THE EFFECT OF COMMERCIAL TRAPPING ON RABBIT POPULATIONS

The effect of commercial trapping on two rabbit populations in West Wales, was investigated during 1946 to 1949. On two farms rabbits were caught alive in snares, marked and released just before trapping; the total number of rabbits marked, divided by the fraction of marked rabbits recovered in the trapped sample gave an estimate of the population before trapping started. Trapping usually removed 30–40 % of the rabbits present, a proportion compatible with a careful cropping of the population. At one farm, studied for 3 years, the population increased steadily.
Breeding was intense from January to June inclusive, and from weight and age distributions it was apparent that in 1948 and 1949 considerable breeding also occurred in autumn. The sex ratio varied around a mean of about 50%.
Data are given on movements, obtained from recapture records of zog marked animals. They suggest that rabbits probably forage over an area of not more than 150 yards in diameter. The records from recaptured marked animals indicate that the mean expectation of life is about 6 months.     

稻纵卷叶螟对性信息素和花香的嗅觉行为反应及在其种群监测中的应用

[目的]明确稻纵卷叶螟Cnaphalocrocis medinalis生理状态对性信息素和花香气味的嗅觉行为反应的影响,以及在田间性信息素和花香气味诱蛾量的动态.[方法]于2020年在广西、湖南、浙江、四川5个试验点,通过田间网捕、花香气味和性信息素诱捕稻纵卷叶螟成虫,结合解剖卵巢和精巢,比较性信息素和花香诱捕的基本迁...     

性诱剂、赤眼蜂和化学药剂协同防治大豆食心虫的研究

【目的】本文为优化大豆食心虫Leguminirora glycinioorella(Mats.)Obraztsov生物防治策略,探究不同防治策略的最佳防治时期和最佳使用量,最终达到提高防治效率及保护环境的目的。【方法】选取哈尔滨和黑河两个地区进行试验,通过比较不同措施防治大豆食心虫的防治效果,以及在大豆食心虫不同发生期单独使用性诱剂和性诱剂-赤眼蜂协同防治的防治效果,寻找最佳防治方法及最佳防治时期。通过比较在不同配比下性诱剂与化学药剂(敌敌畏)协同防治效果,寻找最适配比。【结果】结果表明:(1)性诱剂-赤眼蜂协同防治效果为60.89%,明显优于单独使用性诱剂或赤眼蜂单独防治大豆食心虫。(2)性诱剂单独使用和性诱剂赤眼蜂协同防治大豆食心虫最佳防治时期都为其盛发期前5 d,防治效果最高可达62.42%和66.08%,其次是盛发期防治,盛发期后5 d防治效果最差。(3)性诱剂-化学药剂协同防治研究发现,从防治效果、经济效益、生态保护等多方面考虑,放每667 m2放1个诱捕器和3/4药量的敌敌畏熏蒸剂效果更佳,与使用化学药剂防治效果差差异不显著,并能减少农药使用量。【结论】研究结果表明,最佳生物防治策略为在大豆食心虫盛发期前5 d利用性诱剂-赤眼蜂协同防治大豆食心虫,每667 m2放1个诱捕器和3/4药量的敌敌畏熏蒸剂,可作为从化学防治向生物防治过渡的防治方法。     

Sex ratio in catches of American mink – How to catch the females

To protect seabirds breeding on small nearshore islands (“sites”) along the coast of west Scotland from American mink, continuous year-round conventional cage trapping was carried out at constant effort at ten sites for three years (2003–2005) and at five of these sites for 10 years (1997–2006). In both periods, trapped male mink outnumbered females for most of the year, usually by more than two to one, with peaks of males in April–May and in September–October. However, a striking change took place in August–September, when the sex ratio of catches became close to unity. Most of the trapped females were caught in these two months. The chance of catching a female by this method was seven or eight times greater in August–September than during the rest of the year. Relatively few mink of either sex were caught in November–February. These findings, particularly the greatly increased catch of females in August–September, may be useful to others working to control alien American mink.     

