Linoleic acid (C18:2∆9,12, LA) is an important metabolite with numerous essential functions for growth, health, and reproduction of organisms. It has long been assumed that animals lack ∆12-desaturases, the enzymes needed to produce LA from oleic (C18:1∆9, OA). There is, however, increasing evidence this not generally true invertebrates. In insect order Hymenoptera, biosynthesis shown only two ...

A new family of stephanoid wasps is established based on Cretaceous amber inclusions and rock imprints. Ohlhoffiidae fam. nov. comprises four species in three genera: Ohlhoffia robusta gen. et sp. nov., Myanmephialtites bashkuevi which are newly described figured from mid-Cretaceous northern Myanmar; Cretephialtites pedrerae Rasnitsyn & Ansorge, 2000, C.(?) hispanicus (Rasnitsyn Martínez-Delclò...

Ecological specialization should minimize niche overlap, yet herbivorous neotropical flies (Blepharoneura) and their lethal parasitic wasps (parasitoids) exhibit both extreme specialization and apparent niche overlap in host plants. From just two plant species at one site in Peru, we collected 3636 flowers yielding 1478 fly pupae representing 14 Blepharoneura fly species, 18 parasitoid species ...

Symbiotic relationships between animals and microorganisms are common in nature, yet the factors controlling the abundance and distributions of symbionts are mostly unknown. Aphids have an obligate association with the bacterium Buchnera aphidicola (the primary symbiont) that has been shown to contribute directly to aphid fitness. In addition, aphids sometimes harbor other vertically transmitte...

Drosophila melanogaster has long been used as a model for the molecular genetics of innate immunity. Such work has uncovered several immune receptors that recognize bacterial and fungal pathogens by binding unique components of their cell walls and membranes. Drosophila also act as hosts to metazoan pathogens such as parasitic wasps, which can infect a majority of individuals in natural populat...

Parasitic wasps use a broad spectrum of different stimuli for host location and host acceptance. Here we review the published evidence for the use of mechanical stimuli, i.e. substrate born vibrations which are invariably regarded as vibrotaxis. We propose a set of criteria to class behavioural reactions as vibrotaxis or vibrokinesis and characterize 14 studies reporting the use of host-associa...

Animals can store learned information in their brains through a series of distinct memory forms. Short-lasting memory forms can be followed by longer-lasting, consolidated memory forms. However, the factors determining variation in memory consolidation encountered in nature have thus far not been fully elucidated. Here, we show that two parasitic wasp species belonging to different families, Co...