Attraction of oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), and nontarget insects to preservative fluids ethylene glycol antifreeze, propylene glycol antifreeze, or mineral oil in bucket traps that contained captured decaying male oriental fruit flies, a male lure (methyl eugenol), and a toxicant (DDVP vapor insecticidal strip) were compared with dry control traps. Si...

Our understanding of how food modulates animal phenotypes and mediate trade-offs between life-history traits has benefited greatly from the study of combinations of nutritional and non-nutritional food components, such as plant secondary metabolites. We used a fruit fly pest, Anastrepha ludens, to examine phenotypic variation across larval, pupal and adult stages as a function of larval food wi...

BACKGROUND A very common protein modification in multicellular organisms is protein glycosylation or the addition of carbohydrate structures to the peptide backbone. Although the Class of the Insecta is the largest animal taxon on Earth, almost all information concerning glycosylation in insects is derived from studies with only one species, namely the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. METHO...

Thermosensation is critically important for survival of all animals. In the cockroach Periplaneta americana, thermoreceptor neurons on antennae and thermosensory interneurons in the antennal lobe have been characterized electrophysiologically, and recent studies using advanced transgenic technologies in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have added much to the knowledge of these neurons, ena...

Insect wings are flexible. For rigid wings lift enhancing unsteady aerodynamics mechanisms, such as delayed stall via leading-edge vortices (LEVs), wake-capture, and rotational forces, characterize the lift generation of a hovering insect. We have uncovered a novel mechanism that fruit fly size insects can utilize to further increase the lift by adjusting its wing shape passively: A pair of a L...

Asian slow lorises are found in zoos and rescue centres worldwide with Nycticebus pygmaeus, the pygmy slow loris, boasting the largest population in captivity. Diet are reportedly high in fruit and concentrates and low in insects and exudates. Wild feeding studies place insects, nectar, and gums as the most important diet components. Captive populations also show high incidences of health affli...

According to the concept of pollination syndromes, floral traits reflect specialisation to a particular pollinator or set of pollinators. However, the reproductive biology of endemic, and often specialised, plants may require increased attention as climate change accelerates worldwide. Species of Roscoea endemic to the Himalayan region have striking orchid-like flowers with long corolla tubes, ...

Lipophorin is the major hemolymph protein responsible for lipid transport between tissues of insects. Lipophorins from several insect species in order Diptera (the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster from the suborder Brachycera, the mosquito Aedes aegypti; the phantom midges Chaoborus maximus and minimus; the black fly Simulium vittatum; the crane fly Nephrotoma abbreviata, all from the suborder...

Remembering features of past feeding experience can refine foraging and food choice. Insects can learn to associate sensory cues with components of food, such as sugars, amino acids, water, salt, alcohol, toxins and pathogens. In the fruit fly Drosophila some food components activate unique subsets of dopaminergic neurons (DANs) that innervate distinct functional zones on the mushroom bodies (M...