Experimental evidence that corticosterone affects offspring sex ratios in quail

Recent studies have shown that some species of birds have a remarkable degree of control over the sex ratio of offspring they produce. However, the mechanism by which they achieve this feat is unknown. Hormones circulating in the breeding female are particularly sensitive to environmental perturbations, and so could provide a mechanism for her to bias the sex ratio of her offspring in favour of the sex that would derive greatest benefit from the prevailing environmental conditions. Here, we present details of an experiment in which we manipulated levels of testosterone, 17beta-oestradiol and corticosterone in breeding female Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) using Silastic implants and looked for effects on the sex ratio of offspring produced. Offspring sex ratio in this species was significantly correlated with faecal concentrations of the principal avian stress hormone, corticosterone, and artificially elevated levels of corticosterone resulted in significantly female-biased sex ratios at laying. Varying testosterone and 17beta-oestradiol had no effect on sex ratio alone, and faecal levels of these hormones did not vary in response to corticosterone. Our results suggest that corticosterone may be part of the sex-biasing process in birds.     

Evaluation of infestation percentage of cotton fields to the spiny bollworm,Earias insulana Boisduval (Lep.: Noctuidae), and its relationship with pheromone traps

Spiny bollworm, Earias insulana Boisduval (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is one of the most important pest of malvaceous plants throughout the world, except America. In recent years, this insect has been serious pest for cotton fields in southern regions of Iran, especially Darab region of Fars province. In order to evaluate the performance of sex pheromone in reduction of infestation percentage of the spiny bollworm by mass trapping method, an experiment was carried out during year of 2012 in Darab region in Randomised Completely Block Design with six treatments and four replications. The treatments were: application of the four sex pheromone trap densities at the rates of 16, 20, 24 and 30?traps/h, application of Larvin chemical insecticide at the rate of 1?L/h and control. Percentages of infected bolls and flowers to E. insulana were weekly determined. The application of Larvin insecticide performed as the pest population reached to economic threshold level. Analysis variance of results showed that there are significant differences between time, trap number and time?×?trap interaction on infestation percentage per hectare. During sampling time, the highest infestation percentage was in control treatment and the lowest one was observed in 30 and 24?traps/h treatments. The peak of infestation percentage was seen in 18th of November. The best efficiency among treatments was observed in pheromone trap. In conclusion, using sex pheromone trap in comparison to application of insecticides can efficiently reduce infestation level of cotton fields.     

Increased trapping efficiency for the peach fruit moth Carposina sasakii (Matsumura) with synthetic sex pheromone

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Seasonal decline in cell-mediated immunity of collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis nestlings: does the sex of offspring matter?

The seasonal decline in offspring performance is a frequently reported phenomenon in species breeding in a temperate zone, but the potential effect of brood sex ratio on such declines has not been studied. Here, we predicted that this decline may occur if the sex that exhibits the lower immune response or lower survival rate tends to be more frequent among late broods. The seasonal patterns of four performance parameters of collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis nestlings have been examined during 4 years. Sex was assigned to all studied individuals using molecular techniques. We found significant seasonal decline in cell-mediated immune response, tarsus length and survival of the chicks. The lack of interactions between gender and hatching date revealed that both sexes contributed equally to the observed decline. The brood sex ratio did not vary with the laying date. On the basis of available data, we suggest that the breeding date may only exceptionally induce female-driven sex allocation in species with only slight sexual size dimorphism. In consequence, we suggest that seasonal sex ratio shifts do not account for seasonally declining fitness of nestlings in passerines.     

Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis cooperative helpers at nests are older siblings

Cooperative breeding is rare in shorebirds, and when found it is thought to be due to polygamous mating (cooperative polygamy). Here we describe the social structure of cooperatively breeding groups in Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis and test the prediction that offspring sex ratio is skewed towards the sex that helps. The social groups consisted of a breeding pair with one or two young (mostly males, 68%) from the previous breeding season, and offspring sex ratio was not skewed. Cooperative breeding in the Southern Lapwing is not the consequence of cooperative polygamy, but rather groups were formed by a mated pair and some of their offspring from previous nests as helpers.     

