Minucella gen. n. and two species (M. divaricata sp. n. and M. leucomaculata (Li & Zhang) comb. n.) from southern China are described in the leafhopper subfamily Stegelytrinae. Difficulties in the delimitation of one of the included species, M. leucomaculata and its junior synonym Placidus maculates Li & Zhang, syn. nov., are discussed, and the observed variation is considered to be intraspecif...

The objective of this work was to characterize the resistance of 50 cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) genotypes to Callosobruchus maculatus. A completely randomized design with five replicates per treatment (genotype) was used. No‐choice tests were performed using the 50 cowpea genotypes to evaluate the preference for oviposition and the development of the weevil. The genotypes IT85 F‐2687, MN05‐841 B...

The objective of the present study is to determine the accumulation of heavy metals in five of the most commercially important fishes caught in the Parangipettai coastal waters and analyzed for the (Fe, Mn, Mg, Ni) concentrations in the muscles. The results revealed that the Mn and Fe concentrations were the highest; followed by Mg and Ni being the lowest in the all five species of fish tissue....

Understanding the selective forces that shape dispersal strategies is a fundamental goal of evolutionary ecology and is increasingly important in changing, human-altered environments. Sex-biased dispersal (SBD) is common in dioecious taxa, and understanding variation in the direction and magnitude of SBD across taxa has been a persistent challenge. We took a comparative, laboratory-based approa...

Insect genitalia exhibit rapid divergent evolution. Truly extraordinary structures have evolved in some groups, presumably as a result of postmating sexual selection. To increase our understanding of this phenomenon, we studied the function of one such structure. The male genitalia of Callosobruchus subinnotatus (Coleoptera: Bruchinae) contain a pair of jaw-like structures with unknown function...

A prey animal may have the alternative of flying away or feigning death when it encounters predators. These alternatives have a genetic base as anti-predator strategies in the adzuki bean beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis. A negative genetic correlation between death-feigning intensity and flying ability was found in C. chinensis, i.e. lower flying ability is genetically connected to escaping by...

Genetic admixture propels invasions of Callosobruchus maculatus across experimental landscapes. In Focus: Wagner, N.K., Ochocki, B.M., Crawford, K.M., Compagnoni, A. & Miller, T.E.X. (2017) Genetic mixture of multiple source populations accelerates invasive range expansion. Journal of Animal Ecology, 86, 21-34. In this issue of Journal of Animal Ecology, Wagner et al. (2017) demonstrate that ge...