Cone photoreceptors in fish are typically arranged into a precise, reiterated pattern known as a "cone mosaic." Cone mosaic patterns can vary in different fish species and in response to changes in habitat, yet their function and the mechanisms of their development remain speculative. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) have four cone subtypes arranged into precise rows in the adult retina. Here we describ...

BACKGROUND Wolbachia has been deployed in several countries to reduce transmission of dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses. During releases, Wolbachia-infected females are likely to lay their eggs in local available breeding sites, which might already be colonized by local Aedes sp. mosquitoes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to estimate the deleterious effects of intra and interspecific lar...

Metamorphosis is often characterized by profound changes in morphology and physiology that can affect the dynamics of species interactions. For example, the interaction between a pathogen and its host may differ depending on the life stage of the host or pathogen. One pathogen that infects hosts with complex life cycles is the emerging fungal pathogen of amphibians, Batrachochytrium dendrobatid...

IN the previous communication (Yao, 1949ft), alkaline phosphatase has been shown to be in some way connected with histo-differentiation during Drosophila embryogenesis. The post-embryonic development of Drosophila includes, besides a period of larval growth, the phenomenon of metamorphosis which involves the destruction of most larval organs and the simultaneous development of imaginal organs f...

BACKGROUND Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne illness that places significant burden on tropical developing countries with unplanned urbanization. A surveillance system using Google Earth and GIS mapping technologies was developed in Nicaragua as a management tool. METHODS AND RESULTS Satellite imagery of the town of Bluefields, Nicaragua captured from Google Earth was used to create a base-map...

The effect of methanolic plant extracts from Solanum nigrum, Acokanthera spectabilis and Heliotropium aegyptiacum were investigated on the larval mortality and development of Culex pipiens L. Also, the effects of the LC50 of the three plant extracts on the larval haemogram were studied. Plant extracts exhibited variable bioactivities. The greatest activity was observed for S. nigrum which showe...

The ontogeny of hearing in fishes has become a major interest among bioacoustics researchers studying fish behavior and sensory ecology. Most fish begin to detect acoustic stimuli during the larval stage which can be important for navigation, predator avoidance and settlement, however relatively little is known about the hearing capabilities of larval fishes. We characterized the acoustically e...

The appropriate feeding regime for larvae and post-larvae of crustacean decapods is essential for successful larval culture. Reports on the development and morphology of the mouthparts and foregut of these crustaceans have aided in the selection of appropriate larval foodstuffs and consequently increased larval survival and growth rate during development. In the present study, the functional mo...

1. To study the different metabolic behaviour of various stages of development of the insect Ceratitis capitata, the incorporation of labelled decanoic, lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids into triacylglycerols by insect homogenates was investigated. The time-course of incorporation of labelled fatty acids was firstly studied by using oleic acid; it showed that after ...

Background The Mantispidae are a distinctive group of Neuroptera known for the adults' possession of raptorial forelegs. There are four recognised, extant subfamilies of Mantispidae: the Mantispinae, Symphrasinae, Calomantispinae and Drepanicinae. The life history and larval behaviour of the subfamily Mantispinae is best known: the immatures are spider egg predators. Among the three remaining s...