Effect of different larval rearing temperatures on the productivity (Ro) and morphology of the malaria vector Anopheles superpictus Grassi (Diptera: Culicidae) using geometric morphometrics

Temperature affects both the biology and morphology of mosquito vectors. Geometric morphometrics is a useful new tool for capturing and analyzing differences in shape and size in many morphological parameters, including wings. We have used this technique for capturing the differences in the wings of the malaria vector Anopheles superpictus, using cohorts reared at six different constant temperatures (15°, 20°, 25°, 27°, 30°, and 35° C) and also searched for potential correlations with the life tables of the species. We studied wing shape in both male and female adults, using 22 landmarks on the wing in relation to ecological parameters, including the development rate. The ecological zero was calculated as 9.93° C and the thermal constant as 296.34 day‐degrees. The rearing temperature affects egg, larval, and pupal development and also the total time from egg to adult. As rearing temperatures increased, longevity decreased in both sexes. In An. superpictus, R_o value and productivity correlated with the statistically significant gradual deformations in the wing shape related to size in both sexes. These deformations directly linked to differences in immature rearing temperatures. Analysis using PCA and UPGMA phenograms showed that although wings of females became narrower dorsoventrally as the temperature increased, they became broader in males. Comparisons of the wing landmarks indicated the medial part of the wing was most affected by larval rearing temperatures, showing relatively more deformations. Algorithmic values of the life tables were determined in correlation with the results of geometric morphometrics. Comparisons of centroid sizes in the cohorts showed that overall wing size became smaller in both sexes in response to higher rearing temperatures.     

The genetic structure of a tribal population,the Yanomama Indians. XII. Biodemographic studies

The Yanomama Indians of Southern Vanezuela and Northern Brazil are one of the largest, relatively unacculturated tribes of the tropical rain forest. Over a period of eight years data have been collected from a considerable portion of their territory on estimated age, sex ratio, fertility rates (as determined by physical examination and urine tests), and infant death rates. Although it has been impossible to collect direct data on infanticide, this subject can be approached indirectly through distortions of the sex ratio and anecdotal information. Some historical data are also available as a basis for estimating tribal expansion in the past 100 years. With this material it has been possible to construct Life Tables for the Yanomama, and to explore the results of various perturbations of the input parameters. Data are also presented on patterns of mating and reproduction: number of spouses, mean and variance in number of surviving children, frequency of “extra-marital conceptions” based on the results of extensive blood group typings, and consanguinity rates as determined by observation and computer simulation. Although we do not present the Yanomama as typical, these data are seen as providing a basis for more realistic population models than have existed in the past. In addition, the data provide a basis for relatively precise estimates of such demographic measures as Fisher's Reproductive Value, Crow's Index of Total Selection, and Weiss' Index of Growth Regulation.     

Temperature influence on cohort parameters and demographic characteristics of the two cowpea coreids Clavigralla tomentosicollis and C. shadabi

Age-specific life tables of two important pests of cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., the pod sucking bugs Clavigralla tomentosicollis Stål and C. shadabi Dolling (Heteroptera: Coreidae), were obtained from observations carried out at different temperatures. A biophysical model was found satisfactory to describe the temperature-response of developmental and mortality rates of egg and nymphal stages, with a peak developmental rate around 34°C in both species. The variability in development times was small and the experimental data did not permit any conclusion with regard to the Erlang probability density function. Survival of eggs and nymphs remained high between 20° and 30°C for both species. At temperatures above 34°C, C. tomentosicollis survivorship and fecundity was higher than that of C. shadabi, which in turn laid more eggs at temperatures between 20° and 30°C. Maximum fecundity is estimated to be at 29°C for C. tomentosicollis (99 eggs/female) and 26°C for C. shadabi (261 eggs/female). At 30°C, the intrinsic rate of increase reached a maximum in both species, 0.152 per day for C. tomentosicollis and 0.145 per day for C. shadabi, and remained high for C. tomentosicollis until 36°C. C. tomentosicollis performed significantly better on pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan Millsp., than on cowpea at higher temperatures.     

