Occurrence of different development time patterns induced by photoperiod in Anagrus atomus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), an egg parasitoid of Empoasca vitis (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)

The wasp Anagrus atomus L. parasitizes eggs of the cicadellid Empoasca vitis (Göthe) on grapevines during the vegetative season. In vineyards, abundant parasitoid emergence occurs in the autumn as a result of a developmental delay in part of the A. atomus population. In this context, physiological times required by the parasitoid to develop in E. vitis eggs are recorded during the summer. In early summer, all individuals develop fully, with physiological times in agreement with those reported in the literature. From early August onwards, an increasing proportion of parasitoids show a delay in development involving pre‐imaginal stages. Under transmission microscopy, larvae of A. atomus inside the eggs of E. vitis can be clearly differentiated as ‘light’ and ‘dark’ types, which are associated with normal and delayed development, respectively. The decreasing photoperiod as autumn approaches appears to promote the retardation of growth. This phenomenon can be considered a typical case of risk spreading because, when the availability of E. vitis eggs in vineyards is high (i.e. in early summer), A. atomus shows (i) only a normal developmental pattern that allows a faster population increase, whereas (ii) when E. vitis egg availability begins to be scarce (i.e. from mid summer), an increasing proportion of individuals having delayed development provides better fitness because it allows the parasitoid to synchronize its life history with leafhopper species that lay overwintering eggs on plants other than grapevines.     

On the Effects of Cyclic Transversal Forces on Osseointegrated Dental Implants: Experimental and Finite Element Shakedown Analyses

This paper is concerned with the mechanical strength of fixed osseointegrated dental implants subjected to cyclic external loads, applied mainly in a direction orthogonal to their axis. Such a loading condition, seen as a basic design action for the implant, has been given little attention so far. Experimental results and numerical simulations, performed on two- and three-dimensional Finite Element models, are discussed. The shakedown theory is used to show that a common implant design (threaded fixture-abutment-connection screw) is susceptible of low-cycle fatigue failure under loading conditions well within the working range, even if the same design is able to withstand loading of the same type, but applied monotonically, much in excess of the working values. The shakedown analyses give an indication of several possible failure modalities: the low-cycle fatigue either of the implant or of the connection screw, or the loosening of the connection screw itself. Experimental and numerical results are in good qualitative agreement, and both suggest that the issue of transversal cyclic loading on fixed dental implants should be carefully reconsidered in the design phase.