Secondary metabolites produced by plants for herbivore defence are often found in floral nectar, but their effect on the foraging behaviour and physiological performance of pollinators is largely unknown. Nicotine is highly toxic to most herbivores, and nicotine-based insecticides may contribute to current pollinator declines. We examined the effects of nectar nicotine on honeybee foraging choi...

Unlike the smaller and more vulnerable mammals, African elephants have relatively few predators that threaten their survival. The sound of disturbed African honeybees Apis meliffera scutellata causes African elephants Loxodonta africana to retreat and produce warning vocalizations that lead other elephants to join the flight. In our first experiment, audio playbacks of bee sounds induced elepha...

Taxonomic and phylogenetic studies on Datronia were carried out. Phylogeny based on ITS, nLSU and RBP2 regions revealed that Datronia in current sense includes species belonging to three distantly related clades in polypores. The Datronia in a restricted sense is proposed for the clade including the type species D. mollis and D. stereoides. Neodatronia gen. nov. was proposed for two new resupin...

Previous work has shown that African elephants Loxodonta africana will avoid African honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata. Here we present results from a pilot study conducted to evaluate the concept of using beehives to mitigate elephant crop depredation. In Laikipia, Kenya, we deployed a 90-m fence-line of nine inter-connected hives, all empty, on two exposed sides of a square two-acre farm th...

Mikania glomerata Spreng. (Asteraceae) é uma planta medicinal de hábito trepador, conhecida popularmente como “guaco”. Apresenta inflorescências formadas por um grande número pequenos capítulos com flores branco-esverdeadas, as quais disponibilizam néctar e grãos pólen recursos alimentares aos insetos visitantes florais. Buscando estabelecer a importância dos jardins urbanos para manutenção da ...

Phoma black stem and leaf spot disease (Phoma medicaginis) not only destroys annual Medicago spp. forage seed yield but also reduces herbage quality by consequent phytoestrogen production that ovulation of grazing animals. Two controlled environment studies evaluated the effects plant developmental stage in rugosa ‘Paraponto’ M. scutellata ‘Sava’ different inoculum concentrations P. medicaginis...

This experiment was carried out to study the effect of humic acid and growth promoting bacteria on uptake of cadmium heavy metal by annual alfalfa (Medicago scutellata L.). The experiment was arranged in pot experiment conditions in Isfahan, Iran in 2011. A factorial design was used based on completely randomized block design with four replications. Experimental treatments were humic acid and g...