Most herbivorous insect species are restricted to a narrow taxonomic range of host plant species. Herbivore species that feed on mustard plants and their relatives in the Brassicales have evolved highly efficient detoxification mechanisms that actually prevent toxic mustard oils from forming in the bodies of the animals. However, these mechanisms likely were not present during the initial stage...

We examined phylogenetic relationships of the North American chorus frogs (Pseudacris: Hylidae) from 38 populations using 2.4 kb of 12S and 16S mtDNA to elucidate species relationships and examine congruence of previous phylogenetic hypotheses. Parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian phylogenies are consistent and reveal four strongly supported clades within Pseudacris: (1). A West Coast Cl...

The euglossine bee Eulaema nigrita plays an important role for the pollination of native and economically important plants, such as the sweet passion-fruit Passiflora alata. E. nigrita uniquely collects the nectar from the flowers of P. alata, nevertheless, it needs to visit other plants to collect pollen, nectar and other resources for its survival. There are two methods to identify the specie...

The Chinese pear psyllids, Cacopsylla spp., associated with Pyrus ussuriensis are reviewed. Three new species, C. accincta sp. n., C. burckhardti sp. n., and C. cinereosignata sp. n., are described. Cacopsylla liaoli (Yang & Li), C. qiuzili Li, C. maculatili Li and C. chinensis (Yang & Li) are redescribed. A key to the adults of the seven species and a key to nymphs of three species are given.

The apple proliferation (AP) disease is spread mostly by two psyllids. Each species plays a predominant role as AP vector that changes regionally. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify the AP vectors in each region where the disease is present. This research aimed at identifying the psyllid community in apple orchards from Asturias (NW Spain) and studying their possible role in AP transmiss...

The paper concerns with characteristics of a thorax morphological structure Cacopsylla Ossiannilsson, 1970 species, referring to an analysis of five species classified in the past in three subgenera. The structure of the sternites, tergites and pleurites of all the parts of the thorax was studied by a scanning microscope. Descriptions of particular elements building up thorax plates, their shap...

This work presents chromosome homology maps between Mus musculus (MMU) and 2 South American rodent species from the Cricetidae group: Necromys lasiurus (NLA, 2n = 34) and Thaptomys nigrita (TNI, 2n = 52), established by ZOO-FISH using mouse chromosome-specific painting probes. Extending previous molecular cytogenetic studies in Neotropical rodents, the purpose of this work was to delineate evol...

The two acknowledged vectors of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma mali’ in north-western Italy, the psyllid Cacopsylla melanoneura and the leafhopper Fieberiella florii, have been compared to highlight their role in the apple proliferation epidemiology in relation to their infectivity, transmission efficiency and permanence in apple orchards and in wild vegetation, predominantly hawthorn formations. The ...