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The Journal of Experimental Biology Aug 2011Escape trajectories (ETs; measured as the angle relative to the direction of the threat) have been studied in many taxa using a variety of methodologies and definitions.... (Review)
Review
Escape trajectories (ETs; measured as the angle relative to the direction of the threat) have been studied in many taxa using a variety of methodologies and definitions. Here, we provide a review of methodological issues followed by a survey of ET studies across animal taxa, including insects, crustaceans, molluscs, lizards, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. Variability in ETs is examined in terms of ecological significance and morpho-physiological constraints. The survey shows that certain escape strategies (single ETs and highly variable ETs within a limited angular sector) are found in most taxa reviewed here, suggesting that at least some of these ET distributions are the result of convergent evolution. High variability in ETs is found to be associated with multiple preferred trajectories in species from all taxa, and is suggested to provide unpredictability in the escape response. Random ETs are relatively rare and may be related to constraints in the manoeuvrability of the prey. Similarly, reports of the effect of refuges in the immediate environment are relatively uncommon, and mainly confined to lizards and mammals. This may be related to the fact that work on ETs carried out in laboratory settings has rarely provided shelters. Although there are a relatively large number of examples in the literature that suggest trends in the distribution of ETs, our understanding of animal escape strategies would benefit from a standardization of the analytical approach in the study of ETs, using circular statistics and related tests, in addition to the generation of large data sets.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biological Evolution; Escape Reaction; Ethology; Models, Statistical; Mollusca; Vertebrates
PubMed: 21753040
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.053801 -
Scientific Reports Aug 2022Insectivorous bats consume a diverse array of arthropod prey, with diets varying by bat species, sampling location, and season. North American bat diets remain...
Insectivorous bats consume a diverse array of arthropod prey, with diets varying by bat species, sampling location, and season. North American bat diets remain incompletely described, which is concerning at a time when many bat and insect populations appear to be declining. Understanding the variability in foraging is thus an essential component for effective bat conservation. To comprehensively evaluate local foraging, we assessed the spatial and temporal variability in prey consumed by the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus, in New Hampshire, USA. We collected bat guano samples from 20 sites over 2 years and analyzed sequence data for 899 of these samples using a molecular metabarcoding approach targeting the cytochrome oxidase I subunit (COI) gene. Some prey items were broadly shared across locations and sampling dates, with the most frequently detected arthropod orders broadly similar to previous morphological and molecular analyses; at least one representative sequence variant was assigned to Coleoptera in 92% of samples, with other frequently detected orders including Diptera (73%), Lepidoptera (65%), Trichoptera (38%), and Ephemeroptera (32%). More specifically, two turf and forest pests were routinely detected: white grubs in the genus Phyllophaga (50%), and the Asiatic Garden beetle, Maladera castanea (36%). Despite the prevalence of a few taxa shared among many samples and distinct seasonal peaks in consumption of specific arthropods, diet composition varied both temporally and spatially. However, species richness did not strongly vary indicating consumption of a broad diversity of taxa throughout the summer. These data characterize little brown bats as flexible foragers adept at consuming a broad array of locally available prey resources.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Chiroptera; Coleoptera; Diet; New Hampshire; Predatory Behavior; Sequence Analysis, DNA
PubMed: 35995911
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17631-z -
Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases... Mar 2019The Arthropod Containment Guidelines are a product of the work of the American Committee of Medical Entomology, a subcommittee of the American Society of Tropical...
The Arthropod Containment Guidelines are a product of the work of the American Committee of Medical Entomology, a subcommittee of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The guidelines provide a reference for research laboratories to assess risk and establish protocols for the safe handling of arthropod vectors of human and animal disease agents. The guidelines were originally published in 2004 and have been updated here to reflect the spectrum of vector taxa under investigation, and the demands of working with vector arthropods in the context of the Select Agent Rule.
Topics: Animals; Arthropod Vectors; Arthropods; Containment of Biohazards; Disease Vectors; Genetic Engineering; Guidelines as Topic; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Risk Assessment; United States; Zoonoses
PubMed: 30694736
DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2018.2431 -
Revue Scientifique Et Technique... May 2022This paper provides a concise summary of the guidelines and regulations that govern the shipment of insects and related arthropods into and out of India. It discusses...
This paper provides a concise summary of the guidelines and regulations that govern the shipment of insects and related arthropods into and out of India. It discusses the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003, which regulates the import of agents for biological control, and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and associated Biological Diversity Rules, 2004, which guide the transfer of insects and related arthropods for identification, taxonomic research, and commercial purposes. Insect trade for some food and feed purposes is also mentioned. Finally, some implications, conclusions and recommendations are presented.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biodiversity; India; Insecta
PubMed: 35925625
DOI: 10.20506/rst.41.1.3312 -
Journal of Insect Science (Online) Jul 2022Understanding factors that drive biodiversity distributions is central in ecology and critical to conservation. Elevational gradients are useful for studying the effects...
