Effects of the paedogenetic mushroom cecid, Heteropeza pygmaea (Diptera:Cecidomyiidae) on cropping of the cultivated mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)

When introduced into a mushroom crop at rates of 2, 20 or 200 larvae/tray (0.56 m²), the mushroom cecid, Heteropeza pygmaea, caused significant reductions in both yield and number of mushrooms in relation to the infestation level. The reductions were greater when the larvae were introduced at spawning rather than at casing. The yield and number of infested (unmarketable) mushrooms increased significantly in relation to the initial infestation level. Just two H. pygmaea larvae, introduced at spawning, resulted in cecid populations that caused a 12% loss in total yield in addition to a 7% loss due to spoilage. Loss assessment in the future, therefore, should take into account both yield suppression and spoilage. There was little effect of cecid infestation on flush timing and mushroom size was only affected in the fourth flush, when a significant reduction (27%) was shown at the highest infestation rate at spawning.     

Sublethal effects of four pesticides on paedogenetic larvae of the Cecidomyiidae

The sublethal effects of four pesticides on paedogenetic larvae of the Cecidomyiidae were investigated in sterile culture. With Heteropeza pygmaea:-(a) diazinon at 0.2 ppm and above in the agar medium produced an all or nothing response where most larvae lost locomotory co-ordination and did not feed, but on transference to an untreated culture many recovered and reproduced; (b) HCH reduced activity, hemipupal size and fecundity in proportion to dosage; (c) quinomethionate reduced hemipupal size but the number of young increased from a mean of 12 for untreated parents to 15.5 at 0.32 ppm; (d) diflubenzuron induced one larva to produce a previously unrecorded second instar and the evolutionary significance of this is discussed. The effect of diflubenzuron on larvae of Mycophila speyeri was twofold: a reduction in fecundity of the parents and an increase in pupa-larva production.

---

Effets sublétaux de quatre pesticides sur les larves paedogénétique de cecidomyiidae

Résumé Les recherches présentées se rapportent aux effets de doses sublétales de quatre pesticides à l'égard de larves paedogénétiques de Cecidomyiidae, élevées sur milieu gnotobiotique. La plupart des larves d'Heteropeza pygmaea refusent de s'alimenter sur un milieu contenant 0,2 ppm au plus de diazinon et perdent leur faculté locomotrice; transférées sur un milieu normal, elles se rétablissent et se reproduisent normalement. La réponse est du type tout ou rien, car le reste des larves se comporte normalement.Le HCH réduit l'activité larvaire, la taille hémipupale et la fécondité, en fonction de la dose.Le quinomethionate réduit la taille hémipupale mais provoque une augmentation du nombre de jeunes larves, qui passent d'une moyenne de 12 chez les parents témoins, à 15,5 dans le milieu additionné de 0,32 ppm de ce toxique.Le diflubenzuron a provoqué, chez une larve, la formation d'une cuticule surnuméraire, conduisant à un second stade larvaire, au lieu de donner comme normalement une hémipupe. C'est la première fois qu'un tel phénomène est observé, sa signification évolutive est discutée.Les effets du diflubenzuron sur les larves de Mycophila speyeri (Barnes) sont doubles: une réduction de la fécondité des parents et une augmentation de la production des larves imaginales.

     

Foraging behaviour in Drosophila larvae: mushroom body ablation

Drosophila larvae and adults exhibit a naturally occurring genetically based behavioural polymorphism in locomotor activity while foraging. Larvae of the rover morph exhibit longer foraging trails than sitters and forage between food patches, while sitters have shorter foraging trails and forage within patches. This behaviour is influenced by levels of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PGK) encoded by the foraging (for) gene. Rover larvae have higher expression levels and higher PGK activities than do sitters. Here we discuss the importance of the for gene for studies of the mechanistic and evolutionary significance of individual differences in behaviour. We also show how structure-function analysis can be used to investigate a role for mushroom bodies in larval behaviour both in the presence and in the absence of food. Hydroxyurea fed to newly hatched larvae prevents the development of all post-embryonically derived mushroom body (MB) neuropil. This method was used to ablate MBs in rover and sitter genetic variants of foraging to test whether these structures mediate expression of the foraging behavioural polymorphism. We found that locomotor activity levels during foraging of both the rover and sitter larval morphs were not significantly influenced by MB ablation. Alternative hypotheses that may explain how variation in foraging behaviour is generated are discussed.     

