The red palm weevil (RPW, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), one of the most widespread of all invasive insect pest species, is a major cause of severe damage to economically important palm trees. RPW exhibits behaviors very similar to those of its sympatric species, the Asian palm weevil (R. vulneratus), which is restricted geographically to the southern part of Southeast Asia. Although efficient and...

Most hamadryas baboons rely on Acacia species for subsistence in their semidesert habitats. Unlike other hamadryas sites, palm forests at Filoha in Awash National Park, Ethiopia, provide the baboons with a preferred food resource close to a commonly used sleeping site. The baboons are expected to feed on doum palm trees when fruit is available, and this resource use should play a role in rangin...

Although date palm is relatively salt-tolerant, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms that contribute to its salt tolerance. Only recently, investigators have uncovered microRNA-mediated post-transcriptional gene regulation, which is critical for typical plant development and adaptation to stress conditions such as salinity. To identify conserved and novel miRNAs in date pal...

The C. ceriferapa/m tree(carnaúba) is widely distributed in theNortheastem Brazil, including the State o f Piauí. This investigation revealed that R. nasutus is the ortly triatomine species captured on that pa lm tree, in five dijferent localities. 78% o f palm trees were infested with triatomines, and 4.0% were infected withflagellates morphologically and biologically indistinguishable from Tr...

The predominant types of commercially produced alcoholic beverages are beer, wine and spirits. Basic ingredients for beer are malted barley, water, hops and yeast. Wheat may be used. Nearly all wine is produced from grapes, although wine can be also made from other fruits and berries. Spirits are frequently produced from cereals (e.g. corn, wheat), beet or molasses, grapes or other fruits, cane...

Scatter-hoarding animals spread out cached seeds to reduce density-dependent theft of their food reserves. This behaviour could lead to directed dispersal into areas with lower densities of conspecific trees, where seed and seedling survival are higher, and could profoundly affect the spatial structure of plant communities. We tested this hypothesis with Central American agoutis and Astrocaryum...

In a world of diminishing water reservoirs and a rising demand for food, the practice and development of water stress indicators and sensors are in rapid progress. The heat dissipation method, originally established by Granier, is herein applied and modified to enable sap flow measurements in date palm trees in the southern Arava desert of Israel. A long and tough sensor was constructed to with...