Understanding factors that drive biodiversity distributions is central in ecology and critical to conservation. Elevational gradients are useful for studying the effects of climate on biodiversity but it can be difficult to disentangle climate effects from resource differences among habitat types. Here we compare elevational patterns and influences of environmental variables on ground-dwelling arthropods in open- and forested-habitats. We examine these comparisons in three arthropod functional groups (detritivores, predators, and herbivores) and two taxonomic groups (beetles and arachnids). We sampled twelve sites spanning 1,132 m elevation and four life zones, collecting 4,834 individual ground arthropods identified to 123 taxa. Elevation was a strong predicator for arthropod composition, however, patterns differed among functional and taxonomic groups and individual species between open- and forested-habitats. Beetles, arachnids, and predators decreased with elevation in open habitats but increased in forests showing a significant interaction between habitat type and elevation. Detritivores and herbivores showed no elevational patterns. We found 11 arthropod taxa with linear elevational patterns, seven that peaked in abundance at high elevations, and four taxa at low elevations. We also found eight taxa with parabolic elevational patterns that peaked in abundance at mid-elevations. We found that vegetation composition and productivity had stronger explanatory power for arthropod composition in forested habitats, while ground cover was a stronger predictor in open habitats. Temperature and precipitation were important in both habitats. Our findings demonstrate that relationships between animal diversity and elevation can be mediated by habitat type, suggesting that physiological restraints and resource limitations work differently between habitat types.
Topics: Altitude; Animals; Arthropods; Biodiversity; Coleoptera; Ecosystem; Forests
PubMed: 35983692
DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/ieac046 -
Sexual Development : Genetics,... 2014Arthropods exhibit a large variety of sex determination systems both at the chromosomal and molecular level. Male heterogamety, female heterogamety, and haplodiploidy... (Review)
Review
Arthropods exhibit a large variety of sex determination systems both at the chromosomal and molecular level. Male heterogamety, female heterogamety, and haplodiploidy occur frequently, but partially different genes are involved. Endosymbionts, such as Wolbachia, Cardinium,Rickettsia, and Spiroplasma, can manipulate host reproduction and sex determination. Four major reproductive manipulation types are distinguished: cytoplasmic incompatibility, thelytokous parthenogenesis, male killing, and feminization. In this review, the effects of these manipulation types and how they interfere with arthropod sex determination in terms of host developmental timing, alteration of sex determination, and modification of sexual differentiation pathways are summarized. Transitions between different manipulation types occur frequently which suggests that they are based on similar molecular processes. It is also discussed how mechanisms of reproductive manipulation and host sex determination can be informative on each other, with a special focus on haplodiploidy. Future directions on how the study of endosymbiotic manipulation of host reproduction can be key to further studies of arthropod sex determination are shown.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Biodiversity; Haploidy; Parthenogenesis; Sex Determination Processes; Symbiosis
PubMed: 24355929
DOI: 10.1159/000357024 -
PeerJ 2022Eurypterids (sea scorpions) are extinct aquatic chelicerates. Within this group, members of Pterygotidae represent some of the largest known marine arthropods....
Eurypterids (sea scorpions) are extinct aquatic chelicerates. Within this group, members of Pterygotidae represent some of the largest known marine arthropods. Representatives of this family all have hypertrophied, anteriorly-directed chelicerae and are commonly considered Silurian and Devonian apex predators. Despite a long history of research interest in these appendages, pterygotids have been subject to limited biomechanical investigation. Here, we present finite element analysis (FEA) models of four different pterygotid chelicerae-those of , , , and -informed through muscle data and finite element models (FEMs) of chelae from 16 extant scorpion taxa. We find that and have comparable stress patterns to modern scorpions, suggesting a generalised diet that probably included other eurypterids and, in the Devonian species, armoured fishes, as indicated by co-occurring fauna. is markedly different, with the stress being concentrated in the proximal free ramus and the serrated denticles. This indicates a morphology better suited for targeting softer prey. exhibits much lower stress across the entire model. This, combined with an extremely large body size, suggests that the species likely fed on larger and harder prey, including heavily armoured fishes. The range of cheliceral morphologies and stress patterns within Pterygotidae demonstrate that members of this family had variable diets, with only the most derived species likely to feed on armoured prey, such as placoderms. Indeed, increased sizes of these forms throughout the mid-Palaeozoic may represent an 'arms race' between eurypterids and armoured fishes, with Devonian pterygotids adapting to the rapid diversification of placoderms.
Topics: Animals; Scorpions; Fossils; Arthropods; Predatory Behavior; Diet
PubMed: 36523454
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14515 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jan 2022Bacteria of the genus are maternally inherited symbionts of Nematoda and numerous Arthropoda hosts. There are approximately 20 lineages of , which are called...
