Global insect decline has recently become a cause for major concern, particularly in the tropics where vast majority of species occurs. Deforestation is suggested as being driver this decline, but how anthropogenic changes landscape structure affect tropical communities rarely been addressed. We sampled Saturniidae and Sphingidae moths on 27 farms located Brazilian Amazonia (Pará state) charact...

Increasing attention to pollinators and their role in providing ecosystem services has revealed a paucity of studies on long-term population trends of most insect pollinators in many parts of the world. Because targeted monitoring programs are resource intensive and unlikely to be performed on most insect pollinators, we took advantage of existing collection records to examine long-term trends ...

The preference-performance hypothesis predicts that female insects should prefer to lay eggs in locations that enhance offspring performance. This study examines the choices of females regarding where to oviposit within plants, focusing on the hawkmothManduca sexta L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) and its host Datura wrightii Regel (Solanaceae) in the southwestern USA. SmallerDatura leaves provide ...

Reversal of heartbeat was monitored in vivo by noninvasive, multisensor, thermo-cardiographic and pulse-light, optocardiographic techniques. The dorsal vessel was sectioned at the beginning, in the middle and near the end of the abdomen. Changes in the heartbeat were simultaneously monitored in both the disconnected anterior and posterior sections of the heart. The results revealed the existenc...