This article reports the cloning and characterization of the gene homologous to Sex-lethal (Sxl) of Drosophila melanogaster from Sciara coprophila, Rhynchosciara americana, and Trichosia pubescens. This gene plays the key role in controlling sex determination and dosage compensation in D. melanogaster. The Sxl gene of the three species studied produces a single transcript encoding a single prot...

The applicability of species-specific primers to study feeding interactions is restricted to those ecosystems where the targeted prey species occur. Therefore, group-specific primer pairs, targeting higher taxonomic levels, are often desired to investigate interactions in a range of habitats that do not share the same species but the same groups of prey. Such primers are also valuable to study ...

The first list of insects of Al-Baha Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was published in 2013 and contained a total of 582 species; an addendum to this list was published in 2015 adding 142 species and bringing the total number recorded from the province to 724 insect species representing 17 orders. The previous two studies excluded Jabal Shada al-A'la Nature Reserve (SANR), so the present...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Lepanthes is one of the largest angiosperm genera (>800 species). Their non-rewarding, tiny and colourful flowers are structurally complex. Their pollination mechanism has hitherto remained unknown, but has been subject of ample speculation; the function of the minuscule labellum appendix is especially puzzling. Here, the pollination of L. glicensteinii by sexually deceived ...

1. Ecological interactions are complex networks, but have typically been studied in a pairwise fashion. Examining how third-party species can modify the outcome of pairwise interactions may allow us to better predict their outcomes in realistic systems. For instance, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can affect plant interactions with other organisms, including belowground herbivores, but the ...

Monitoring tools for detecting the presence of fungus gnats (Bradysia spp.) are a critical part of effective IPM programs for these pests in greenhouse production systems. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of yellow sticky cards for monitoring adult fungus gnats; similarly, potato disks placed on the surface of the growing media in pots have been shown to be effective monitoring tools...

Six new species of Corynoptera Winnertz from northern Finland, Japan and North America are newly described and illustrated: Corynoptera captiosa sp. n., C. cracentis sp. n., C. inari sp. n., C. salmelai sp. n., C. spiciforceps sp. n. and C. tuomikoskii sp. n.. Corynoptera subvariegata Rudzinski, 1992 is redescribed and C. perochaeta (Mohrig & Menzel, 1990) and C. variegata Mohrig, 1985 are illu...