Given the ever-increasing human impact through land use and climate change on the environment, we crucially need to achieve a better understanding of those factors that influence the questing activity of ixodid ticks, a major disease-transmitting vector in temperate forests. We investigated variation in the relative questing nymph densities of Ixodes ricinus in differently managed forest types ...

The relationship between the insect development rate and temperature was established very early and represents an important ecological variable for modeling the population dynamics of insects. The accurate determination of thermal constant values and the lower and upper developmental thresholds of Hyadaphis foeniculi (Passerini) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller (Apial...

linguatula serrata is one of well-known members of pentastomida which infects both humans and animals. the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of l. serrata in mesenteric lymph nodes, livers and lungs of goats slaughtered in tabriz area, iran. mesenteric lymph nodes (mlns), livers and lungs of 280 goats slaughtered in tabriz, north-west of iran were investigated for nymphs of l. se...

A number of fragmentary reports suggest that the endangered diving beetle Cybister japonicus larvae feed on tadpoles, fish, and aquatic insects. However, no quantitative study on the feeding habits of C. japonicus larvae has been reported. In this study, field observations and rearing experiments were carried out to show the feeding ecology of C. japonicus larvae. Unlike previous commentaries, ...

Worldwide, wild birds play a vital role in the dispersal of ticks that harbour tick-borne pathogens, including Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease bacterium. Using PCR testing, we found 124 (31%) of 405 ticks (4 species), which were collected from 21 species of birds in far-western Canada, to be infected with B. burgdorferi. Transstadial transmission of B. burgdorferi occurred from larva to ...

BACKGROUND The red gum lerp psyllid, Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), an eucalypt insect pest from Australia, was reported in Brazil in 2003. This study evaluated damage patterns of this pest on Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn (Myrtaceae) and its hybrids E. urophylla X E. camaldulensis (urocam) and E. urophylla X E. grandis (urograndis). In addition, parasitism rates of Psyll...

Various insects require intracellular bacteria that are restricted to specialized cells (bacteriocytes) and are transmitted vertically via the female ovary, but the transmission mechanisms are obscure. We hypothesized that, in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, where intact bacteriocytes (and not isolated bacteria) are transferred to oocytes, the transmission mechanism would be evident as cellular an...

Insulin receptors play key roles in growth, development, and polymorphism in insects. Here, we report two insulin receptor genes (AcInR1 and AcInR2) from the brown citrus aphid, Aphis (Toxoptera) citricidus. Transcriptional analyses showed that AcInR1 increased during the nymph-adult transition in alate aphids, while AcInR2 had the highest expression level in second instar nymphs. AcInR1 is imp...