The use of Bombus terrestris L. commercial colonies for outdoor and greenhouse crop pollination is currently widespread. Colony breeding includes bumblebee feeding, mostly by using the honeybee pollen loads of diverse palynological composition. Because the chemical content of pollen is highly variable, the choice of commercial blend should not be random but has to be carefully selected to ensur...

The present paper describes the effects of Tribulus terrestris, a masculinization agent, on the sex reversal of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. One-day-old hatchlings were immersed in water containing an extract of T. terrestris at a rate of 0, 3, 6, or 9 g/30 l water for 30 days. The 9 g treatment resulted in 80.42% male populations. Morphological and histological examinations of the gona...

The factors that determine which plant species become invasive weeds are not well understood and there have been few studies of population dynamics in the early stages of invasion. Here, we examine changes in population size, pollinator visitation and seed set of the tree lupin, Lupinus arboreus, in Tasmania between 1999 and 2010. Lupinus arboreus is a native of California that has become a maj...

This study examined the lethal and sublethal effects on the beneficial insect Bombus terrestris by two classes of insect growth regulators (IGRs) that are commercially used in agriculture to control pest insects. Three juvenile hormones analogues (JHAs) (pyriproxyfen, fenoxycarb and kinoprene) and two ecdysone agonists or moulting accelerating compounds (MACs) (tebufenozide and methoxyfenozide)...

In this study, effect of three entomopathogenic fungi (% 1.5 Beauveria bassiana strain Bb-1, % Lecanicillium lecani V1-1 and Paecilomyces fumosoreus PFs-1) on Bombus terrestris workers was investigated under controlled laboratory conditions. Workers were exposed to recommended doses by topical application dry film method. Of the 30 in each colony, 15 them marked blue red their thorax. While put...