I investigated the paired sternum V glands in thirty-eight trichopteran families and all lepidopteran families possessing the gland or associated structures. Using my morphological data and literature data on sternum V gland secretions, I examined phylogenetic trends in morphology and gland products and reconstructed ancestral states. I investigated correlations between gland products, between morphological traits and between chemistry and morphology. The gland is present in twenty-five trichopteran families. It is generally present in Annulipalpia, except Dipseudopsidae, and in Spicipalpia. It is widespread in Plenitentoria, but is often absent in Brevitentoria, especially in males. In Lepidoptera, I present the first report on the reduced, but functional glands in Neopseustidae and Nepticulidae. The gland is typically an invagination from sternum V with a duct leading to a reservoir surrounded by secretory tissue. An opening muscle inserts just inside the opening. I found two non-homologous opening-muscle types, one in Lepidoptera and some Trichoptera, another in the remaining Trichoptera. Muscle fibres often surround the reservoir, sometimes also the secretory tissue. Exceptions are found in Psychomyiidae (no opening muscle), female Philopotamidae (fenestra with separate glandular complex), Agathiphagidae (several unique features), Neopseustidae and Nepticulidae (gland present without gland opening). Using variations in gland structure, I identified phylogenetically useful characters from the superorder to the species level. The fenestrae in female Philopotamidae, Eriocraniidae, Neopseustidae and Nepticulidae are perforated, and perforated patches are present in female Psychomyiidae. The perforated patches are associated with a reservoir, secretory tissue and a distinctive sunburst musculature in both Trichoptera and Lepidoptera. The probable ancestral gland compounds are heptan-2-ol, 4-hepten-2-one, 4-hepten-2-ol, nonan-2-one, 6- nonen-2-one and 6-nonen-2-ol, making pheromone production a plausible ancestral function. The most widespread gland compounds are heptan-2-one, heptan-2-ol, nonan-2-one and nonan-2-ol, but these are absent from Apataniidae + Limnephilidae, which instead produce methylated 3-ketones and -ols, unique within Trichoptera. These compounds all probably function as pheromones. Both large and small glands in females can function in sex pheromone production, while large glands in male Hydropsyche (Hydropsychidae) are likely linked to male aggregation pheromone production. Relative sizes of regular gland reservoirs and fenestral gland reservoirs in female philopotamids suggest a complementary function. / Systematics and Evolution

This thesis describes the syntheses of semiochemicals and their applications in the development of control methods for pest insects. The compounds synthesized are divided into three groups: 1) Lepidoptera pheromones; 2) methyl substituted chiral pheromones and 3) aphid pheromones. Different purification techniques have been explored in order to provide > 99% pure semiochemicals for field tests. Examples of the techniques are uses of urea inclusion complexes, argentum chromatography, low temperature crystallization and what we call the Baeckström isolation technique. Iridoids have been produced in a synthetic strategy including an intramolecular enal-enamine [4+2] cycloaddition, a dynamic acetylation and an enantioselective transesterification mediated by a lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia. The use of chiral auxiliaries to perform the intramolecular [4+2] cycloaddition has also been investigated. A useful asymmetric route to iridoids has been developed.

Humans are generally having a strong, widespread, and negative impact on nature. Given the many ways we are impacting nature and the many ways nature is responding, it is useful to study responses in an integrative context. My thesis is focused largely (two out of the three data chapters) on butterfly species’ range shifts consistent with modern climate change in Canada. I employed a macroecological approach to my research, drawing on methods and findings from evolutionary biology, phylogenetics, conservation biology, and natural history. I answered three main research questions. First, is there a trade-off between population growth rate (rmax) and carrying capacity (K) at the mutation scale (Chapter 2)? I found rmax and K to not trade off, but in fact to positively co-vary at the mutation scale. This suggests trade-offs between these traits only emerge after selection removes mutants with low resource acquisition rates (i.e., unhealthy genotypes), revealing trade-offs between remaining genotypes with varied resource allocation strategies. Second, did butterfly species shift their northern range boundaries northward over the 1900s, consistent with climate warming (Chapter 3)? Leading a team of collaborators, we found that most butterfly species’ northern range boundaries did indeed shift northward over the 1900s. But range shift rates were slower than those documented in the literature for more recent time periods, likely reflecting the weaker warming experienced in the time period of my study. Third, were species’ rates of range shift related to their phylogeny (Chapter 3) or traits (Chapter 4)? I found no compelling relationships between rates of range shift and phylogeny or traits. If certain traits make some species more successful at northern boundary range expansion than others, their effect was not strong enough to emerge from the background noise inherent in the broad scale data set I used.

