BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The study was undertaken to characterize factors influencing differential productivity of Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes at larval habitats in a rural village in western Kenya. METHODS Longitudinal larval sampling was done using an area sampler for 3 months. Emerged adults were identified to species level morphologically using taxonomic keys and to sub-species by...

In the lakes of the Middle Rio Doce, Minas Gerais (MG), two groups of larval Libellulidae are distinguished by preferences of habitat use: one uses mainly aquatic macrophytes and the other uses the bottom substrate. The goal of this work was to verify if there is a morphological distinction between the two groups of species. Thirteen body measures were taken from the larvae and analyzed. No dif...

the influence of moisture content of mulberry leaf on the growth, development and moisture build up in the body of silkworm was studied by feeding with different maturity leaves to late age of silkworm larvae. significantly higher larval moisture (79.78%), larval weight (65.65 g), pupal moisture (73.81%) was recorded in top tender leaf (high moisture) fed batches and least was recorded in the c...

When examined at any moment in time, different parts of an individual oak tree exhibit almost as large differences in quality as different trees. But how consistent are such patterns in time? In this paper, we use intraclass correlations to assess the temporal consistency of host plant quality at several spatial scales. As measures of quality, we use both individual chemical attributes (phenoli...

Oceanographic forces can strongly affect the movement of planktonic marine larvae, often producing predictable spatial patterns of larval delivery. In particular, recent empirical evidence suggests that in some coastal systems, certain locations consistently receive higher (or lower) larval supplies of both predators and their prey. As a consequence, rates of settlement and predation may be cou...

Antarctic krill embryos and larvae were experimentally exposed to 380 (control), 1000 and 2000 µatm pCO₂ in order to assess the possible impact of ocean acidification on early development of krill. No significant effects were detected on embryonic development or larval behaviour at 1000 µatm pCO₂; however, at 2000 µatm pCO₂ development was disrupted before gastrulation in 90 per cent of embryos...

1. Activity and microhabitat use are important factors determining species performance in habitats that differ in permanence and species composition of top predators. This study examined the relationship between the distribution across a gradient of habitat permanence and an associated transition in the composition of top predators and the behaviour of species of larval dragonflies. It also ass...

The behavior of pests targeted by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops has been recognized as an important factor to define resistance management plans. However, most data do not include the possible impact resistance may have on the behavior of pests. To examine whether resistance influences behavior of European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), neonates after expo...

Observations by Dobzhansky's group in the 1940s suggesting that the presence of recessive genotypes could account for lower larval developmental rates in Drosophila melanogaster were not confirmed at the time and all subsequent investigations on this subject focused on the analysis of ecological models based on competition among pre-adult individuals. However, a paper published in this journal ...