ethiopia is remarkably rich in its biological, ecological and landscape diversity and is home to outstanding natural bio-resources such as a number of herbs, aromatic and medicinal plants. the present study was carried out to study the composition, distribution and economic importance of insect pests of prioritized aromatic (mentha sp., lemon verbena, fennel, rosemary, rosadamascene, oregano, p...

the  frequency of  allergic diseases such  as allergic rhinitis is considerable in general population. insect aeroallergens are important allergens which can induce airway inflammation. the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of sensitization to insect aeroallergens in allergic rhinitis patients in yazd as a desert city in iran. a cross-sectional study was undertaken on 95 allergi...

The iBeetle-Base (http://ibeetle-base.uni-goettingen.de) makes available annotations of RNAi phenotypes, which were gathered in a large scale RNAi screen in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (iBeetle screen). In addition, it provides access to sequence information and links for all Tribolium castaneum genes. The iBeetle-Base contains the annotations of phenotypes of several thousands of ...

We discuss a framework for studying the evolution of morphology in insects, based on the concepts of "phenotypic plasticity" and "reaction norms." We illustrate this approach with the evolution of some of the most extreme morphologies in insects: exaggerated, sexually selected male ornaments and weapons, and elaborate social insect soldier castes. Most of these traits scale with body size, and ...

Plant distributions are dynamic but the role of plant-insect interactions in controlling range dynamics is not well understood. Enemy release, for example could facilitate plant range expansion under climate change. We conducted a transplant experiment with the evergreen tree Ilex aquifolium L. in both the historical and the expanding range in Denmark to study possible effects of geographical p...

Stored-product insects infest raw grain, processed cereal grains, warehouses, and foodprocessing facilities such as flour and feed mills. The presence of insects in commodities or structures leads to quantitative and qualitative losses of grain and processed food. The presence of insects and insect-related materials (insect fragments) in processed products is regulated by federal food and drug ...

Paraponera clavata (Fabricius 1775) (Formicidae: Paraponerinae) is a widely distributed Neotropical ant whose large size has attracted the attention of numerous collectors. Working from museum specimens, a georeferenced database of collection localities was developed. This database then served as the source for computer generated predictive distribution maps. Annual rainfall was the most import...