La repercussió de l'activitat agrària en vers de l'entorn natural i la creixent preocupacióper la diversitat biològica, justifiquen la present investigació. El tàxon Rhopalocera,(Insecta: Lepidoptera), és el bioindicador adoptat, degut a què compleix les condicionsnecessàries i és un component del paisatge. Es tria la comarca del "Somontano deBarbastro" ja que compta amb una amplia representació de paisatges amb diferentsintensitats de gestió agrària, que es constitueixen en una gradació que varia des d'illesde conreu tradicional, dins l'ecosistema natural, fins a monocultius de regadiu. Per altrabanda, la comarca es troba immersa en un clima semiàrid i subhumit on s'assenta granpart de l'activitat agrària a nivell general. És remarcable també, la preséncia deserralades marginals del Prepirineu aragonés on es troben presents els dominis climàcicsvegetals de la roureda de roure de fulla petita (Violo-Quercetum fagineae) i delcarrascar (Quercetum rotundifoliae).Es determina l'efecte que diferents intensitats d'activitat antròpica, (preferentmentagrària), exerceixen en vers comunitats de ropalòcers i la distribució comarcal de lesespécies.Dins de cada domini vegetal, es consideren diferents formacions vegetals tot depenentdel grau d'intervenció antròpica: bosc dens, bosc aclarit, brolla, illes de conreus, campsde conreus abandonats i conreus actuals. Pel que fa a la intensitat de gestió agrària, esdiferencien: illes de conreus dins l'ecosistema natural, (pluriconreu i monoconreu),conreus de secà i conreus de regadiu, (pluriconreu, monoconreu herbaci i monoconreuarbori).S'ha emprat el transsecte en banda de 700 x 10 m, amb mostreig durant 40 minuts i atres indrets, (repeticions), per paisatge i mes, dintre del perí­ode de temps comprés entreels dies 15-30 des del mes de març fins el mes d'octubre.S'analitzen les preferències ambientals a nivell familiar i especí­fic, la composició il'estructura fauní­stica als diferents tipus de paisatge i es realitza una anàlisibiocenològica de similitud fauní­stica entre ells. Es correlaciona la diversitat biològicaamb la presència de paràmetres derivats de l'activitat antròpica.S'han inventariat 138 espècies de ropalòcers, les quals constitueixen el 55 % del censactual de la pení­nsula Ibérica, essent descrites llurs característiques ecològiques mésimportants, diagrames de vol i distribució corològica per espécie en quadrí­cules UTMde 5 km de costat.La riquesa més gran d'espècies es troba als paisatges amb presència d'ecosistemanatural, així­ com als grans espais oberts amb brolles.Dintre del conjunt comarcal, la roureda de roure de fulla petita (amb 109 espècies) ésmés diversa que el carrascar (amb 101 espècies); i tots dos dominis són mès diversosque el agrosistema (amb 73 espècies).Dins l'ecosistema agrari, la riquesa més gran en espècies es produeix a les illes depluricultiu tradicional, amb una diversitat similar a la del bosc aclarit. La mí­nimariquesa i diversitat es troba al monocultiu. El secà és més ric en espècies que el regadiu idins d'aquest és fonamental la presència de lleguminoses i pratenses plurianuals.Pertorbacions antròpiques lleugeres a l'ecosistema natural mantenen la diversitat, si bé,aquesta decreix amb l'eliminació de la vegetació natural. La intensificació del'agricultura produeix una disminució dràstica i una variació especí­fica a les poblacionsde lepidòpters, disminuint els Satyridae i incrementant els Pieridae; l'abundància demarges és determinant pel manteniment de la diversitat de l'agrosistema. La diversitatbiològica d'un paisatge és afavorida per la presència d'ecosistema natural, per unacobertura arbòria mitjana, una elevada cobertura arbustiva-herbàcia i un cert graud'activitat agrària.Existeix alta similitud faunística entre la roureda de roure de fulla petita i el carrascar.Pieridae s'associa a l'agrosistema i a intensitats altes de gestió agrària, Satyridae,Nymphalidae i Lycaenidae a l'ecosistema natural poc intervingut.Per la seva composició faunística, els paisatges s'agrupen en funció de la presència debrolles, grau d'intervenció antròpica i presència de reg, arbrat i marges.S'estableixen espècies tolerants a una activitat forestal moderada i intolerants al'activitat agrària, indicadores per tant de "salut" i "equilibri" ecològics. També esdescriuen espécies tolerants a una activitat agrària moderada i d'altres espèciesafavorides per aquesta activitat, essent en aquest cas, indicadores de paisatges amb unagestió agrària elevada i en conseqüència, una diversitat biològica baixa. / La repercusión de la actividad agraria sobre el entomo natural y lapreocupación creciente por la diversidad