PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

What's on the menu for young African sawflies?

What's on the menu for young African sawflies?
2015-03-17
(Press-News.org) Sawflies belong to the same insect group as wasps, bees and ants. Unlike many of the latter, sawflies seldom make themselves conspicuous to humans, although the young stages (larvae) of some species, nearly all of which feed on plants, sometimes attract attention by damaging these.

In a reversal of the pattern found in most insect groups, a larger number of sawfly species occur in regions with a cooler climate, rather than in the tropics. On the other hand, many of the sawflies found in Africa south of the Sahara (the Afrotropical faunal region) belong to genera that occur nowhere else in the world.

In Europe much more is known about the habits of sawfly larvae than in most other parts of the world. This knowledge has been built up since the 18th Century, with a very significant contribution from amateur entomologists. By contrast, extremely little is known about the early stages of sawfly species in the Afrotropical region.

One of the distinctive and relatively species-rich groups of Afrotropical sawflies is the genus Xenapates, with 47 known species. Although two of the commonest and most widely distributed Xenapates species (X. braunsi and X. gaullei) were first described by the German amateur scientist Friedrich Wilhelm Konow in 1896, nothing was known until now about their early stages, seasonal occurrence (phenology), or even which plants these feed on.

Dr Georg Goergen (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Cotonou, Benin) discovered the early stages of X. braunsi and X. gaullei and in cooperation with Dr Frank Koch (Museum fuer Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany) and Andrew Liston (Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Muencheberg, Germany) studied their morphology (physical appearance) and habits.

The results include information on the plant species fed on by the larvae. X. braunsi uses a number of grass species as hosts, some of which are of importance in African agriculture. One of these, but apparently not amongst the most frequently eaten, is maize. X. braunsi is so far the only sawfly known to feed on this important crop plant. Larvae of X. gaullei feed on a genus of plants called day flowers, related to the grasses. Some day flower species are invasive weeds in North America and Europe, and X. gaullei warrants further study as a possible agent in combatting these.

INFORMATION:

Original source:

Liston A, Goergen G, Koch F (2015) The immature stages and biology of two Xenapates species in West Africa (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae). Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 62(1): 9-17. doi: 10.3897/dez.62.8922

Contacts:

Andrew Liston
Email: andrew.liston@senckenberg.de

Dr. Georg Goergen
Email: G.Goergen@cgiar.org

Dr. Frank Koch
Email: Frank.Koch@mfn-berlin.de


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
What's on the menu for young African sawflies? What's on the menu for young African sawflies? 2

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Heart valve repair improves emotional wellbeing in patients with mitral regurgitation

2015-03-17
Chicago, March 17, 2015 - Patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) often suffer from psycho-emotional symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, but after undergoing mitral valve repair surgery patients experience a marked improvement in emotional and physical wellbeing, according to an article in the March 2015 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Key points Patients with severe mitral regurgitation, who had suffered from anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms prior to mitral valve surgery, experienced a marked improvement in emotional and physical ...

By land and by sea: Scientists find differences in tanning treatments for materials

2015-03-17
Cod liver oil and willow bark extract used in the tanning of skins for clothing and other products offer notable differences in treatment, a study by a team of scientists shows. Their findings show the promise of a technique that may be used to identify the aging behavior of materials and to examine delicate works of art. The research, which appears in the journal Analytical Chemistry, relies on a method employing nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, or NMR spectroscopy, which reveals the physical and chemical properties of atoms in a given substance, as well as the ...

Spherical nucleic acids set stage for new paradigm in drug development

2015-03-17
A research team led by Northwestern University nanomedicine expert Chad A. Mirkin and Sergei Gryaznov of AuraSense Therapeutics is the first to show spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) can be used as potent drugs to effectively train the immune system to fight disease, by either boosting or dampening the immune response. The initial treatment triggers a cell-specific immune response all over the body. By increasing the body's immune response toward a specific cell type, SNAs could be used to target anything from influenza to different forms of cancer. They also can be used ...

Study finds imaging tool to diagnose heart conditions is more accurate and safer

2015-03-17
New heart imaging technology to diagnose coronary heart disease and other heart disorders is significantly more accurate, less expensive and safer than traditional methods, according to a new study by researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City. Researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute compared Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), currently the most commonly used imaging diagnostic tool, with a new imaging technology -- coronary-specific Positron Emission Tomography (cardiac PET/CT). They ...

Researchers rethink how our feathered friends evolved

2015-03-17
A recently published global genome study that used the data-intensive Gordon supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer at the University of California, San Diego, has researchers rethinking how avian lineages diverged after the extinction of the dinosaurs. The four-year project, called the Avian Genome Consortium and published in the journal Science, resulted in a new family "tree" for nearly all of the 10,000 species of birds alive today by comparing the entire DNA codes (genomes) of 48 species as varied as parrot, penguin, downy woodpecker, and Anna's hummingbird. ...