Effects of methoprene and permethrin on paedogenetic larvae of Heteropeza pygmaea and Mycophila speyeri (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

The effects of methoprene and permethrin on larvae of Heteropeza pygmaea Winnertz and Mycophila speyeri (Barnes), two Cecidomyiid species of paedogenetic insect mushroom pest, were investigated in sterile culture at concentrations of 0.1-100 micrograms/g. The two highest concentrations of permethrin caused complete mortality of M. speyeri but only low mortality of H. pygmaea. The main sublethal effects of permethrin on both species were reduced fecundity and reduced mother-larval width. Methoprene had only sublethal effects on both species. At all doses, methoprene caused an increase in H. pygmaea generation time but a reduction in hemipupal width and fecundity according to dosage. The effects on M. speyeri were similar but more severe.     

The interaction between mushroom strains and fungicides in the control of dry bubble disease caused by Verticilliumfungicola

Five fungicides were compared for control of Verticilliumfungicola on six strains of the cultivated mushroom. The strains showed considerable differences both in their sensitivity to the fungicides and their susceptibility to infection. These factors complicated comparison of the fungicides, but benodanil was less effective than chlorothalonil against V. fungicola.     

The control of chitin deposition by ecdysterone in larvae of Bombyx mori

The effect of ecdysterone on the deposition of chitin in Bombyx larvae was examined. The chitin content in the abdomen decreased following hormone treatment to a value half that of the controls. Studies with ¹⁴C-glucose revealed that whereas controls exhibited a gradual decrease in the rate of ¹⁴C-glucose incorporation into chitin, the administration of ecdysterone resulted in a rapid fall in the rate of incorporation followed by a rise until ecdysis occurred. Chitin catabolism was estimated at 0·11 mg chitin/hr, based on the chitin content and incorporation rates. A dual rôle is indicated for ecdysterone in chitin metabolism, namely the activation of both synthetic and lytic systems.     

The control of chitinase activity by ecdysterone in larvae of Bombyx mori

The chitinase activity in the abdominal body walls of isolated abdomens of Bombyx mori larvae was examined.The activity in the abdomen just after ligation, decreased with the lapse of time, but increased by a fivefold factor whenever ecdysterone was injected into the abdomen at a sufficient dose to induce ecdysis. The increase in chitinase activity appeared some 9 hr after hormone injection. The increase in the enzyme activity was not blocked completely by actinomycin D and puromycin, and the rate of syntheses of RNA and protein in the body walls was not found to rise before the increase of chitinase activity.     

The dorsal compartment locomotory control system in amphioxus larvae

Amphioxus myotomes consist of separate sets of superficial and deep muscle fibers, each with its own innervation, that are thought to be responsible for slow swimming and escape behavior, respectively. Tracings from serial EM sections of the anterior nerve cord in the larva show that the motoneurons and premotor interneurons controlling the superficial fibers (the dorsal compartment, or DC pathway) are linked by specialized junctions of a previously undescribed type, referred to here as juxta-reticular (JR) junctions for the characteristic presence of a cisterna of endoplasmic reticulum on each side. JR junctions link the DC motoneurons with each other, with the largest of the anterior paired neurons (LPN3s) and with one class of ipsilateral projection neurons (IPNs), but occur nowhere else. Because of the paucity of synaptic input to the DC system, larval behavior can only be explained if the JR junctions act as functional links between cells. An analysis of the pattern of cell contacts also suggests that the LPN3s are probably pacemakers for both slow and fast locomotion, but act through junctions in the former case and conventional synapses in the latter. The only major synaptic input to the DC system identified in somites 1 and 2 was from four neurons located in the cerebral vesicle, referred to here as Type 2 preinfundibular projection neurons (PPN2s). They have unusually large varicosities, arranged in series, that make periodic contacts with the DC motoneurons. More caudally, the DC motoneurons receive additional input via similar large varicosities from the receptor cells of the first dorsal ocellus, located in somite 5. The overall circuitry of the locomotory control system suggests that the PPN2s may be instrumental in sustaining slow swimming, whereas mechanical stimulation, especially of the rostrum, preferentially activates the fast mode.     

