Why Wasp Foundresses Change Nests: Relatedness,Dominance, and Nest Quality

The costs and benefits of different social options are best understood when individuals can be followed as they make different choices, something that can be difficult in social insects. In this detailed study, we follow overwintered females of the social wasp Polistes carolina through different nesting strategies in a stratified habitat where nest site quality varies with proximity to a foraging area, and genetic relatedness among females is known. Females may initiate nests, join nests temporarily or permanently, or abandon nests. Females can become helpers or egglayers, effectively workers or queens. What they actually do can be predicted by a combination of ecological and relatedness factors. Advantages through increased lifetime success of individuals and nests drives foundresses of the social wasp Polistes from solitary to social nest founding. We studied reproductive options of spring foundresses of P. carolina by monitoring individually-marked wasps and assessing reproductive success of each foundress by using DNA microsatellites. We examined what behavioral decisions foundresses make after relaxing a strong ecological constraint, shortage of nesting sites. We also look at the reproductive consequences of different behaviors. As in other Polistes, the most successful strategy for a foundress was to initiate a nest as early as possible and then accept others as subordinates. A common feature for many P. carolina foundresses was, however, that they reassessed their reproductive options by actively monitoring other nests at the field site and sometimes moving permanently to new nests should that offer better (inclusive) fitness prospects compared to their original nests. A clear motivation for moving to new nests was high genetic relatedness; by the end of the foundress period all females were on nests with full sisters.     

Lifespan Analyses of Forest Raptor Nests: Patterns of Creation,Persistence and Reuse

Structural elements for breeding such as nests are key resources for the conservation of bird populations. This is especially true when structural elements require a specific and restricted habitat, or if the construction of nests is costly in time and energy. The availability of nesting-platforms is influenced by nest creation and persistence. In a Mediterranean forest in southeastern Spain, nesting-platforms are the only structural element for three forest-dwelling raptor species: booted eagle Aquila pennata, common buzzard Buteo buteo and northern goshawk Accipiter gentilis. From 1998 to 2013, we tracked the fate of 157 nesting-platforms built and reused by these species with the aim of determining the rates of creation and destruction of nesting-platforms, estimating nest persistence by applying two survival analyses, describing the pattern of nest reuse and testing the effects of nest use on breeding success. Nest creation and destruction rates were low (0.14 and 0.05, respectively). Using Kaplan Meier survival estimates and Cox proportional-hazards regression models we found that median nest longevity was 12 years and that this was not significantly affected by nest characteristics, nest-tree dimensions, nest-builder species, or frequency of use of the platform. We also estimated a transition matrix, considering the different stages of nest occupation (vacant or occupied by one of the focal species), to obtain the fundamental matrix and the average life expectancies of nests, which varied from 17.9 to 19.7 years. Eighty six percent of nests were used in at least one breeding attempt, 67.5% were reused and 17.8% were successively occupied by at least two of the study species. The frequency of nest use had no significant effects on the breeding success of any species. We conclude that nesting-platforms constitute an important resource for forest raptors and that their longevity is sufficiently high to allow their reuse in multiple breeding attempts.     

Evaluation of the Predatory Wasp, Ancistrocerus gazella, for Biological Control of Leafrollers in Otago Fruit Crops: 1. Prey Composition, Nest Structure and Wasp Productivity from Artificial Nests

Groups of artificial nest tubes were deployed in the field for colonization by the accidentallyimported wasp, Ancistrocerus gazella (Panzer), a reported important predator of lepidopterous larvae, especially pest tortricids. There were 3-4 nest sites in each of seven study areas, and four tube lengths (75, 100, 125, 150 mm) were compared. Nests were dissected at various stages after occupancy to determine the prey composition and nest structure, and the numbers and sex of adults produced. The wasps collected larvae of nine lepidopterous families, including many tortricids, but pest leafrollers comprised only 4.1% and 1.5% of all larvae collected respectively in 1995-96 and 1996-97. Prey included beneficial species feeding on weeds and the larvae of some non-pest native insects. Prey species composition was highly site-dependent and was a major determinant of the numbers of larvae per cell. Cells for male wasps were smaller and contained fewer larvae than those for females. Tube length did not affect colonization rates but more cells and adult wasps were produced in longer tubes. The results cast serious doubt on the proposed management of A. gazella for biological control of leafrollers, but suggest that this approach could be useful for other pests, such as Coleophora spp., which were collected in large numbers.     