Bacteria of the genus are maternally inherited symbionts of Nematoda and numerous Arthropoda hosts. There are approximately 20 lineages of , which are called supergroups, and they are designated alphabetically. strains of the supergroups A and B are predominant in arthropods, especially in insects, and supergroup F seems to rank third. Host taxa have been studied very unevenly for symbionts, and here, we turn to one of largely unexplored insect families: Acrididae. On the basis of five genes subject to multilocus sequence typing, we investigated the incidence and genetic diversity of in 41 species belonging three subfamilies (Gomphocerinae, Oedipodinae, and Podisminae) collected in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Russia, and Japan, making 501 specimens in total. Our results revealed a high incidence and very narrow genetic diversity of . Although only the strains belonging to supergroups A and B are commonly present in present, the Acrididae hosts here proved to be infected with supergroups B and F without A-supergroup variants. The only trace of an A-supergroup lineage was noted in one case of an inter-supergroup recombinant haplotype, where the gene came from supergroup A, and the others from supergroup B. Variation in the haplotypes in Acrididae hosts within supergroups B and F was extremely low. A comprehensive genetic analysis of diversity confirmed specific features of the allelic set in Acrididae hosts. This result can help to elucidate the crucial issue of biology: the route(s) and mechanism(s) of horizontal transmission.
Topics: Animals; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Genetic Variation; Grasshoppers; Insecta; Multilocus Sequence Typing; Phylogeny; Symbiosis; Wolbachia
PubMed: 35055035
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23020853 -
Development Genes and Evolution Feb 2022In the arthropod model species Drosophila melanogaster, a dipteran fly, segmentation of the anterior-posterior body axis is under control of a hierarchic gene cascade....
In the arthropod model species Drosophila melanogaster, a dipteran fly, segmentation of the anterior-posterior body axis is under control of a hierarchic gene cascade. Segmental boundaries that form morphological grooves are established posteriorly within the segmental expression domain of the segment-polarity gene (SPG) engrailed (en). More important for the development of the fly, however, are the parasegmental boundaries that are established at the interface of en expressing cells and anteriorly adjacent wingless (wg) expressing cells. In Drosophila, both segmental and transient parasegmental grooves form. The latter are positioned anterior to the expression of en. Although the function of the SPGs in establishing and maintaining segmental and parasegmental boundaries is highly conserved among arthropods, parasegmental grooves have only been reported for Drosophila, and a spider (Cupiennius salei). Here, we present new data on en expression, and re-evaluate published data, from four distantly related spiders, including Cupiennius, and a distantly related chelicerate, the harvestman Phalangium opilio. Gene expression analysis of en genes in these animals does not corroborate the presence of parasegmental grooves. Consequently, our data question the general presence of parasegmental grooves in arthropods.
Topics: Animals; Arthropods; Body Patterning; Drosophila; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Homeodomain Proteins; Spiders
PubMed: 35038005
DOI: 10.1007/s00427-022-00684-5 -
Journal of Ethnobiology and... Feb 2017Traditional healing methods involving hundreds of insect and other invertebrate species are reviewed. Some of the uses are based on the tenet of "similia similibus" (let... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
Traditional healing methods involving hundreds of insect and other invertebrate species are reviewed. Some of the uses are based on the tenet of "similia similibus" (let likes be cured by likes), but not all non-conventional health promoting practices should be dismissed as superstition or wishful thinking, for they have stood the test of time. Two questions are addressed: how can totally different organ systems in a human possibly benefit from extracts, potions, powders, secretions, ashes, etc. of a single species and how can different target organs, e.g. bronchi, lungs, the urinary bladder, kidneys, etc. apparently respond to a range of taxonomically not even closely related species? Even though therapeutically used invertebrates are generally small, they nevertheless possess organs for specific functions, e.g. digestion, gas exchange, reproduction. They have a nervous system, endocrine glands, a heart and muscle tissue and they contain a multitude of different molecules like metabolites, enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, secretions, etc. that have come under increased scientific scrutiny for pharmacological properties. Bearing that in mind it seems likely that a single species prepared and used in different ways could have a multitude of uses. But how, for example, can there be remedies for breathing and other problems, involving earthworms, molluscs, termites, beetles, cockroaches, bugs, and dragonflies? Since invertebrates themselves can suffer from infections and cancers, common defence reactions are likely to have evolved in all invertebrates, which is why it would be far more surprising to find that each species had evolved its own unique disease fighting system. To obtain a more comprehensive picture, however, we still need information on folk medicinal uses of insects and other invertebrates from a wider range of regions and ethnic groups, but this task is hampered by western-based medicines becoming increasingly dominant and traditional healers being unable and sometimes even unwilling to transmit their knowledge to the younger generation. However, collecting and uncontrolled uses of therapeutic invertebrates can put undue pressure on certain highly sought after species and this is something that has to be borne in mind as well.
Topics: Animals; Ants; Arthropods; Bees; Cockroaches; Coleoptera; Culture; Diptera; Food; Hemiptera; Humans; Insecta; Isoptera; Medicine, Traditional; Mollusca; Spiders
PubMed: 28173820
DOI: 10.1186/s13002-017-0136-0