The cottonwood leaf beetle, Chrysomela scripta F., is a serious defoliator of plantation Populus in the United States. Current control methods include biorational and synthetic chemicals as well as selecting Populus clones resistant or tolerant to C. scripta defoliation. SpeciÞc ratios of long-chain fatty alcohols to alpha-tocopherylquinone ( -TQ) on the leaf surface of Populus spp. act as phag...

There are over 200 species of nematine sawflies that induce galls on willows (Salix spp.). Most of the species are mono- or oligophagous, and they can be separated into seven or eight different groups based on the type of gall that they induce. We studied the evolution of different gall types and host plant associations by reconstructing the phylogeny of five outgroup and 31 ingroup species usi...

A statistical interpolation method is proposed which allows calculation of the leaf area index LAI(t), the downward cumulative leaf area index L(z, t) and the canopy leaf area density u(z, t) as the functions of height and time for any day of the growth period. The method is based on three functions: probability density of stem height, interrelationship between stem height and stem foliage area...

In this contribution the results of a zoogeographical analysis, carried out on the 123 endemic leaf beetle species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) occurring in Italy and its immediately adjacent regions, are reported. To assess the level of faunistic similarity among the different geographic regions studied, a cluster analysis was performed, based on the endemic component. This was done by calculat...

The challenge in defining conservation units so that they represent evolutionary entities has been to combine both genetic properties and ecological significance. Here we make use of the complexity of the European Alps, with their genetic landscape shaped by geographical barriers and postglacial colonization, to examine the correlation between ecological and genetic divergence. Montane species,...

This study investigated the effects of reed and willow on bioremediation of landfill leachate in comparison with an unplanted control by measuring redox potential levels in the rhizosphere of microcosm systems in a greenhouse. Plants had a significant influence on redox potential relative to the plant-less system. Redox potential in the reed rhizosphere was anoxic (mean -102±85 mV), but it was ...

Willow minnow, Gnathopogon caerulescens, is a commercially important freshwater fish species in Japan. In particular, female fish with eggs are more expensive than male fish. Many methods have been tested to achieve 100% willow minnow female production; however, none of them were successful because of the temperature-dependent sex determination mechanism. To date, the molecular mechanism underl...

Similar to other leaf beetles, rosemary beetles Chrysolina americana exhibit a distinct sexual dimorphism in tarsal attachment setae. Setal discoid terminals occur only in males, and they have been previously associated with a long-term attachment to the female's back (elytra) during copulation and mate guarding. For the first time, we studied living males and females holding to female's elytra...

Known as salicylic acid (from the Latin salix, willow tree), this pain-killing compound is widely distributed throughout plants, where it functions as a hormone. The more vegetables and fruits you consume, the more likely you are to have a physiologically significant concentration of salicylic acid in your blood. This is why, for instance, vegans and vegetarians generally have higher levels tha...