In a small shallow fjord with predominantly wind-driven circulation, larvae of the sand dollar Dendraster excentricus (Eschscholtz) do not persist for longer than 2 wk after a local population in the fjord spawns. Changes in distnbuhon and abundance of larval cohorts indicate that larvae are advected out of the fiord and thus contribute to a regional larval pool. A series of plankton samples at...

The evolutionary plant-herbivore arms race sometimes gives rise to remarkably unique adaptation strategies. Here we report one such strategy in the lepidopteran herbivore Manduca sexta against its hostplant Nicotiana attenuata's major phytotoxins, 17-hydroxygeranyllinalool diterpene glycoside, lyciumoside IV and its malonylated forms. We show that alkalinity of larval regurgitant non-enzymatica...

Malaria is the leading cause of death in Kenya highlands. Malaria is a vector-borne disease and mosquito is the vector that transmits the parasites from infected people to others. Controlling mosquito larval habitats is important in eradicating malaria. Modeling the spatially distributed mosquito larval habitats is challenging. This study explores a mosquito habitat modeling approach, which int...

Changes in the nature of the ecological resources exploited by a species can lead to the evolution of novel suites of behaviours. We identified a case in which the transition from large pool use to the use of very small breeding pools in neotropical poison frogs (family Dendrobatidae) is associated with the evolution of a suite of behaviours, including biparental care (from uniparental care) an...

To test whether larval selectivity at settlement contributes to distributional patterns of benthic infauna, we conducted three reciprocal sediment transplant experiments at 15-m-deep coarse-sand and muddy-sand sites (;3 km apart) on the continental shelf near Tuckerton, New Jersey. During 3to 5-d deployments in 1994, larvae of the surfclam, Spisula solidissima, selected coarse sand over muddy s...

Many marine organisms spend the early part of their lives as larvae suspended in the water column before metamorphosing into benthic reproductive adults. Metamorphosis does not occur until a larva has become competent to respond to appropriate stimuli and after a suitable habitat for the young juvenile has been encountered. The gaseous neurotransmitter nitric oxide is thought to be important in...

Since their official eradication from the US in 1943, the cattle-tick species Boophilus microplus and Boophilus annulatus, vectors of bovine babesiosis, frequently have penetrated a quarantine zone established along the Texas–Mexico border designed to exclude them. Inspection and quarantine procedures have eradicated reinfestations successfully within the US, but increasing acaricide resistance...

The experience of animals in their natal or larval habitats has long been considered a potential source of variation in the habitat choices made later during dispersal. This idea has been of particular interest to evolutionary biologists because of the role such variation plays in the formation of host races and species. However, experiments that have tested for the effect of natal experience o...

Frontal eddies form on the shoreward edge of boundary currents, average at weekly intervals and can last up to several weeks. This duration allows zooplankton production completion larval stage fish but may be too ephemeral for longer food chains with planktonic predators establish. Therefore, frontal provide a suitable offshore nursery habitat, by entraining retaining inner-shelf water, precon...