biológica justifican esta investigación. Se hanelegido el taxon Rhopalocera (Insecta: Lepidoptera) como bioindicador por cumplir lascaracterí­sticas adecuadas para ello y ser componente del paisaje y la comarca delSomontano de Barbastro por contar con una amplia representación de paisajes condistintas intensidades de gestión agraria, desde islas de cultivo tradicional entre elecosistema natural a monocultivos de regadí­o y por estar enclavada en clima semiáridoy subhúmedo, donde se asienta en general gran parte de la actividad agraria; situada enlas sierras marginales del Prepirineo Aragonés, en ella tienen importancia los dominiosvegetales de quejigar (Violo-Quercetum fagineae) y carrascal (Quercetumrotundifoliae).Se ha determinado el efecto que diferentes intensidades de actividad antrópica(preferentemente agraria) ejercen sobre las comunidades de Ropalóceros y ladistribución comarcal de las especies.En cada dominio vegetal se han considerado distintas formaciones vegetales opaisajes según el grado de intervención antrópica, bosque denso, bosque claro,matorral, islas de cultivo, campos de cultivo abandonados y cultivos actuales; dentro delos cultivos, distintas intensidades de gestión agraria, islas de cultivo entre ecosistemanatural (pluricultivo y monocultivo), cultivos de secano y cultivos de regadí­o(pluricultivo, monocultivo herbáceo y monocultivo arbóreo).Se ha utilizado el método de transecto en banda de 700 x 10 m, muestreandodurante 40 minutos, en tres localidades (repeticiones) por formación vegetal y mes entrelos dí­as 15-30 desde marzo a octubre.Se han analizado las preferencias ambientales entre familias y especies, lacomposición y estructura fauní­stica en las distintas formaciones vegetales, realizando unanálisis biocenológico de similitud fauní­stica entre ellos y correlacionando ladiversidad biológica con la presencia de parámetros derivados de la actividad antrópica.Se han inventariado 138 especies de ropalóceros, el 55 % del censo de laPení­nsula Ibérica, describiendo sus caracterí­sticas ecológicas más sobresalientes,diagramas de vuelo y distribución corológica por especies en cuadrí­culas proyecciónUTM de 5 km de lado.La mayor riqueza en especies se encuentra en paisajes con presencia deecosistema natural y grandes espacios abiertos con matorral autóctono.En el conjunto comarcal el dominio del quejigar con 109 especies es más diversoque el carrascal con 101 especies y ambos más que el agrosistema con 73 especies.En el ecosistema agrario la máxima riqueza en especies se produce en islas depluricultivo tradicional con una diversidad similar a la del bosque claro; la mí­nimariqueza y diversidad en el monocultivo. El secano es más rico en especies que elregadío y en éste es fundamental la presencia de leguminosas y pratenses plurianuales.Perturbaciones antrópicas ligeras en el ecosistema natural mantienen ladiversidad, la cual decrece con la eliminación de la vegetación natural. Laintensificación de la agricultura produce un descenso drástico y una variación especí­ficaen las poblaciones de lepidópteros, disminuyendo Satyridae e incrementándosePieridae; la abundancia de márgenes es determinante en el mantenimiento de ladiversidad del agrosistema. La diversidad biológica de un paisaje es favorecida por lapresencia de ecosistema natural, por una cobertura arbórea media, una elevada coberturaarbustivo-herbácea y un cierto grado de actividad agraria.Existe alta similitud fauní­stica entre quejigar y carrascal. Pieridae va asociada alagrosistema y a intensidad alta de gestión agraria, Satyridae, Nymphalidae y Lycaenidaeal ecosistema natural poco intervenido.Tomando como referencia la composición fauní­stica los paisajes se agrupansegún presencia de matorral, grado de intervención antrópica y presencia de riego,arbolado y márgenes.Se citan especies tolerantes a una actividad forestal moderada e intolerantes a laactividad agraria, indicadoras de "salud" y "equilibrio" ecológicos; otras tolerantes auna actividad agraria moderada y otras favorecidas por tal actividad e indicadoras depaisajes con gestión agraria elevada y diversidad biológica baja. / This research study has been carried out due to the incidence of agrarian activityon natural land and the increasing preoccupation over diversity. The Rhopalocera(Insecta: Lepidoptera) have been employed as bioindicators since they have suitablefeatures for this purpose and they constitute part of the landscape; the Somontano ofBarbastro has been chosen for this study because of its landscapes wit diverse intensitiesof agrarian management: from tillage-isles in natural ecosystems to very intensivelymanaged