Using polymerase chain reactions (PCR) on cDNA, the DNA sequence of a membrane spanning region of a GABA receptor of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum was identified. The deduced amino acid sequence indicates that its basic structure is similar to the GABA receptor of Rdl type subunits of Drosophila melanogaster and of Blattella germanica. Particularly conserved are M1, M2 and M3 segmen...

Insect cuticle is composed primarily of chitin and structural proteins. To study the function of structural cuticular proteins, we focused on the proteins present in elytra (modified forewings that become highly sclerotized and pigmented covers for the hindwings) of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. We identified two highly abundant proteins, TcCPR27 (10 kDa) and TcCPR18 (20 kDa), whic...

Females of many animal species are polyandrous, and there is evidence that they can control pre- and post-mating events. There has been a growing interest in consequences of polyandry for male and female reproductive success and offspring fitness, and its evolutionary significance. In several taxa, females exhibit mate choice both before and after mating and can influence the paternity of their...

Threeand 4-week-old Tribolium castaneum (Herbst), the red flour beetle, and Tribolium confusum (du Val), the confused flour beetle, were exposed at five different temperature–relative humidity (r.h.) combinations to a volatile formulation of the insect growth regulator (IGR) hydroprene (called Pointsourcet). Typical effects associated with IGR exposure, such as arrested larval growth, morpholog...

Effective entomological surveillance planning stresses a careful consideration of methodology, trapping technologies, and analysis techniques. Herein, the basic principles and technological components of arthropod surveillance plans are described, as promoted in the symposium "Advancements in arthropod monitoring technology, techniques, and analysis" presented at the 58th annual meeting of the ...

The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, is an agriculturally important insect pest that has been widely used as a model organism. Recently, an adherent cell line (BCIRL-TcA-CLG1 or TcA) was developed from late pupae of the red flour beetle. Next generation transcriptome sequencing of TcA cells demonstrated expression of a wide variety of genes associated with specialized functions in chitin ...

β-Catenin is a multifunctional scaffolding protein with roles in Wnt signaling, cell adhesion, and centrosome separation. Here, we report on independent duplications of the insect β-Catenin ortholog armadillo (arm) in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum and the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. Detailed sequence analysis shows that in both species, one paralog lost critical residues of the α-...

The iBeetle-Base (http://ibeetle-base.uni-goettingen.de) makes available annotations of RNAi phenotypes, which were gathered in a large scale RNAi screen in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (iBeetle screen). In addition, it provides access to sequence information and links for all Tribolium castaneum genes. The iBeetle-Base contains the annotations of phenotypes of several thousands of ...

Context: Medicinal plants contains some pesticidal activities that may control stored product insects. Objectives: To elucidate the insecticidal activity from the stem bark extracts of nishinda (Vitex negundo L.) and their toxicity against red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Tenebrionidae). Materials and Methods: The powdered stem bark (250 g) was extracted with methanol (MeOH), eth...