Genomics, transcriptomics, and peptidomics of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella neuropeptides and their expression in response to lead stress
This study comprehensively identified neuropeptide precursors inG. mellonella, and discussed the effects of heavy metals on insect neuropeptides, with the example ofG. mellonella. The results are valuable for future elucidation of how neuropeptides regulate physiological functions inG. mellonella and contribute to our understanding of the insect's environmental plasticity and identify potential new biomarkers to assess heavy metal toxicity in insects. (Source: Insect Science)
Source: Insect Science - September 10, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Li ‐Lin Luo, Yang Lin, Jun‐Hong Linghu, Wei Gong, Yuan‐Hong Luo, Man Liu, Dao‐Chao Jin, Guy Smagghe, Tong‐Xian Liu, Shun‐Hua Gui, Tian‐Ci Yi Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Drosophila X virus ‐like particles as delivery carriers for improved oral insecticidal efficacy of scorpion Androctonus australis peptide against the invasive fruit fly, Drosophila suzukii
Scorpion AaIT peptides were highly lethal when injected intoD. suzukii, providing a potent neurotoxin candidate for the control ofD. suzukii. AaIT peptides could be displayed within DXV-VLPs without significant changes in particle shape and size, and could retain their insecticidal effect. The DXV-VLPs could improve the oral insecticidal efficacy of AaIT peptides. This is the first study to verify the concept of “VLP-delivered neurotoxic peptides in insects,” which contributes to developing the neurotoxin-based strategy for insect pest control. AbstractInsect-specific neurotoxic peptides derived from the venoms of scor...
Source: Insect Science - September 9, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Qi Xue, Luc Swevers, Clauvis Nji Tizi Taning Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Pollen analysis reveals the effects of uncovered interactions, pollen ‐carrying structures, and pollinator sex on the structure of wild bee–plant networks
This study shows that pollen-transport networks built with pollen carried by wild bees were richer in plant species and interactions, showed lower modularity and specialization, and higher nestedness compared to  visitation networks built with interactions detected in the field. Although female wild bees carried more and more diverse pollen in the scopa than in the rest of the body, this did not lead to strong differences in structure between plant-pollination (excluding scopa pollen) and bee-feeding (incl uding scopa pollen) interaction networks. Females were more generalist and tended to be more central in interaction n...
Source: Insect Science - September 8, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Cl ément Tourbez, Carmelo Gómez‐Martínez, Miguel Ángel González‐Estévez, Amparo Lázaro Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Mutations of voltage ‐gated sodium channel contribute to pyrethroid resistance in Panonychus citri
According to the resistance monitoring in different citrus orchards in Southwest China, very high resistance levels to fenpropathrin were recorded in variousPanonychus citri populations. The frequency of VGSC mutations in different field-captured populations were investigated by amplicon sequencing and the contributions of VGSC mutations to pyrethroid resistance were determined through transgenic flies within introducing these mutations singly or in combination. Further,P.  citri VGSC homology modeling and ligand docking indicated that the mutations affected the binding pattern between VGSC and pyrethroids. AbstractInsect...
Source: Insect Science - September 1, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Deng Pan, Qiu ‐Juan Luo, Andrias O. O´Reilly, Guo‐Rui Yuan, Jin‐Jun Wang, Wei Dou Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Genome ‐wide analysis of Panonychus citri microRNAs with a focus on potential insecticidal activity of 4 microRNAs to eggs and nymphs
To search for microRNAs (miRNAs) with potential insecticidal activity inPanonychus citri, genome-wide analysis of miRNAs at different developmental stages was conducted, resulting in the identification of 136 miRNAs, including 73 known and 63 novel miRNAs. The 4 miRNAs, miR-let-7a, miR-315, miR-34-5p, and miR-305-5p, exhibited important regulatory functions and insecticidal properties in egg hatching and adult eclosion. AbstractPanonychus citri McGregor (Acari: Tetranychidae), a destructive citrus pest, causes considerable annual economic losses due to its short lifespan and rapid resistance development. MicroRNA (miRNA)-i...
