We give new bounds on the star arboricity and the caterpillar arboricity of planar graphs with given girth. One of them answers an open problem of Gyárfás and West: there exist planar graphs with track number 4. We also provide new NP-complete problems.

This paper presents a role-based approach to the problem of controlling locomotion of chain-type self-reconfigurable robots. In role-based control, all modules are controlled by identical controllers. Each controller consists of several playable roles and a role-selection mechanism. A role represents the motion of a module and how it synchronizes with connected modules. A controller selects whi...

When caterpillars feed on maize (Zea maize L.) lines with native resistance to several Lepidopteran pests, a defensive cysteine protease, Mir1-CP, rapidly accumulates at the wound site. Mir1-CP has been shown to inhibit caterpillar growth in vivo by attacking and permeabilizing the insect's peritrophic matrix (PM), a structure that surrounds the food bolus, assists in digestion and protects the...

Insect herbivores frequently move about on their host plants to obtain food, avoid enemies and competitors, and cope with changing environmental conditions. Although numerous plant traits influence the movement of specialist herbivores, few studies have examined movement responses of generalist herbivores to the variable ecological conditions associated with feeding and living on an array of ho...

We tested the role of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) in altering the tomato plant's defense against herbivory by tobacco hornworm. Treatments of SA or JA were topically applied to tomato plants, hornworm consumption was allowed to proceed for 12 days, and harvest analyses were performed. Measurements taken included a subjective plant rating (1-10 score), plant dry mass, caterpillar ...

Alike the little mouse of the Gruffalo's tale, many harmless preys use intimidating deceptive signals as anti-predator strategies. For example, several caterpillars display eyespots and face-like colour patterns that are thought to mimic the face of snakes as deterrents to insectivorous birds. We develop a theoretical model to investigate the hypothesis that these defensive strategies exploit a...

Tropical dry forests (TDFs) have been widely transformed by human activities worldwide and the ecosystem services they provide are diminishing. There has been an urgent call for conservation and restoration of the degraded lands previously occupied by TDFs. Restoration experiences aim to recover species diversity and ecological functions. Different restoration strategies have been used to maxim...

The wide distribution of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Europe includes two relict populations in southern Spain (Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Baza), belonging to the subspecies nevadensis. These populations are isolated in high mountains, which tends to protect them from the attack of a severe defoliating Mediterranean pest, the pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa. However, as ...

A caterpillar is a tree in which the removal of all pendant vertices makes it a path. Let d ≥ 3 and n ≥ 6 be given. Let Pd−1 be the path of d − 1 vertices and Sp be the star of p + 1 vertices. Let p = [p1, p2, ..., pd−1] such that p1 ≥ 1, p2 ≥ 1, ..., pd−1 ≥ 1. Let C (p) be the caterpillar obtained from the stars Sp1 , Sp2 , ..., Spd−1 and the path Pd−1 by identifying the root of Spi with the i...