(Press-News.org) A new species of leaf miner from the important family Gracillariidae has been recently discovered in the depths of the Brazilian jungle and described in the open access journal Zookeys. The Gracillariidae family is an ancient one with fossils dating back its origins to around 97 million years. Among the leaf miners of this family there are some species with significance as economic factors as well as agricultural pests. The new species, Spinivalva gaucha, is associated with representatives of the Passiflora plant genus among which is the economically important and favorite to many passion fruit, also native to Brazil.
The name of the new species is derived from the Portuguese term "Gaúcho" used in Brazil to describe the native inhabitants of the fertile southernmost Brazilian lowlands, the pampas. What makes this species especially interesting are the fascinating stages of its early developments. Unlike most Brazilian gracillariids which are known only for their mature stages, the description of S. gaucha offers an insight in the complete life cycle of this intriguing leaf miner.
After the egg is laid on the surface of the leaf hatching occurs and the life history of the leaf miner begins. The new larva heads under the leaf surface to form a narrow serpentine shaped mine, which then expands with time and through the development stages to a blotch-like formation. Just before pupation the larva leaves the mine through a slit in the blotch to form a transparent cocoon on the leaf surface. Silk fragments are lined into a compact pattern to form a wall protecting the pupa. Another interesting phenomenon is observed during this stage of development, where the pupa discharges bizarre light yellow bubbles which are scattered along the periphery of the cocoon through a slit which closes soon after. When mature the new adult leaf miner emerges into the outside world head-first through the cocoon.
"Contrary to all known leaf-miner gracillarids whose larvae initially have modified mouthparts and feed on sap, this new species does not have a sap-feeding instar, the larvae presenting mandible of chewing type in all instars, and thus feeding on the upper leaf tissue since hatching" explain the authors of the study. "This discovery in particular will have important implications for future studies concerning the evolution of the wide diversity in feeding habits known to exist within this important family."
INFORMATION:
Original Source:
Brito R, Gonçalves GL, Vargas HA, Moreira GRP (2013) A new Brazilian Passiflora leafminer: Spinivalva gaucha, gen. n., sp. n. (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae, Gracillariinae), the first gracillariid without a sap feeding instar. ZooKeys 291: 1, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.291.4910
Licensing:
This press release is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. It is expected to link back to the original article.
Posted by Pensoft Publishers.
The exciting life cycle of a new Brazilian leaf miner
2013-04-18
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Science surprise: Toxic protein made in unusual way may explain brain disorder
2013-04-18
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A bizarre twist on the usual way proteins are made may explain mysterious symptoms in the grandparents of some children with mental disabilities.
The discovery, made by a team of scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School, may lead to better treatments for older adults with a recently discovered genetic condition.
The condition, called Fragile X-associated Tremor Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS), causes shakiness and balance problems and is often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease. The grandchildren of people with the disease have a separate ...
Silly phone game puts illiterate Pakistanis in touch with potential employers
2013-04-18
PITTSBURGH—A silly telephone game that became a viral phenomenon in Pakistan has demonstrated some serious potential for teaching poorly educated people about automated voice services and provided a new tool for them to learn about jobs, say researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Pakistan's Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The game, called Polly, is simplicity itself: a caller records a message and Polly adds funny sound effects, such as changing a male's voice to a female voice (or vice versa), or making the caller sound like a drunk chipmunk. ...
Natura 2000 networks: Improving current methods in biodiversity conservation
2013-04-18
The world's biodiversity is currently in rapid decline, with human-mediated global change being a principal cause. Europe is no exception, and the Natura 2000 network provides an important conservation tool for biodiversity on a European level. It forms a network of natural and semi-natural sites within the region with high heritage values due to the exceptional flora and fauna they contain. The goal of the Natura 2000 network is to maintain the biological diversity of environments, while taking into account economic, social, cultural and regional logic of sustainable development. ...
Cross-cultural similarities in early adolescence
2013-04-18
This press release is available in French.
Montreal, April 18, 2013 – Acquiring self-esteem is an important part of a teenager's development. The way in which adolescents regard themselves can be instrumental in determining their achievement and social functioning. New research from Concordia University shows that the way in which adolescents think about themselves varies across cultural context.
To compare how teenagers assess their self-worth, William M. Bukowski, a psychology professor and director of the Centre for Research in Human Development, examined responses ...
High levels of glutamate in brain may kick-start schizophrenia
2013-04-18
New York, NY (April 18, 2013) — An excess of the brain neurotransmitter glutamate may cause a transition to psychosis in people who are at risk for schizophrenia, reports a study from investigators at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) published in the current issue of Neuron.
The findings suggest 1) a potential diagnostic tool for identifying those at risk for schizophrenia and 2) a possible glutamate-limiting treatment strategy to prevent or slow progression of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.
"Previous studies of schizophrenia have shown that ...
Twitter can give power to the people
2013-04-18
Twitter can easily teach people about social movements such as Occupy Wall Street and even entice them to participate, according to a new study by a Michigan State University education researcher.
The social networking site – which lets users read, send and group together 140-character messages known as tweets – can actually be a better source of information than traditional news sources and online search engines, Benjamin Gleason reports in the journal American Behavioral Scientist.
"Reading on Twitter about a particular topic will expose learners to multiple perspectives ...
Bursts of brain activity may protect against Alzheimer's disease
2013-04-18
Evidence indicates that the accumulation of amyloid-beta proteins, which form the plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, is critical for the development of Alzheimer's disease, which impacts 5.4 million Americans. And not just the quantity, but also the quality of amyloid-beta peptides is crucial for Alzheimer's initiation. The disease is triggered by an imbalance in two different amyloid species — in Alzheimer's patients, there is a reduction in a relative level of healthy amyloid-beta 40 compared to 42.
Now Dr. Inna Slutsky of Tel Aviv University's Sackler ...
Best and worst times to start a fire
2013-04-18
In the Kimberley region of Western Australia, there are two distinct seasons: a wet season between December and March and a dry season between May and October. Reversals in the direction of prevailing winds are the driving force behind the seasonal shift.
If there are going to be bush fires in the area's tropical savannas, the best time is early in the dry season, when vegetation has dried enough to burn but is still wet enough that fires won't grow out of control. In April and May, fires usually burn themselves out within a few days. The worst time for fire is late in ...
Distant blazar is a high-energy astrophysics puzzle
2013-04-18
Blazars are the brightest of active galactic nuclei, and many emit very high-energy gamma rays. New observations of the blazar known as PKS 1424+240 show that it is the most distant known source of very high-energy gamma rays, but its emission spectrum now appears highly unusual in light of the new data.
A team led by physicists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, used data from the Hubble Space Telescope to set a lower limit for the blazar's redshift (z ≥ 0.6035), which corresponds to a distance of at least 7.4 billion light-years. Over such a great distance, ...
Experts examine Mediterranean diet's health effects for older adults
2013-04-18
According to a study published in the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, a baseline adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MeDiet) is associated with a lower risk of hyperuricemia, defined as a serum uric acid (SUA) concentration higher than 7mg/dl in men and higher than 6mg/dl in women.
Hyperuricemia has been associated with metabolic syndrome, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, gout, and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The MeDiet is characterized by a high consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, ...