Because weevils are used as biocontrol agents against thistles, it is important to document and understand host shifts and the evolution of host-specificity in these insects. Furthermore, such host shifts are of fundamental interest to mechanisms of speciation. The mediterranean weevil Larinus cynarae normally parasitizes either one of two thistle genera, Onopordum and Cynara, being locally mon...

Invasive exotic plants are often weeds in more than one country. After a biological control agent for a weed has been developed for use in one country, it is reasonable to consider using the same agent against the same weed in another country. ‘Transfer Projects’ can save considerable time and money, and they have been popular around the world. Lixus cardui Olivier (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), ...

ethanol extracts of donkey thistle (Onopordum acanthium L.) was conducted. The were added to the pure distillate from grapes Melnik-55 grapevine variety in amounts 20, 50, 80, 100, 200, 400 and 600 ml. remaining amount liter a distillate. A (without extracts) used as control. addition 50% extract Onopordum L. increased total volatile composition variants 1000:20 1000:50, comparison control samp...

BACKGROUND Wild vegetables in the Mediterranean Basin are still often consumed as a part of the diet and, in particular, there is a great tradition regarding their use in Sicily. In this study, an ethnobotanical field investigation was carried out to (a) identify the wild native taxa traditionally gathered and consumed as vegetables in Sicily, comparing the collected ethnobotanical data with th...

The highly oligophagous tephritid Chaetostomella cylindrica infests the flower heads of six genera and ten species of thistles in Lebanon. It predominantly utilizes two hosts occurring in sympatry, Notobasis syriaca and Onopordum illyricum. Previous work showed that adult flies emerging from N. syriaca fit more closely the description of the species, particularly with respect to the colour and ...

It is believed that bioactive compounds from plant foods may have health beneficial effects and reduce the risk of chronic inflammatory diseases. In this study extracts of 121 plants typical for the traditional Mediterranean diet have been screened for their potential anti-inflammatory activities. The ability of the extracts to inhibit cytokine-stimulated, iNOS-dependent synthesis of nitric oxi...

The xanthippe group of species of the genus Urophora Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 is revised and keyed. It contains seven species with a yellow area on the scutum medial to the notopleuron: Urophora bakhtiari new species (from flowerheads of Cousinia archibaldii), Urophora dirlbeki new species (from flowerheads of Onopordum acanthium), U. iani Korneyev & Merz 1998, U. impicta (Hering 1942) (= Uropho...