Facultative sex ratio adjustment by western bluebird mothers with stay-at-home helpers-at-the-nest

Although population sex ratios rarely deviate from unity, the sex ratio of individual mothers should be labile, allowing them to bias their sex ratios in favour of the more successful sex when they can expect a difference in the mean reproductive value of their daughters and sons. Just how mothers should bias sex allocation is particularly complicated in cooperative breeders, because the adaptive sex ratio may be influenced by conflicting impacts of helpers on their parents' fitness via ‘local resource enhancement’ and ‘local resource competition’. In western bluebirds, Sialia mexicana, breeding-age helpers-at-the-nest are exclusively male and increase their parents' nesting success in the current year. As such, they are viewed as helpers, not hinderers, even though by failing to gain a breeding position they reduce their parents' annual inclusive fitness below that of parents with a breeding son. In this study, I tested the hypothesis that nonbreeding, stay-at-home helpers indicate poor breeding prospects for locally competing sons, and investigated one prediction of this hypothesis that such helpers also indicate a tendency for parents to produce substandard sons. A female removal experiment showed that female mates were in short supply. Pairs had daughter-biased broods when they had a stay-at-home helper son that failed to get a mate in the first place, but not when they had a helper that had been breeding on his own, but returned home to help sometime after his mother finished laying her eggs. Stay-at-home sons were not developmentally delayed relative to breeders of the same cohort, suggesting that helpers may not be inferior to breeders. Although the population sex ratio fluctuates about unity, a multiyear data set showed a negative relationship between the frequency of helping and the annual brood sex ratio for the population. These results suggest that local resource competition outweighs local resource enhancement in driving individual and population sex ratio variation in western bluebirds, a pattern that would not be predicted based on the simple question of whether helpers help or hinder at the nest.     

Fluctuation in abundance and age structure of a breeding population of the Japanese brown frog,Rana japonica gunther (Amphibia,anura)

A breeding population of Rana japonica was studied at a marsh on the campus of Hiroshima University in Higashi-Hiroshima during the five years 1995-1999. The mark-recapture study showed that the size of the breeding population varied from year to year, and increased more than twofold in 1999 in comparison with the preceding years. The sex ratio of the breeding population (male/female) was from nearly 1.0 to 1.6. Frogs of both sexes were estimated to breed for the first time at the age of one or two years, and their maximum age was four years according to skeletochronology using phalanges and mark-recapture. Modes of the estimated ages were one year for males during the study years except 1997, but one or two years for females. Two thirds of breeding frogs, irrespective of their sex, were estimated to breed only once throughout their lives.     

Sex ratio in rabbits following modified artificial insemination

The possibility of modifying the sex ratio of rabbit litters was examined in two experiments involving artificial insemination (AI) with fresh semen. Three time periods of AI, relative to ovulation, were used in Experiment 1: (a) control, GnRH was administered immediately after AI with ovulation estimated to occur 10-12h after AI; (b) early AI, GnRH was given 6h after AI so that ovulation was delayed until 16-18 h after AI; (c) late AI, GnRH was administered 6h before AI, which was performed 4-6h before ovulation. There were 13 does per treatment, and each doe was used in the same treatment for three AIs at 42-day intervals. The second experiment involved two treatments in which the does were inseminated as for the control in Experiment 1 and AI was performed using semen prepared in the normal manner (Treatment 1) or after centrifugation through 11 discontinuous Percoll gradients (Treatment 2). There were 20 does per treatment, and each doe was used in the same treatment for three AIs at 42-day intervals. The proportion of female kits produced in Experiment 1 was: control 41.7+/-19.1%, early AI 49.8+/-17.8%, and late AI 41.4+/-16.4%. These proportions did not differ significantly between treatments or from the expected 50:50 sex ratio. Fertility was reduced by the early (60.0%) and late (73.7%) AI treatments relative to control AI (80.0%), and the difference between early and control AI almost achieved statistical significance (P<0.07). In Experiment 2, the proportion of female kits was not affected by treatment (control, 51.1%; Percoll, 54.8%), and there was a similar level of fertility for both treatments (control, 76.0%; Percoll, 74.1%). Prolificacy and perinatal mortality were not affected by treatment in either experiment. It was concluded that neither the timing of insemination nor Percoll centrifugation of semen affected the sex ratio at birth of rabbit litters.     