Relationship Between the Persistence of mer Operon Sequences in Escherichia coli and Their Resistance to Mercury

Studies related to geographic distribution of E. coli carrying mer operon sequences were carried out on the Indian subcontinent. Out of the 80 E. coli isolates, collected from five geographically distinct regions of India, 68 were found to be resistant to one or the other heavy metal used in the study. Among these isolates, 36 were found to be resistant to the inorganic form (HgCl₂) and only 5 to resist both the inorganic and organic forms of mercury. Colony hybridization studies revealed 35 isolates out of 68 to hybridize with the probe. Interestingly, some of the mercury-sensitive isolates (Hg^s), especially from the Dal Lake, were found positive in hybridization studies. These findings, supported by mercury volatilization studies, indicate the presence of nonfunctional/vestigial mer sequences in the isolates collected from different environments. On the other hand, few of the mercury-resistant isolates (Hg^r) from the Yamuna River did not show any sign of hybridization. Further, volatilization studies also indicated an alternate mode of resistance mechanism operating in them. The studies demonstrate that the mer operon sequences share very high homology among the E. coli isolates collected from different geographical locations, and this metal resistance may be a genetic character that arose from a common ancestral background. Received: 25 May 2001 / Accepted: 27 June 2001     

Abdominal Waggings and Variation of Their Rate of Occurrence in the Social Wasp, Polistes dominulus Christ. I. Quantitative Analysis

The quantitative study of abdominal waggings in Polistes dominulus Christ, covering a total of 16,000 sequences of movements observed in 13 colonies (mono- and polygyne), showed or confirmed the following points. The same form of abdominal wagging, very frequent in this species, is carried out by foundresses in two contexts: when they are caring for their brood and during aggressive encounters with other adults. While the dominant female shows this behavior most often, it predominantly concerns aggressive waggings (0.51 sequence per social interaction for alpha females, 0.12 and 0.04 for beta and gamma); the movements related to feeding larvae are distributed much better among the foundresses of Polygyne nests (0.38 sequence per cell check for alpha, 0.24 and 0.21 for beta and gamma). The number of waggings carried out by the workers is negligible in normally constituted colonies (0.006 and 0.01, respectively, for the two contexts). The rate of occurrence of abdominal waggings changes with time. This change is opposite and symmetrical for the two types of waggings, although we were not able to establish any correlation between the number of the movements linked to feeding the larvae and the abundance or the composition of the brood. Abdominal wagging therefore appears as a means of communication between the different members in Polistes society, used in varying degrees by all foundresses; the change of its rate of occurrence over time suggests a possible influence on larvae, hence on the future status of newborn wasps (workers or future foundresses).     

Deregulation of Apoptotic Factors Bcl-xL and Bax Confers Apoptotic Resistance to Myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells and Contributes to Their Persistence in Cancer

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are heterogeneous immature myeloid cells that accumulate in response to tumor progression. Compelling data from mouse models and human cancer patients showed that tumor-induced inflammatory mediators induce MDSC differentiation. However, the mechanisms underlying MDSC persistence is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrated that tumor-induced MDSCs exhibit significantly decreased spontaneous apoptosis as compared with myeloid cells with the same phenotypes from tumor-free mice. Consistent with the decreased apoptosis, cell surface Fas receptor decreased significantly in tumor-induced MDSCs. Screening for changes of key apoptosis mediators downstream the Fas receptor revealed that expression levels of IRF8 and Bax are diminished, whereas expression of Bcl-xL is increased in tumor-induced MDSCs. We further determined that IRF8 binds directly to Bax and Bcl-x promoter in primary myeloid cells in vivo, and IRF8-deficient MDSC-like cells also exhibit increased Bcl-xL and decreased Bax expression. Analysis of CD69 and CD25 levels revealed that cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are partially activated in tumor-bearing hosts. Strikingly, FasL but not perforin and granzymes were selectively activated in CTLs in the tumor-bearing host. ABT-737 significantly increased the sensitivity of MDSCs to Fas-mediated apoptosis in vitro. More importantly, ABT-737 therapy increased MDSC spontaneous apoptosis and decreased MDSC accumulation in tumor-bearing mice. Our data thus determined that MDSCs use down-regulation of IRF8 to alter Bax and Bcl-xL expression to deregulate the Fas-mediated apoptosis pathway to evade elimination by host CTLs. Therefore, targeting Bcl-xL is potentially effective in suppression of MDSC persistence in cancer therapy.     

