither the combination of CHCs under sexual selection (the sexual signal) nor male mating success itself evolved. The lack of a response to selection was consistent with previous quantitative genetic experiments in D. bunnanda that demonstrated the virtual absence of genetic variance in the combination of CHCs under sexual selection. Persistent directional selection, such as applied by female mate choice, may erode genetic variance, resulting in multitrait evolutionary limits.     

Genetics of Natural Populations. Xliii. Further Studies on Rates of Dispersal of DROSOPHILA PSEUDOOBSCURA and Its Relatives

The amount of gene flow among local populations of a species is determined by the dispersal capacity of that species. Population samples of Drosophila pseudoobscura, D. persimilis, D. azteca, and D. miranda were collected, marked with ultraviolet fluorescent dusts, and released as soon as possible after capture. One and two days after release, recaptures were made on baits placed at 40-meter intervals in straight lines intersecting the release point. On alternative days, the baits were placed in North-South or in East-West directions. The distribution of the recaptured flies about the release point is very nearly normal. No significant differences between the dispersal rates of the four species are observed; however, males disperse slightly further than females. The variances averaged 50,822 m2 on the first day and 80,048 m2 on the second day and the estimated mean distances from the release point averaged 263 m and 361 m respectively. The genetic implications of the results are discussed.     

胜红蓟黄酮类物质对柑桔园主要病原菌的抑制作用

柑桔园引种杂草胜红蓟能有效地控制主要病害,研究发现,胜红蓟产生并释放到土壤中的黄桐类物质对疮痂病菌、炭疽病菌、白粉病菌和烟煤病菌等柑桔园主要病原真菌具有抑制活性,从胜红蓟植株中分离鉴定了10个黄酮物质,包括一个糖甙黄酮分子,但胜红蓟植株产生的大部分黄酮物质在土壤中会逐渐降解,只有3个黄酮分子能在柑梧园的土壤中累积并存在较长时间,而这3个黄酮物质对柑桔园主要病原真菌具有显著的抑制活性,其活性不仅超过胜红蓟释放的其化感物质,而且强于商业的杀菌剂多菌灵,表明胜红蓟产生和释放的黄酮物质在柑桔园病害控制中起着重要作用。     

A time-sequence functional analysis of mating behaviour and genital coupling in Drosophila: role of cryptic female choice and male sex-drive in the evolution of male genitalia

Male genitalia in Drosophila exemplify strikingly rapid and divergent evolution, whereas female genitalia are relatively invariable. Whereas precopulatory and post-copulatory sexual selection has been invoked to explain this trend, the functional significance of genital structures during copulation remains obscure. We used time-sequence analysis to study the functional significance of external genitalic structures during the course of copulation, between D. melanogaster and D. simulans. This functional analysis has provided new information that reveals the importance of male-driven copulatory mechanics and strategies in the rapid diversification of genitalia. The posterior process, which is a recently evolved sexual character and present only in males of the melanogaster clade, plays a crucial role in mounting as well as in genital coupling. Whereas there is ample evidence for precopulatory and/or post-copulatory female choice, we show here that during copulation there is little or no physical female choice, consequently, males determine copulation duration. We also found subtle differences in copulatory mechanics between very closely related species. We propose that variation in male usage of novel genitalic structures and shifts in copulatory behaviour have played an important role in the diversification of genitalia in species of the Drosophila subgroup.     

Allelochemicals and their transformations in the Ageratum conyzoides intercropped citrus orchard soils

Intercropping Ageratum conyzoides in citrus orchards may effectively suppress weeds and control other pests. Investigations showed that the inhibition of major weeds and soil pathogenic fungi in citrus orchards was significantly correlated with the allelochemicals released into the soil by intercropped A. conyzoides. Three flavones, ageratochromene, and its two dimers were isolated and identified from the A. conyzoides intercropped citrus orchard soil. These allelochemicals had different biological actions on major weeds and soil pathogenic fungi in the citrus orchard. Three flavones and ageratochromene could significantly inhibit the growth of weeds Bidens pilosa, Digitaria sanguinalis and Cyperus difformis, and spores germination of soil pathogenic fungi Phytophthora citrophthora, Pythium aphanidermatum and Fusarium solani. However, two dimers of ageratochromene had no inhibitory actions on them. The presence of these allelochemicals in soils suggests that they may be able to make a major contribution to control some weeds and diseases in citrus orchards. Further studies revealed that dynamic transformation between ageratochromene and its two dimers in the A. conyzoides intercropped citrus orchard soil was reversible, that is, ageratochromene released from ground A. conyzoides plants was transformed into its dimers, and the dimers can be remonomerized in the soils. However, this dynamic transformation did not occur in the soil with low organic matter and fertility. The dimerization was not correlated with microorganisms in the soil, but the biodegradation of both ageratochromene and its two dimers may have occurred, particularly in the soil with low organic matter and fertility. Our results strongly suggest that the reversible transformation between ageratochromene and its dimers in the A. conyzoides intercropped citrus orchard soil can be an important mechanism maintaining bioactive allelochemicals at an effective concentration, thus, sustaining the inhibition of weeds and pathogenic fungi in soil.