Genus Atrichobrunettia Satchell is represented in the Americas by 14 described species, 13 from Brazil, and one from Costa Rica. Atrichobrunettia xalapaensis sp. nov. is described based on male and female characteristics and constitutes the first record of this genus in Mexico. This species belongs to subgenus A. (Polibrunettia) Bravo, but is easily distinguished from other described species of...

Hummingbirds are nature's masters of aerobatic manoeuvres. Previous research shows that hummingbirds and insects converged evolutionarily upon similar aerodynamic mechanisms and kinematics in hovering. Herein, we use three-dimensional kinematic data to begin to test for similar convergence of kinematics used for escape flight and to explore the effects of body size upon manoeuvring. We studied ...

The screaming on most rollercoasters begins almost as soon as anticipation of the stomach-churning descent begins. Even in the dark we know that we are plummeting from the instant we tip over the summit, and the secret of the thrill lies deep in gravity sensors in our inner ears and intestines. As soon as the descent is launched and we begin free falling, the effect of gravity on the sensors is...

In this paper, we analyzed the body and wing kinematics and mechanics in fruit flies' landings on a vertical pole. By high-speed video techniques and CFD method, we exhibited the detailed process of landing as follows. A fruit fly first decelerates and enters a near-hover state approximately 25 mm away from the vertical pole, then starts approaching the pole in acceleration till one of its fron...

introduction: cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitological disease that is spread in many tropical and subtropical areas in world. this disease transmitted by female sand flies. it is clear that knowledge on sand flies ecology has the main role to planning of control of cl. this study was carried out for determination of cl vectors, in ghanavat district in qom province during 2012. material and...

The metameric organization of the insect body plan is initiated with the activation of gap genes, a set of transcription-factor-encoding genes that are zygotically expressed in broad and partially overlapping domains along the anteroposterior (AP) axis of the early embryo. The spatial pattern of gap gene expression domains along the AP axis is generally conserved, but the maternal genes that re...

Introduction Heterogeneity in composition and spatial configuration of landscape elements support diversity abundance flower-visiting insects, but this is likely dependent on taxonomic group, scale, weather climatic conditions, particularly impacted by agricultural intensification. Here, we analyzed the impacts both aspects heterogeneity role conditions pollinating insect communities two econom...

This paper discusses the conceptual design and proof-of-concept flight demonstration of a novel variable pitch quadrotor biplane Unmanned Aerial Vehicle concept for payload delivery. The proposed design combines vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), precise hover capabilities of a quadrotor helicopter and high range, endurance and high forward cruise speed characteristics of a fixed wing aircraf...

background: sand fly saliva helps parasite establishment and induce immune responses in vertebrate hosts. in the current study, we investigated the modulation of phlebotomus papatasi salivary gland antigen expression by sea­sonal and biological factors. methods: sand flies were grouped according to physiological stages such as unfed, fed, semi-gravid, gravid, parous, nulliparous, infected or no...