A polymorphic effect of sexually differential production costs when one parent controls the sex ratio.

R. A. Fisher's sex ratio theory predicts that if sons and daughters cost fixed amounts of resources to raise and parents have fixed amounts to invest, then the numerical sex ratio of a panmictic population will evolve to be inversely proportional to relative cost. However, the theory assumes control by both parents. We show that allowing one parent to control the sex ratio biases it further from parity than Fisher's theory predicts. Quantitatively, the additional bias towards the cheaper sex depends only very weakly on which sex is in control. Qualitatively, however, the effect is very strong: a monomorphic, mixed-brood strategy evolves only if the more expensive sex is in control. If the controlling sex is cheaper to raise, then the sex ratio is instead achieved through a polymorphism of single-sex broods. Such polymorphisms are seldom observed in nature, generating the prediction that wherever the sexes are not equally costly, sex ratio is usually either under biparental control or under uniparental control by the more expensive sex. However, such polymorphisms do occur, and some of them may be explained by our model.     

梨小食心虫性信息素田间应用技术研究

梨小食心虫Grapholitha molesta(Busck)是梨园、桃园重要的果树害虫。本文比较研究了梨小食心虫性信息素在梨园、桃园悬挂不同高度、设置不同密度对梨小食心虫雄性成虫诱捕效果的影响,结果表明:在梨树树冠范围内,梨小食心虫性信息素最佳设置高度为2 m;在桃树树冠范围内,梨小食心虫性信息素最佳设置高度为1.5 m;同时,田间诱捕效果与性信息素设置密度密切相关,梨园中,每0.067 hm2设置密度为6¹0个诱芯时,对梨小食心虫的诱捕效果影响不大,而桃园中每0.067 hm2设置8个诱芯时,有最好的诱集效果。本研究可为梨小食心虫性信息素田间应用提供指导。     

木蠹蛾性信息素研究的进展

综述了木蠹蛾性信息素研究及在综合防治措施中应用的最新进展,重点评述了木蠹蛾性信息素的结构鉴定与化学结构。至今有4种木蠹蛾的性信息素被鉴定,另外还筛选出2种木蠹蛾的性诱剂。在我国,对木蠹蛾的防治,应采取化学防治、生物防治及使用人工合成性信息素或性诱剂诱捕法和迷向法综合防治措施。     

Improving predator capture rates: analysis of river margin trap site data in the Waitaki Basin, New Zealand

We recorded trap site characteristics and captures during a trapping programme designed to protect breeding and released black stilts (kaki, Himantopus novaezelandiae) from predation, in order to learn about trap site features that might improve the efficacy of future predator trapping management. Captures were made at 1629 leg-hold traps opened over 71 333 trap nights between 1998 and 2000, at six locations in the Upper Waitaki Basin, New Zealand. Twelve trap site variables were recorded. The model describing the best combination of variables for four groups of predators (cats Felis catus, mustelids Mustela furo (ferrets) and M. erminea (stoats), harriers Circus approximans and hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus) was found using logistic regression and AIC values. For all predator groups both the way the trap was set and its placement within the landscape (with respect to habitat type and the distribution of landscape features that might be important to predators) influenced capture rates. Mustelids and harriers were more likely to be caught on stable riverbed habitats where rabbit densities are highest, while hedgehogs were mainly caught on river terraces and cats were equally likely to be caught anywhere. Individual trap characteristics in terms of set type, trap haze, trap backing, plate haze, visibility of bait, substrate and ground cover, associated with higher catch rates for each predator group are described.     