Susceptibility of larvae of the mushroom fly Megaselia halterata to the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema feltiae in bioassays

Bioassays were initially conducted in Petri-dishes to screen the efficacy of four Heterorhabiditis and Steinernema species against the mushroom phorid Megaselia halterata. Control rates of 61 to 70% control were obtained at a dosage of 1500 infective juveniles (IJs) per 30 larvae. In order to avoid stress-induced susceptibility, an improved bioassay system in micro-wells, filled with 0.6 ml of compost agar and 0.2 of compost colonized by Agaricus bisporus, was developed. In a screening of different species of Heterorhabiditis and Steinernema with applications of 30 IJs per phorid larva, a highest parasitization rate of 20% was obtained with S. feltiae. Bioassays were continued with S. feltiae in dosage-mortality assays in which larvae of the sciarid Lycoriella auripila and the phorid M. halterata were challenged. At the lowest dosage of 30 IJs per sciarid larva, 78% control was obtained. Increasing the dosage from 30 to 1000 led to only small increases of the phorid mortality. At 1000 IJs per larva a significant mortality of 18% was obtained. The nature of the substrate, compost or casing did not greatly influence the parasitization rates. The sex ratio of nematodes that were able to penetrate and establish in the phorid larvae appeared to be female-skewed. Males were only present at a mean of 19%. Low susceptibility of the phorid larva was ascribed to the inaccessibility of its small mouth opening.     

The effect of sciarid larvae (Lycoriella auripila) on cropping of the cultivated mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)

Significant linear relationships between the mean number of sciarid, Lycoriella auripila, larvae/125 g-sample of casing and yield, numbers of mushrooms and weight/mushroom were demonstrated at all stages of a mushroom crop. Negative relationships were obtained for yield throughout the cropping period. There was no injury threshold for this pest, although an economic threshold of one larva/sample was deduced. Loss in yield was mostly due to the destruction of mushroom primordia and presumed interruption of nutrient supply to the developing sporophores. Numbers of mushrooms were severely reduced in the first, second and third flushes, more so than yield, although a large increase in numbers was demonstrated in the fourth flush. The size of mushroom was inversely related to numbers, although the increases in size in the first three flushes were insufficient to compensate for the reduction in numbers. A reduction in size was evident in the fourth flush.     

Mutual use of leaf-shelters by lepidopteran larvae on paper birch

Abstract.

• 1 Many species of birch-feeding Lepidoptera make leaf-shelters by tying leaves together with silk. Several species, or several instars of a single species, may be found together within a single leaf-shelter.
• 2 Shelters made in June by the birch tube-maker Acrobasis betulella (Pyralidae) are colonized throughout the season by other Lepidoptera. Artificial A.betulella shelters, made by tying leaves together with string, were colonized at a greater rate than nearby control foliage, indicating that secondary species are indeed responding to the presence of the shelter, and not to some other aspect of plant quality.
• 3 Several species in the families Oecophoridae, Gelichiidae and Stenomidae make ‘leaf-sandwiches’ by tying two leaves together; these are later colonized by oviposition from adult A.betulella. Artificial sandwiches made by joining leaves together with paperclips were colonized by several species of sandwich-makers, as well as by A.betulella. Colonization occurred mainly via oviposition, although some sandwiches may have been colonized by wandering larvae.
• 4 First instar A.betulella, which cannot form their own shelter, enjoyed greater survivorship when placed in artificial leaf-sandwiches than when placed on leaves without sandwiches.

     

Habitat use of breeding birds in Central European reed beds

Wetlands Ecology and Management - To date, there have been few comprehensive studies on habitat preferences of wetland bird communities focusing on European reed bed avifauna. During the years...