irrigated land. This natural region is located at Prepyrenean mountains havingsemiarid and subhumid climate and holding the dominion of gall-oak {Violo-Quercetumfagineae) and holm-oak (Quercetum rotundifoliae).We have determined the effects of agrarian management intensity on butterflycommunities and also, the spatial distribution of the species.In each vegetal dominion we have studied several landscapes as a function ofanthropic activity: woodland, open-woodland, bushy-land, cultivated-islands,abandoned cultivation lands and cultivated land. Within the agrosystem we have studiedseveral agrarian management intensities, cultivated land within natural ecosystems,irrigated and non-irrigated land.We have utilized a transect band (700 x 10 m) as sampling method. Threedifferent localities were sampled during 40 min for each landscape and each monthfrom march to October. Sampling was carried out within the second half of each month.Environmental preferences of species and families have been analyzed, as wellas species composition and faunistic structure in several landscapes. Biocenologic andfaunistic similarity analyses have been carried out among landscapes and we have alsocorrelated biodiversity with anthropic activity parameters.138 butterfly species have been catalogued (55% of total species number onIberian Peninsula) together with their main ecològic characteristics, flight diagrams andcorologic distribution in squares UTM 5 km/side.The highest species richness is found in natural ecosystems and open bushy land.Gall-oak dominion with 109 species and holm-oak dominion with 101 speciesare both more diverse than the agrosystem with 73 species.The highest species richness found in agrarian ecosystems takes place intraditional cultivated-islands with similar diversity to open woodland ecosystems. Thelowest richness and diversity occurs in monocultures. Dry farming is species richer thanirrigated land, being specially important the presence of prairies with a dominance ofleguminous plants.Biodiversity on natural ecosystem is maintained by light disturbances ofanthropic origin. It decreases together with the removal of natural vegetation. Intensivemanagement causes a dramatic fall on the numbers of butterflies, changing so theirpopulations; Satyridae and Pieridae families are particularly affected by management.Border effect appears to be essential for diversity maintenance in agrosystems.Landscape biodiversity is favoured by the presence of a natural ecosystem, a treecanopy,a dense bush-canopy or grassland-canopy and a certain degree of agrarianactivity.There is a high faunistic similarity between gall-oak and holm-oakdominions.The family Pieridae is closely linked to intensively managed agrosystemswhile families Satyridae, Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae are closer related to naturalecosystems with low degree of disturbance.In function of their faunistic composition landscapes are grouped together bybush presence/absence, degree of anthropic disturbance, irrigation, tree-canopy andborder effects.We relate some species that accept moderate forest activities but don't acceptagrarian activities, which indicate the ecologyc "health" and "equilibrium" of theecosystem; other species that tolerate a moderate agrarian activity and some others thatare favoured for this activity; these last are used as bioindicators of landscapes withintensive agrarian management and low biologic diversity.

<p>This thesis describes the syntheses of semiochemicals and their applications in the development of control methods for pest insects. The compounds synthesized are divided into three groups: 1) Lepidoptera pheromones; 2) methyl substituted chiral pheromones and 3) aphid pheromones. </p><p>Different purification techniques have been explored in order to provide > 99% pure semiochemicals for field tests. Examples of the techniques are uses of urea inclusion complexes, argentum chromatography, low temperature crystallization and what we call the Baeckström isolation technique.</p><p>Iridoids have been produced in a synthetic strategy including an intramolecular enal-enamine [4+2] cycloaddition, a dynamic acetylation and an enantioselective transesterification mediated by a lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia. The use of chiral auxiliaries to perform the intramolecular [4+2] cycloaddition has also been investigated. A useful asymmetric route to iridoids has been developed.</p>

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) - Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Orman Mühendisliği Anabilim Dalı, 2008. / Kaynakça var.