Complete angioplasty safe for certain heart attack survivors

2015-03-17
SAN DIEGO (March 16, 2015) -- Patients who experience the deadliest form of heart attack--ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)--and suffer from substantial narrowing in multiple heart arteries may benefit from receiving angioplasty in constricted arteries not affected by the heart attack, thereby reducing the need for future angioplasty, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology's 64th Annual Scientific Session. The study is the largest prospective, controlled trial to evaluate whether patients should receive preventive angioplasty, ...

Health system factors improve medication adherence among seniors with diabetes

2015-03-17
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Specific system-level factors controlled by health care systems - including prescriptions with a medication supply greater than 90 days, mail-order pharmacy use, and lower copayments and out-of-pocket maximums - nearly doubled the likelihood that patients adhered to prescribed heart and diabetes medications, according to a new study published in the journal Medical Care. "This study is the first to look at all four of these system-level factors at once in the senior population," said Julie A. Schmittdiel, PhD, research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente ...

New study: Food TV a recipe for weight gain

New study: Food TV a recipe for weight gain
2015-03-17
If you're a fan of food television, it's fine to be entertained by the programming, but if you take recipes for the rich meals the networks favor into your own kitchen, you're at risk of putting on pounds, according to a study just published online by the journal Appetite. "The message is clear," said Lizzy Pope of the University of Vermont, the study's lead author. "Food TV should be a viewing experience only, not a cooking experience." The study asked 501 women, aged 20 to 35, where they obtained information about new foods, how frequently they cooked from scratch, ...

Microenvironment provides growth factor for metastasis

2015-03-17
Healthy bone is continuously involved in a dynamic process that includes bone deposition and bone resorption. However, when a person has cancer that spreads to the bone and bone marrow, the tissue becomes increasingly fragile, and this process is disrupted, usually leading to increased bone resorption. In an early online edition in advance of publication in the International Journal of Cancer, investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles reported a surprising discovery - when neuroblastoma (NB) cells metastasize to the bone, there initially occurs an increase in bone ...

'Smart bandage' detects bed sores before they are visible to doctors

Smart bandage detects bed sores before they are visible to doctors
2015-03-17
Berkeley -- Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, are developing a new type of bandage that does far more than stanch the bleeding from a paper cut or scraped knee. Thanks to advances in flexible electronics, the researchers, in collaboration with colleagues at UC San Francisco, have created a new "smart bandage" that uses electrical currents to detect early tissue damage from pressure ulcers, or bedsores, before they can be seen by human eyes - and while recovery is still possible. "We set out to create a type of bandage that could detect bedsores as ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Heat and heavy metals are changing the way that bees buzz

What’s behind the enormous increase in early-onset gastrointestinal cancers?

Pharmacogenomics expert advances precision medicine for bipolar disorder

Brazilian researcher explores centenarian stem cells for aging insights

Dr. Xuyu Qian's breakthrough analysis of 18 million brain cells advances understanding of human brain development

Gene networks decode human brain architecture from health to glioma

How artificial light at night damages brain health and metabolism

For ultrasound, ultra-strength not always a good thing

Matching your workouts to your personality could make exercising more enjoyable and give you better results

Study shows people perceive biodiversity

Personality type can predict which forms of exercise people enjoy

People can accurately judge biodiversity through sight and sound

People diagnosed with dementia are living longer, global study shows

When domesticated rabbits go feral, new morphologies emerge

Rain events could cause major failure of Waikīkī storm drainage by 2050

Breakthrough in upconversion luminescence research: Uncovering the energy back transfer mechanism

Hidden role of 'cell protector' opens cancer treatment possibilities

How plants build the microbiome they need to survive in a tough environment

Depression due to politics and its quiet danger to democracy addressed in new book 'The Sad Citizen'

International experts and patients unite to help ensure all patients are fully informed before consenting to new surgical procedures

Melting glaciers could trigger more explosive eruptions globally, finds research

Nearly half of U.S. grandchildren live within 10 miles of a grandparent

Study demonstrates low-cost method to remove CO₂ from air using cold temperatures, common materials

Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) welcomes 13 students to prestigious Summer Fellowship program

Mass timber could elevate hospital construction

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns

$2.6 million NIH grant backs search for genetic cure in deadly heart disease

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program changed drastically when anxiety was added as a qualifying condition

1 in 5 overweight adults could be reclassified with obesity according to new framework

Findings of study on how illegally manufactured fentanyl enters U.S. contradict common assumptions, undermining efforts to control supply

[Press-News.org] What's on the menu for young African sawflies?