Source: Insect Science - August 30, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Chuan ‐Zhen Li, Yu‐Hang Liu, Deng Pan, Meng‐Hao Xia, Qiang Zhang, Yu‐Chuang Li, Guo‐Rui Yuan, Jin‐Jun Wang, Wei Dou Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Targeting Haemaphysalis longicornis serpin to prevent tick feeding and pathogen transmission
In this study, we showed thatH. longicornis serpins (Hlserpin-a and Hlserpin-b) were induced during blood-feeding in nymph ticks and exhibited anticoagulation activityin vitro. Silencing Hlserpins through RNA interference (RNAi) significantly impaired tick feeding. Immunization of mice with recombinant Hlserpins or passive transfer of Hlserpin antiserum significantly curtails the efficacy of tick feeding. Concurrently, the transmission of the Langat virus (LGTV) from ticks to mice witnessed a substantial decrease when Hlserpins were silenced. Our findings suggest that inhibiting Hlserpins can hamper tick engorgement and pa...
Source: Insect Science - August 28, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Tingting Feng, Hao Tong, Qianqian Zhang, Zhihao Ming, Zhenyu Song, Xia Zhou, Jianfeng Dai Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

The endogenous antioxidant ability of royal jelly in Drosophila is independent of Keap1/Nrf2 by activating oxidoreductase activity
This study systematically investigates the endogenous antioxidant properties of royal jelly (RJ) produced by worker honeybees using several endogenous oxidative stress models ofDrosophila. It provides a foundation for us to understand the function of RJ in resisting endogenous oxidative stress at the cellular and molecular levels. AbstractRoyal jelly (RJ) is a biologically active substance secreted by the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of worker honeybees. It is widely claimed that RJ reduces oxidative stress. However, the antioxidant activity of RJ has mostly been determined byin vitro chemical detection methods or ...
Source: Insect Science - August 26, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Dongjing Wen, Jiayu Xie, Yao Yuan, Lirong Shen, Yufeng Yang, Wenfeng Chen Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Foraging valor linked with aggression: selection against completely abandoning aggression in the high ‐elevation ant Tetramorium alpestre?
Two behaviorally different populations of the high-elevation antTetramorium alpestre were tested in behavioral experiments. We analyzed four behaviors (boldness, exploration, foraging, and risk taking). We hypothesized that the aggressive population is bolder and active, forages more and takes more risks than the peaceful population. To test this, we collected three colony fragments from three colonies within each population and tested the above-mentioned behaviors. We detected repeatable behaviors at the colony level, and the number of repeatable behaviors was higher in the aggressive population. We speculate that behavio...
Source: Insect Science - August 22, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Marie ‐Luise Contala, Patrick Krapf, Florian M. Steiner, Birgit C. Schlick‐Steiner Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Exposure to sublethal concentration of flupyradifurone alters sexual behavior and cuticular hydrocarbon profile in Heriades truncorum, an oligolectic solitary bee
Wild bees are a good group to study male preference in insects. Here we tested how pesticide exposure influences mating behavior ofHeriades truncorum (Megachilidae: Osmiini). Flupyradifurone exposure on females played a role on the behavior of males. Pesticide-exposed females also displayed different male quality assessment. Flupyradifurone changed the mating behavior of males. Male behavior can be explained by observed change in total amounts of female volatiles, which also explain the effect on male quality evaluation by females. The study shows that pesticide lowers health status of wild bees leading to an impact on mat...
Source: Insect Science - August 21, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Samuel Boff, Manfred Ayasse Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Functional trait composition of carabid beetle communities predicts prey suppression through both mass ratio and niche complementarity mechanisms
Carabid beetles are abundant generalist predators of crop pests in agricultural landscapes. Conserving their diversity could contribute to pest biological control through the increase of their abundance and communities ’ functional richness. The intensity of biological control by carabid beetles can also be strongly influenced by the occurrence of “key” species within a carabid community due to mass effect. AbstractSeveral components of predator functional diversity have been hypothesized to influence prey suppression through either niche complementarity or mass ratio effects. Nevertheless, most studies have used a f...
