A caterpillar network (or graph) G is a tree with the property that removal of the leaf edges of G leaves one with a path. Here we focus on minimum weight spanning caterpillars (MSCs) where the vertices are points in the Euclidean plane and the costs of the path edges and the leaf edges are multiples of their corresponding Euclidean lengths. The flexibility in choosing the weight for path edges...

Many parasites manipulate host behaviour to enhance parasite transmission and survival. A fascinating example is baculoviruses, which often induce death in caterpillar hosts at elevated positions ('tree-top' disease). To date, little is known about the underlying processes leading to this adaptive host manipulation. Here, we show that the baculovirus Spodoptera exigua multiple nucleopolyhedrovi...

Abstract: Let G be a simple,connected and undirected graph with diameter d. For a positive integer k (≤ d), a radio k-labeling f of G is an assignment of non-negative integers, called labels to the vertices of G such that if u, v ∈ V (G) are distinct then d(u, v) + |f(u) − f(v)| ≥ k + 1 where d(u, v) is the distance between u and v. The maximum label (positive integer) assigned by f to some ver...

Arthropod herbivory induces plant volatiles that can be used by natural enemies of the herbivores to find their prey. This has been studied mainly for arthropods that prey upon or parasitise herbivorous arthropods but rarely for insectivorous birds, one of the main groups of predators of herbivorous insects such as lepidopteran larvae. Here, we show that great tits (Parus major) discriminate be...

Anthocyanins and flavonols are secondary metabolites that can function in plant defence against herbivores. In Arabidopsis thaliana, anthocyanin and flavonol biosynthesis are regulated by MYB transcription factors. Overexpression of MYB75 (oxMYB75) in Arabidopsis results in increasing anthocyanin and flavonol levels which enhances plant resistance to generalist caterpillars. However, how these ...

Plants counteract attack by herbivorous insects using a variety of inducible defence mechanisms. The production of toxic proteins and metabolites that instantly affect the herbivore's development are examples of direct induced defence. In addition, plants may release mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that indirectly protect the plant by attracting natural enemies of the herbivore. R...

A graph is said to be a sum graph if there exists a set S of positive integers as its node set, with two nodes adjacent whenever their sum is in S. An integral sum graph is defined just as the sum graph, the difference being that S is a subset of 2~ instead of N*. The sum number of a given graph G is defined as the smallest number of isolated nodes which when added to G result in a sum graph. T...

Nutritional regulation is a powerful mechanism used by generalist feeders to obtain the balance of nutrients they require from nutritionally diverse, perhaps unbalanced, foods. We examined nutritional regulation in a species with a narrow individual diet breadth: the forest tent caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria. Fourth instar caterpillars were provided with artificial foods consisting of differ...

A strong edge-coloring of a graph G is a function that assigns to each edge a color such that two edges within distance two apart must receive different colors. The minimum number of colors used in a strong edge-coloring is the strong chromatic index of G. Lih and Liu [14] proved that the strong chromatic index of a cubic Halin graph, other than two special graphs, is 6 or 7. It remains an open...

OBJECTIVE To examine the maturational changes in proteomic polymorphisms resulting from differential expression by multiple intrinsic fungi in the caterpillar body and stroma of natural Cordyceps sinensis (Cs), an integrated micro-ecosystem. METHODS The surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) biochip technique was used to profile the altere...