Test for increasing convex order in multivariate response

Trend test based on cross-classified data in dose-response has been a central problem in medicine. Most of existing test methods are known to only fit to binary response variables. However, the approaches for binary response tables may suffer from the lack of a clear choice for dichotomization. For multivariate response with ordered categories, some studies have been done for simple stochastic order, likelihood ratio order and so on. However, methods of statistical inference on increasing convex order for more than two multinomial populations have not been fully developed. For testing the increasing convex order alternative, this article provides a model-free test method which can be used in the case of two-way tables and stratified data. Two real examples will be used to illustrate how to apply our test method.     

Intraguild predation on Eretmocerus sp. nr. emiratus,a parasitoid of Bemisia tabaci,by three generalist predators with implications for estimating the level and impact of parasitism

Intraguild predation (IGP) is pervasive in many managed and unmanaged ecosystems and may have negative, neutral or positive effects on the biological control of pest insects. Both generalist predators and aphelinid parasitoids attack Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) Biotype B (=B. argentifolii Perring & Bellows) on cotton in the southwestern USA. Free-choice and no-choice laboratory assays were conducted to quantify prey consumption patterns and preference by three representative generalist predators, Geocoris punctipes (Say), Orius insidiosus (Say), and Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville, offered fourth instar B. tabaci nymphs and nymphs parasitized by Eretmocerus sp. nr. emiratus. All three predators showed a significant preference for larval and pupal stage parasitoids over early fourth instar nymphs, but G. punctipes and O. insidiosus were non-discriminating when offered a choice of larval parasitoids and late fourth instar nymphs. The potential implications of these observed patterns for the field were examined through sensitivity analyses of existing field life table data. First, preference for parasitized hosts alters the methods required for calculating marginal rates of parasitism. Incorporating a preference variable in the estimation procedure had a very small positive effect (0.02–1.13% change) on total generational mortalities observed in previous life table studies. However, further hypothetical analyses suggested that under circumstances of lower generational mortality and higher levels of either apparent parasitism or predation, high levels of predator preference for parasitized prey could alter estimates of total mortality as much as 14%. Second, although intraguild predation was demonstrated, the implications for biological control are unclear. Based on field life table data the rate of IGP ranged from 0.019 to 0.126 depending on predator species and prey comparison, but accounting for these levels of IGP had only small negative effects on total generational mortalities (0.193–1.278% change).     

Functional restraints on the patterns of amino acid substitutions: application to sequence-structure homology recognition

Amino acid residues that are involved in functional interactions in proteins have strong evolutionary pressure to remain unchanged and consequently their substitution patterns are different from those that are noninteracting. To characterize and quantify the differences between amino acid substitution patterns due to structural restraints and those under functional restraints, we have made a comparative analysis of families of homologous proteins. Residues classified as having the same amino acid type, secondary structure, accessibility, and side-chain hydrogen bonds are shown to be better conserved if they are close to the active site. We have focused on enzyme families for this analysis since they have functional sites that are easily defined by their catalytic residues. We have derived new sets of environment-specific substitution tables, which we term function-dependent environment-specific substitution tables, where amino acid residues are classified according to their distance from the functional sites. The residues that are within a distance of 9 A from the active site have distinct amino acid substitution patterns when compared to the other sites. The function-dependent environment-specific substitution tables have been tested using the sequence-structure homology recognition program FUGUE and the results compared with the recognition performance obtained using the standard environment-specific substitution tables. Significant improvements are obtained in both recognition performance and alignment accuracy using the function-dependent environment-specific substitution tables (P-value = 0.02, according to the Wilcoxon signed rank test for alignment accuracy). The alignments near the active site are greatly improved with pronounced improvements at lower percentage identities (less than 30%).