Source: Insect Science - August 20, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Abdelhak Rouabah, Fran çoise Lasserre‐Joulin, Sylvain Plantureux, Simon Taugourdeau, Bernard Amiaud Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Spatiotemporal dynamics in butterfly hybrid zones
Reviewing butterfly hybrid zone literature can shed light on important factors affecting the stability or mobility of hybrid zones, evaluate methods, and offer novel insights on evolutionary and conservation biology. AbstractEvaluating whether hybrid zones are stable or mobile can provide novel insights for evolution and conservation biology. Butterflies exhibit high sensitivity to environmental changes and represent an important model system for the study of hybrid zone origins and maintenance. Here, we review the literature exploring butterfly hybrid zones, with a special focus on their spatiotemporal dynamics and the po...
Source: Insect Science - August 19, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Ananda R. Pereira Martins, Natalie B. Warren, W. Owen McMillan, Rowan D. H. Barrett Tags: REVIEW Source Type: research

Is there hybridization between 2 species of the same genus in sympatry? —The genetic relationships between Anoplophora glabripennis, Anoplophora chinensis, and putative hybrids
A summary of morphological identification, population genetic analyses, and attempted hybridization, we demonstrate that the putative hybrid is morphologically different from the previous descriptions published for ALB and CLB populations. The genetic analysis strongly supports the phylogenetic conclusion that the putative hybrid is a morphological variant of ALB. AbstractAnoplophora glabripennis (Asian longhorn beetle, ALB) andAnoplophora chinensis (Citrus longhorn beetle, CLB) are native forest pests in China; they have become important international quarantine pests. They are found using the sameSalix aureo-pendula host...
Source: Insect Science - August 15, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Haiwen Qin, Huachao Xu, Arnaud Capron, Ilga Porth, Mingming Cui, Melody A. Keena, Xiaofang Deng, Juan Shi, Richard C. Hamelin Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Identification of an odorant receptor responding to sex pheromones in Spodoptera frugiperda extends the novel type ‐I PR lineage in moths
In this study, we investigated whether ORs of the pest mothSpodoptera frugiperda belonging to clades closely related to this novel PR lineage may also have the capacity to bind type-I pheromones and serve as male PRs. Among the 7 ORs tested, only 1 (SfruOR23) exhibited a male-biased expression pattern. Importantly,in  vitro functional characterization showed that SfruOR23 could bind several type-I sex pheromone compounds withZ-9-tetradecenal (Z9-14:Ald), a minor component found in female sex pheromone glands, as the optimal ligand. In addition, SfruOR23 also showed weak responses to plant volatile organic compounds. Altog...
Source: Insect Science - August 13, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Sai Zhang, Emmanuelle Jacquin ‐Joly, Nicolas Montagné, Fang Liu, Yang Liu, Guirong Wang Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Larval development and voracity of Eupeodes americanus (Diptera: Syrphidae): comparison of the focal prey Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and the banker prey Rhopalosiphum padi (Hemiptera: Aphididae)
The American hoverflyEupeodes americanus (Wiedemann) could be a good a biocontrol agent to control the melon aphid (Aphis gossypii Glover), which induces a lot of damage in cucumber crops. Preimaginal development time, survival rate, and occurrence of deformation are similar on both the focal prey,A. gossypii, and the banker prey, the bird cherry-oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi L.). Third instar and pupal weight are higher for larvae fed with the banker prey. Thead libitum voracity of the syrphid larvae was very high and similar on both preys except for the third-instar larvae which consumed more focal prey. AbstractUnlike E...
Source: Insect Science - August 11, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Arlette Fauteux, Antonio Onofre Soares, Eric Lucas Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research

Survival effects of antibiotic exposure during the larval and adult stages in the West Nile virus vector Culex pipiens
We analyzed adult survival effects of antibiotic exposure during mosquito development through a paired two-way factorial experimental design. Larval exposure to antibiotics significantly increased the survival rate of nontreated adult females. In addition, for both male and female mosquitoes, shorter larvalad libitum feeding periods rapidly reduced the survival rate of antibiotic-treated mosquitoes compared to those emerged later, while these differences disappeared in control adult mosquitoes. AbstractThe ability of mosquitoes to transmit a pathogen is affected, among other factors, by their survival rate, which is partly...
Source: Insect Science - August 10, 2023 Category: Biology Authors: Marta Garrig ós, Mario Garrido, Manuel Morales‐Yuste, Josué Martínez‐de la Puente, Jesús Veiga Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research