Between-year variation in population sex ratio increases with complexity of the breeding system in Hymenoptera

While adaptive adjustment of sex ratio in the function of colony kin structure and food availability commonly occurs in social Hymenoptera, long-term studies have revealed substantial unexplained between-year variation in sex ratio at the population level. In order to identify factors that contribute to increased between-year variation in population sex ratio, we conducted a comparative analysis across 47 Hymenoptera species differing in their breeding system. We found that between-year variation in population sex ratio steadily increased as one moved from solitary species, to primitively eusocial species, to single-queen eusocial species, to multiple-queen eusocial species. Specifically, between-year variation in population sex ratio was low (6.6% of total possible variation) in solitary species, which is consistent with the view that in solitary species, sex ratio can vary only in response to fluctuations in ecological factors such as food availability. In contrast, we found significantly higher (19.5%) between-year variation in population sex ratio in multiple-queen eusocial species, which supports the view that in these species, sex ratio can also fluctuate in response to temporal changes in social factors such as queen number and queen-worker control over sex ratio, as well as factors influencing caste determination. The simultaneous adjustment of sex ratio in response to temporal fluctuations in ecological and social factors seems to preclude the existence of a single sex ratio optimum. The absence of such an optimum may reflect an additional cost associated with the evolution of complex breeding systems in Hymenoptera societies.     

Current understanding of the development of sex attractant-based biocontrol in burnet moths

Burnet moths, also known as the family Zygaenidae, are a typical diurnal family of Lepidoptera. Some species are important insect pests in agriculture and forestry. The use of sex attractants is one of the most important measures in the integrated pest management of burnet moths because these attractants are highly efficient, do not cause pollution, and are convenient and harmless to natural enemies. The earliest information about sex pheromones in Zygaenidae was reported in 1972. To date, many studies have described sex pheromones and attractants of species in Zygaenidae. Here, we review a total of 22 sex attractant compositions identified for 57 species of Zygaenidae and compare the differences in the structures of sex attractants among these species. The application of sex attractants in seasonal monitoring showed that the main activity period of zygaenid moths is from May to September each year. However, there are few reports on the effects of sex attractants on mass trapping of members of the family Zygaenidae. The ratio and degradation of sex attractants and the trap color, shape and hanging height were considered the main factors influencing capture effectiveness. Directions for further study of burnet moths are also discussed.     

Sex ratio of North Island kaka (

The sex ratio of the kaka population inhabiting the Waihaha Ecological Area, Pureora Forest Park was estimated between late October 1994 and January 1995. The observed sex ratio estimate was three males to one female compared to a capture rate (using mist nets) of six to one in the same area between January and June 1994. Females appeared to be less susceptible to capture than males. The skewed sex ratio toward male kaka was significant and suggests that female kaka suffer higher mortality (probably due to predation at the nest) than males. The slow breeding rate of kaka combined with a high loss of breeding females is a serious threat to the long term survival of the kaka population within the Waihaha Ecological Area.     

Breeding territory fidelity in a partial migrant, the American dipper Cinclus mexicanus

American dipper Cinclus mexicanus populations are frequently composed of resident individuals that occupy permanent territories year round and migratory individuals that overwinter with residents but migrate to breeding territories on higher elevation creeks each spring. Between 1999 and 2004 we examined how migratory strategy (resident/migratory) and sex differences influence breeding territory fidelity of American dippers occupying the Chilliwack River watershed, British Columbia, Canada. Counter to expectation we found that the migratory strategy of American dippers did not influence whether birds breeding in one year were found on their former breeding territory in the next. Migratory strategy also did not affect the probability that known surviving dippers occupied the same breeding territory in the following year. Males and females were equally likely to be found on their former territory in the following year (females 43%, males 41%) and known survivors had similar levels of breeding territory fidelity (females 74%, males 68%). However, breeding territory fidelity of males and females varied in response to different factors. Surviving female dippers were more likely to be found on their former breeding territory in the subsequent year following a successful breeding attempt than an unsuccessful breeding attempt. Prior reproductive performance did not influence whether surviving male dippers were found on their former breeding territory. Male dippers were more likely to be found on their former territory and, if they survived, have higher breeding territory fidelity when their mate also returned to that same territory. Mate retention also influenced whether females were found on their former territory in the following year but had no effect on the breeding territory fidelity of known survivors. We argue that sex‐specific dispersal decision rules in American dippers are driven by sex differences in the predictability of breeding performance between years and sex differences in how mate retention influences subsequent reproductive success.