IL-10 Suppression of NK/DC Crosstalk Leads to Poor Priming of MCMV-Specific CD4 T Cells and Prolonged MCMV Persistence

IL-10 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that regulates the extent of host immunity to infection by exerting suppressive effects on different cell types. Herpes viruses induce IL-10 to modulate the virus-host balance towards their own benefit, resulting in prolonged virus persistence. To define the cellular and molecular players involved in IL-10 modulation of herpes virus-specific immunity, we studied mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection. Here we demonstrate that IL-10 specifically curtails the MCMV-specific CD4 T cell response by suppressing the bidirectional crosstalk between NK cells and myeloid dendritic cells (DCs). In absence of IL-10, NK cells licensed DCs to effectively prime MCMV-specific CD4 T cells and we defined the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-12, IFN-γ and TNF-α as well as NK cell activating receptors NKG2D and NCR-1 to regulate this bidirectional NK/DC interplay. Consequently, markedly enhanced priming of MCMV-specific CD4 T cells in Il10^−/− mice led to faster control of lytic viral replication, but this came at the expense of TNF-α mediated immunopathology. Taken together, our data show that early induction of IL-10 during MCMV infection critically regulates the strength of the innate-adaptive immune cell crosstalk, thereby impacting beneficially on the ensuing virus-host balance for both the virus and the host.     

The Goals and Effects of Music Listening and Their Relationship to the Strength of Music Preference

Individual differences in the strength of music preference are among the most intricate psychological phenomena. While one person gets by very well without music, another person needs to listen to music every day and spends a lot of temporal and financial resources on listening to music, attending concerts, or buying concert tickets. Where do these differences come from? The hypothesis presented in this article is that the strength of music preference is mainly informed by the functions that music fulfills in people’s lives (e.g., to regulate emotions, moods, or physiological arousal; to promote self-awareness; to foster social relatedness). Data were collected with a diary study, in which 121 respondents documented the goals they tried to attain and the effects that actually occurred for up to 5 music-listening episodes per day for 10 successive days. As expected, listeners reporting more intense experience of the functional use of music in the past (1) had a stronger intention to listen to music to attain specific goals in specific situations and (2) showed a larger overall strength of music preference. It is concluded that the functional effectiveness of music listening should be incorporated in existing models and frameworks of music preference to produce better predictions of interindividual differences in the strength of music preference. The predictability of musical style/genre preferences is also discussed with regard to the present results.     

Honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) Response to Differences in Handling Time, Rewards and Flower Colours

Free flying honeybees were tested outdoors on blue–white and blue–yellow dimorphic artificial flower patches to examine the influence of reward difference, flower handling‐time difference and flower colour choice on foraging decisions. We employed different flower‐well depths to vary handling times (costs), and differences in sucrose molarity to vary reward quality. Tests were performed with 2 and 6 μl rewards to vary quantity. We show that when handling time is correlated with flower‐colour morphs on a pedicellate artificial flower patch, a honeybee's foraging behaviour is dependent on the flower colours used in the choice tests. This supports a honeybee foraging model where constraints are a significant factor in decision making. Bees visiting blue–yellow flower patches exhibited flower constancy to colour, where they restricted most visits to a single flower colour, some bees to blue and others to yellow, irrespective of handing time differences. When offered a choice of equally rewarding blue or white flowers, bees were not constrained by flower colour and chose to visit flowers with a lower handling time. When reward molarity varied with well depth between blue and white flowers, foragers chose shallow‐well flowers (short‐handling time) with a smaller net harvest rate over deep‐well flowers (long‐handling time) with a greater net harvest rate. Results using the blue–white dimorphic flower patch suggest that when foraging options simultaneously involve reward and handling‐time choices, honeybee forager behaviour is inconsistent with an absolute method of evaluating profit.     

Odors and Sensations of Humidity and Dryness in Relation to Sick Building Syndrome and Home Environment in Chongqing,China

