Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Entomology
The arrival and spread of the European firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus in Australia as documented by citizen scientists
Published: 2021-09-01
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
We present evidence of the recent introduction and quick spread of the European firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus in Australia, as documented on the citizen science platform iNaturalist. The first public record of the species was reported in December 2018 in the City of Brimbank (Melbourne, Victoria). Since then, the species distribution has quickly expanded into 15 local government areas surrounding [...]
Many parasitoids lack adult fat accumulation, despite fatty acid synthesis: A discussion of concepts and considerations for future research
Published: 2021-08-25
Subjects: Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Physiology
Fat reserves, specifically the accumulation of triacylglycerols, are a major energy source and play a key role for life histories. Fat accumulation is a conserved metabolic pattern across most insects, yet in most parasitoid species adults do not gain fat mass, even when nutrients are readily available and provided ad libitum. This extraordinary physiological phenotype has evolved repeatedly in [...]
WHY DO INSECTS EVOLVE IMMUNE PRIMING? A SEARCH FOR CROSSROADS
Published: 2021-08-24
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Entomology, Immunity, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Life Sciences
Until recently, it was assumed that insects lack immune memory since they do not have vertebrate-like specialized memory cells. Therefore, their most well studied evolutionary response against pathogens was increased basal immunity. However, growing evidence suggests that many insects also exhibit a form of immune memory (immune priming), where prior exposure to a low dose of infection confers [...]
Abundance- and biomass-based metrics of functional composition of macroinvertebrates as surrogates of ecosystem attributes in Afrotropical streams
Published: 2021-08-15
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
The composition of macroinvertebrate functional feeding groups (FFGs) has been used as surrogates of ecosystem attributes in aquatic ecosystems but studies that utilize such knowledge are still limited in the tropics. This study investigated the suitability of abundance- vs. biomass-based metrics of macroinvertebrate FFGs as surrogates of ecosystems attributes of the Sosiani-Kipkaren River in [...]
The evolutionary relevance of social learning and transmission of behaviors in non-social arthropods
Published: 2021-08-05
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Research on social learning has centered around vertebrates, but evidence is accumulating that small-brained, non-social arthropods also learn from others. Social learning can lead to social inheritance when socially acquired behaviors are transmitted to subsequent generations. Here, we first highlight the complementarities between social and classical genetic inheritance, using oviposition site [...]
Green Anole lizards (Anolis carolinensis) deposit eggs in nests of the Trap Jaw Ant, Odontomachus brunneus
Published: 2021-06-29
Subjects: Entomology, Life Sciences
Squamates eggs are rarely found in ant nests, and are largely restricted to the nests of neotropical fungus gardening in the tribe Attini. Ponerine ant nests have not previously been reported as nesting cavities for squamates, including the Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis). The current study reports the association of Green Anole eggs and hatchlings with the subterranean nest chambers of the [...]
Challenges and opportunities of species distribution modelling of terrestrial arthropod predators
Published: 2020-12-21
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences
Species distribution models (SDMs) are emerging as essential tools in the equipment of many ecologists; they are useful in exploring species distributions in space and time and in answering an assortment of questions related to historical biogeography, climate change biology and conservation biology. Given that arthropod distributions are strongly influenced by microclimatic conditions and [...]
Combining surveys and on-line searching volumes to analyze public awareness about invasive alien species: a case study with the invasive Asian yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) in Italy
Published: 2020-11-12
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Other Life Sciences
The Asian yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) has been invading Italy since 2013, and it was subjected to management projects aimed at counteracting its spread and raising awareness about its impacts. In autumn 2019, we administered an on-line questionnaire to a convenience sample of 358 beekeepers in Italy. The questionnaire asked them about their sources of information about V. velutina, [...]
Introduced Vespa velutina does not replace native Vespa crabro and Vespula species
Published: 2020-11-02
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Population Biology
Alien species invasion could lead to the replacement of native species with similar ecological requirements. Vespa velutina is an invasive hornet recently established in Europe, that is raising concern due to the associated economic and ecological impacts toward managed and wild pollinators besides to the potential competition and replacement of native wasp species. This led to the inclusion of [...]
Insights from regional and short-term biodiversity monitoring datasets are valuable. A Reply to Daskalova et al. 2020 EcoEvoRxiv doi:10.32942/osf.io/cg3zs
Published: 2020-10-15
Subjects: Biodiversity, Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Research Methods in Life Sciences
Reports of major losses in biodiversity have stimulated an increasing interest in temporal population changes, particularly in insects, which had received little attention in the past. Existing long-term datasets are often limited to a small number of study sites, few points in time, a narrow range of land-use intensities and only some taxonomic groups, or they lack standardized sampling. While [...]
Cushion plants act as facilitators for soil microarthropods in high alpine Sweden
Published: 2020-09-24
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Population Biology, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
1. Cushion plants can have positive impacts on plant richness in severe environments and possibly across trophic levels on arthropods, an under-studied topic. 2. This study examined whether soil communities under cushions of Silene acaulis and Diapensia lapponica have higher richness and abundance of soil microarthropods (Acari, Collembola) than adjacent non-cushion vegetation; and whether [...]
GoogleTrends reflects the abundance of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus): a call for the web-based surveillance of invasive alien vector species
Published: 2020-09-23
Subjects: Entomology, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is becoming widespread in Europe, where it can transmit some major arboviruses, including Chikungunya and Dengue. While surveillance initiatives are being implemented and harmonized between states, the spread of A.albopictus is outrunning them and cost-effective surveillance tools are needed. In this study, we tested whether on-line searches on Google [...]
Püllomen: an ethnoecological perspective of the Mapuche protector spirit insect
Published: 2020-09-17
Subjects: Anthropology, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Other Anthropology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Biodiversity plays an important role in cultural worldviews, influencing myths, stories, and spiritual beliefs of indigenous peoples. This short review explores an ecological phenomenon that may have influenced and contributed to the development of the Mapuche good spirit insect (Püllomen), which represents the spirit of someone who passed away and comes back to the world of the living providing [...]
Beekeeping in, of, or for the city? A socioecological perspective on urban apiculture
Published: 2020-08-31
Subjects: Agriculture, Entomology, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Urban Studies and Planning
The term “urban beekeeping” has come to connote a host meanings --- sociopolitical, commercial, ecological, personal --- beyond the mere description of where bees and beekeepers happen to coincide. Yet these meanings are seldom articulated explicitly and seldom brought into critical engagement with the relevant fields of urban ecology and political ecology. Beginning with a brief account of the [...]
Studies of insect temporal trends must account for the complex sampling histories inherent to many long-term monitoring efforts
Published: 2020-08-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Life Sciences, Population Biology
In a recently published study, Crossley et al. (2020, Nature Ecology & Evolution, “No net insect abundance and diversity declines across US Long Term Ecological Research sites”) examine patterns of change in insect abundance and diversity across US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites, concluding “a lack of overall increase or decline”. This is notable if true, given mixed conclusions [...]