Abstract: Please read the abstract in the section, 00front of this document
Abstract: Pollination is an essential ecosystem service, increasing reproductive success of many crops, which can be provided by managed pollinators, wild bees (including honeybees) and other insect pollinators. However, the pollination services and the economic value of wild pollinators are often underestimated. Better understanding of the factors that influence honeybee foraging behaviour and pollination efficiency can contribute to the improvement of management practices that aim to enhan...
Abstract: One of the benefits of colonial living in insect societies is the ability to build a nest which enables the maintenance of a homeostatic microenvironment. The detrimental and uncertain effects of fluctuating ambient conditions are thus avoided. An extensive amount of work has documented the regulation of respiratory gases and temperature by honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies but relatively little is known of their water relations. Nest humidity influences the fitness of the honeybe...
Abstract: Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document
Abstract: Please read the abstract (Summary) in the section, 09summary and aknowledgements, of this document
Abstract: Fluid secretion by insect Malpighian tubules is controlled by haemolymph-bome factors. Two corticotropin-releasing-factor (CRF)-related diuretic peptides, Tenmo¬DH37 and Tenmo-DH47. previously isolated from Tenebrio molitor, were found to stimulate in vitro tubule preparations of Tenebrio molitor via the second messenger cyclic AMP. The stimulatory effect of Tenmo-DH37 was reversed on addition of endogenous antidiuretic peptides (Tenmo-ADFa and ADFb) and exogenous cardioaccelerato...
Abstract: Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document
Abstract: The relationship between beetles and flowers is often mutually beneficial. Flowers provide not only edible rewards and favourable micro-environments, but may also be sites for mating and egg-laying activities. Even though beetles consume various parts of flowers, including pollen, and can sometimes cause considerable damage, they are in fact important pollinators of many flowers. Pollen was once considered indigestible but is actually a highly nutritious food source for many animal...
Abstract: Scarabaeus (Pachysoma) consists of 13 flightless dung beetle species endemic to the arid west coast of southern Africa. Scarabaeus (Pachysoma) are unique in their feeding and foraging habits, in that they randomly search for dry dung/detritus which, when found, is dragged forwards, and buried in a pre-constructed holding chamber, as opposed to the convention of rolling it backwards. This action is repeated to provision the chamber after which the nest is expanded to below the moist...
Abstract: Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document
Abstract: Please read the abstract in the section, 00front, of this document
Abstract: Please read the abstract in the section front of this document
Abstract: Human appropriation of natural resources, and the consequent loss of habitats, means that ecological restoration may in the future become a vital conservation tool. For this to happen, we have to understand the processes and factors that govern community assembly, and their management. Here I analyze data on community structure (richness, evenness, diversity, composition) of assemblages (millipedes, spiders, dung beetles, plants, birds, rodents), and on soil chemical and physical p...
Abstract: Rastrococcus iceryoides Green (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), an alien invasive mealybug pest of Asian origin was first detected in Tanzania in 1989. This pest rapidly spread by the mid-1990s and was soon present in Coastal Kenya and Northern Malawi, where it has been regarded and remains a major pest of mango. Because of its novelty status, there was no information on its biology, ecology and its natural enemies that could aid development of management efforts. This study, therefore,...
Abstract: There are many examples of associations between insects and fungi. Where the fungi involved are pathogens, such associations may be of economic importance. Insects of no economic concern alone can also become important pests because of their association with fungal pathogens. Insects may assist in the spread of pathogens by carrying them on or in their bodies. Insects may also predispose plants to infection by creating wounds during feeding, oviposition or other behavioural activit...