The prevalence of perceptions of odors and sensations of air humidity and sick building syndrome symptoms in domestic environments were studied using responses to a questionnaire on the home environment. Parents of 4530 1–8 year old children from randomly selected kindergartens in Chongqing, China participated. Stuffy odor, unpleasant odor, pungent odor, mold odor, tobacco smoke odor, humid air and dry air in the last three month (weekly or sometimes) was reported by 31.4%, 26.5%, 16.1%, 10.6%, 33.0%, 32.1% and 37.2% of the parents, respectively. The prevalence of parents’ SBS symptoms (weekly or sometimes) were: 78.7% for general symptoms, 74.3% for mucosal symptoms and 47.5% for skin symptoms. Multi-nominal regression analyses for associations between odors/sensations of air humidity and SBS symptoms showed that the odds ratio for “weekly” SBS symptoms were consistently higher than for “sometimes” SBS symptoms. Living near a main road or highway, redecoration, and new furniture were risk factors for perceptions of odors and sensations of humid air and dry air. Dampness related problems (mold spots, damp stains, water damage and condensation) were all risk factors for perceptions of odors and sensations of humid air and dry air, as was the presence of cockroaches, rats, and mosquitoes/flies, use of mosquito-repellent incense and incense. Protective factors included cleaning the child’s bedroom every day and frequently exposing bedding to sunshine. In conclusion, adults’ perceptions of odors and sensations of humid air and dry air are related to factors of the home environment and SBS symptoms are related to odor perceptions.     

Persistence of conidia of Entomophthora muscae in relation to age, temperature, and humidity

In this paper, the effect of age, humidity, and temperature on the conidial survival of Entomophthora muscae was evaluated. E. muscae was obtained from Musca domestica in a dairy in Itatiba (São Paulo, Brazil) and maintained in the laboratory by continuous passage through flies. Furthermore, the ability of conidia to infect flies at three temperatures (17, 21, and 27 °C), four ages of conidia (12, 72, 96, and 154 hours) and two humidities (100 and 60% RH) was evaluated. The temperature of 21 °C was the most favorable for the infection of house flies. Humidity was a cause of variation at 27 °C when the conidia were up to 12 hours old, but had no effect at lower temperatures. Conidia held at 100% RH and aged 72 hours caused no infection at 17 °C, but were infective at 21 °C. In the present study, conidia retained viability much longer than previously observed. Finally, the effect of humidity, temperature, and conidial age is discussed.     

The Multifactor Study of Certain Individual Typological Features of Man and Their Relation to Differences in Nervous-System Strength

Contemporary psychological and physiological studies on the typological features of behavior are more and more often concerned with problems whose resolution requires a synthetic approach to the way in which the problem is posed and to methods for studying it.     

Additions and Corrections to the Check-List of the Aphidiid- Wasp Subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera,Aphidiidae) from the North-West of Russia

New material of the aphidiid-wasp subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera, Aphidiidae) from the North- Western region of Russia is reported. Aphidius eglanteriae Haliday, 1834 is recorded from this region for the first time. The following corrections to the preceding publication of 2017 have been made: 2 correctly identified specimens of Pauesia abietis (Marshall, 1896) were erroneously given also among the material of P. pini (Haliday, 1834), and 4 specimens of P. similis Starý, 1966 were misidentified as P. pini.     

Haemophilus Responses to Nutritional Immunity: Epigenetic and Morphological Contribution to Biofilm Architecture,Invasion, Persistence and Disease Severity

In an effort to suppress microbial outgrowth, the host sequesters essential nutrients in a process termed nutritional immunity. However, inflammatory responses to bacterial insult can restore nutritional resources. Given that nutrient availability modulates virulence factor production and biofilm formation by other bacterial species, we hypothesized that fluctuations in heme-iron availability, particularly at privileged sites, would similarly influence Haemophilus biofilm formation and pathogenesis. Thus, we cultured Haemophilus through sequential heme-iron deplete and heme-iron replete media to determine the effect of transient depletion of internal stores of heme-iron on multiple pathogenic phenotypes. We observed that prior heme-iron restriction potentiates biofilm changes for at least 72 hours that include increased peak height and architectural complexity as compared to biofilms initiated from heme-iron replete bacteria, suggesting a mechanism for epigenetic responses that participate in the changes observed. Additionally, in a co-infection model for human otitis media, heme-iron restricted Haemophilus, although accounting for only 10% of the inoculum (90% heme-iron replete), represented up to 99% of the organisms recovered at 4 days. These data indicate that fluctuations in heme-iron availability promote a survival advantage during disease. Filamentation mediated by a SulA-related ortholog was required for optimal biofilm peak height and persistence during experimental otitis media. Moreover, severity of disease in response to heme-iron restricted Haemophilus was reduced as evidenced by lack of mucosal destruction, decreased erythema, hemorrhagic foci and vasodilatation. Transient restriction of heme-iron also promoted productive invasion events leading to the development of intracellular bacterial communities. Taken together, these data suggest that nutritional immunity, may, in fact, foster long-term phenotypic changes that better equip bacteria for survival at infectious sites.