Differences in plant structure and host abundance, distribution and density within and between plants may affect host finding success of searching parasitoids. The main objective of this research consisted in developing and validating a model that can predict parasitism by Trichogramma evanescens on various plant structures. Also, we evaluated the effect of both artificial and natural plant structures on host encountering success and on searching behavior of two species of Trichogramma. / Size (S), heterogeneity (H) and connectivity (C) define plant structure. The development of the model of parasitism was based on laboratory experiments using three dimensional artificial plants of different combinations of S, H and C. The model was then validated with experiments, within greenhouse, using natural cruciferous plants of different structures. Significant regressions of observed values of parasitism as a function of those predicted by the model were obtained. / The effect of plant structure on two species of Trichogramma was studied by using three species of Lepidoptera and three structurally different but closely related crucifers. Also the distribution pattern of parasitized eggs according to leaf side and plant height was characterized. A repeated measure ANOVA in time where plant ages defined the repeated measures showed that all three main effects (plant, host, parasitoid) had significant effect on parasitism and only the parasitoid x plant structure interaction was significant. Mean percent of parasitism was higher on cabbage, intermediate on broccoli and lower on Brussels sprouts whereas cabbage appeared to be intermediate in plant structure, broccoli appeared to be the most simple and Brussels sprouts the most complex plant structure. On simple plant structure, both wasp species performed well on the three varieties of plant but T. evanescens outperformed T. pretiosum more often on the various plant structures. A doubly repeated measures ANOVA in space revealed significant effects of leaf side and plant height on parasitism, being greatest under leaf surface and at the base of the plant. The interaction between those two variables was not significant. / The effect of plant structure on searching behavior of T. evanescens was determined by direct observation of individual females searching on simple and complex plant structures during 1 hour. Time, frequence and sequence associated to activities and plant parts explored were obtained and analyzed. Plant structure had significant effect on time budget associated to activities (walking, resting, flying) and plant parts explored. / This study demonstrates that plant structure mediates ecological interactions by affecting host finding success and this may have important implications in population dynamics, evolution of hosts and parasitoids but also in biological control programs.

No description available.

During a two years study (1993-1994) in southwestern Quebec, Artogeia rapae and Plutella xylostella were found to be the most important lepidopterous pests of cruciferous crops, followed by Trichoplusia ni and four minor species. The relationship between plant sampling and the use of degree-days, pheromone traps (P. xylostella) or butterflies counts (A. rapae) was assessed for A. rapae and P. xylostella. Three generations of A. rapae were observed annually, with a duration of 319.7 degree-days above $ rm 10 sp circ C (DD sb{10}),$ while P. xylostella had three to four generations with a duration of 277.7 $ rm DD sb{10}.$ Captures of P. xylostella were not linked to the level of infestations. By the end of summer, A. rapae was the most abundant species, especially on broccoli, while P. xylostella was often abundant early in the season. The complex of lepidopterous pests' natural enemies was identified, and the data were analyzed using an illustrated parasitoid web. Fourteen parasitoid and three hyperparasitoid species (12 Hymenoptera, 2 Diptera) were identified. The most important parasitoid, Cotesia rubecula, is a larval parasitoid of A. rapae that is newly established in Quebec. Overall, parasitism of lepidopterous eggs is almost not existent, whereas parasitism and infection of larvae and pupae by pathogens are important, but not significant to reduce butterfly populations. In order to evaluate the potential of oophagous parasitoids, the parasitism of up to 42 species/strains of Trichogramma was studied with different development stages of P. xylostella, A. rapae and T. ni eggs. Generally, Trichogramma females attacked preferably young eggs of a given host species. Females modified the number of offspring according to host size and host age, as fewer offspring emerged from the smallest or the oldest hosts. Host age had no impact on sex allocation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Evolution is not always straight-forward, as selection pressures may differ between different generations of the same species. This thesis focuses on the evolution of life history of the model species, the Green-veined White butterfly Pieris napi. In central Sweden P. napi has two generations per year. The directly developing summer generation is short-lived and time stressed, compared to the diapausing generation. In paper I polyandry, defined as female mating rate, was shown to differ between generations but was unaffected by environmental factors. In paper II both males and females of the direct developing generation were shown to eclose more immature than the diapausing generation, indicating larval time constraints. Consistent with this, diapausing males mated sooner than direct developers. Directly developing females, however, mated sooner after eclosion than diapausing females, even though they are more immature. This was shown to negatively affect fecundity, but can pay off when the season is short. Paper III shows that directly developing males have less sex pheromones at eclosion than diapausers, and the differences in sex pheromone production is consistent with developmental time constraints and the differences in mating system. In P. napi and other polyandrous butterflies, males transfer a large, nutritious ejaculate at mating. Large ejaculates confer advantages under sperm competition, but as they are costly, males should adjust ejaculate size to the risk of sperm competition. In paper IV we found that males transfer on average 20% larger spermatophores under high male competition than at low competition. The same effect could be observed if we added male sex pheromone to the air in a mating cage without male-male competition. Paper V shows that males of the two generations respond differently to an increase in male-male competition, with diapausing males transferring larger spermatophores than direct developers at high male competition risk. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 5: Submitted manuscript.</p>