Apple snail perivitellins are emerging as ecologically important reproductive proteins. To elucidate if the protective functions of the egg proteins of Pomacea canaliculata (Caenogastropoda, Ampullariidae), involved in embryo defenses, are present in other Pomacea species we studied scalarin (PsSC), the major perivitellin of Pomacea scalaris. Using small angle X-ray scattering, fluorescence and...

Larvae of the leaf beetle Chrysomela lapponica derive a defensive secretion from salicyl glucosides found in the host plant Salix borealis. This secretion protects beetle larvae from some natural enemies, but does not appear to repel parasitoids. We tested the hypothesis that the fly parasitoid Megaselia opacicornis (Diptera, Phoridae) uses the larval defensive secretion of Ch. lapponica in its...

Developmental gene networks implement the dynamic regulatory mechanisms that pattern and shape the organism. Over evolutionary time, the wiring of these networks changes, yet the patterning outcome is often preserved, a phenomenon known as "system drift." System drift is illustrated by the gap gene network-involved in segmental patterning-in dipteran insects. In the classic model organism Droso...

A survey for freshwater gastropods carrying trematodes parasites was conducted in Manso Dam and the surrounding areas frequented by tourist, focusing particularly on the Pantanal region. Infected snails were recovered from twelve of the eighteen investigated municipalities and forty-one cercaria-snail pairings were recorded. Among these pairings were several first records of snails serving as i...

Gene families often consist of members with diverse expression domains reflecting their functions in a wide variety of tissues. However, how the expression of individual members, and thus their tissue-specific functions, diversified during the course of gene family expansion is not well understood. In this study, we approached this question through the analysis of the duplication history and tr...

Gap genes are involved in segment determination during early development in dipteran insects (flies, midges, and mosquitoes). We carried out a systematic quantitative comparative analysis of the gap gene network across different dipteran species. Our work provides mechanistic insights into the evolution of this pattern-forming network. As a central component of our project, we created a high-re...

Non-native species pose a threat to native organisms. When non-native and are closely related, the former can often competitively exclude latter. Many studies have focused on competitive exclusion of insect by eusocial hymenopterans, including ants, hornets, paper wasps bees. Although solitary been introduced in many regions, few investigated effects these insects their congeners. We interactio...

This study presents breeding and pollination systems of Aristolochia maxima and A. inflata in a seasonal tropical forest of Panama. Aristolochia is the most diverse genus of Aristolochiaceae, with ∼120 species distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics. All the Aristolochia species studied so far are pollinated by saprophagous flies of different families, which are presumably deceived by...

We present SuperFly (http://superfly.crg.eu), a relational database for quantified spatio-temporal expression data of segmentation genes during early development in different species of dipteran insects (flies, midges and mosquitoes). SuperFly has a special focus on emerging non-drosophilid model systems. The database currently includes data of high spatio-temporal resolution for three species:...