Neonicotinoid insecticides disrupt predation on the eggs of turf-infesting scarab beetles

Turfgrass applications of imidacloprid were previously shown to suppress the abundance of certain soil arthropods. To ascertain whether those impacts harbor functional consequences, the effect of neonicotinoids on Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman) predation was examined in three experiments that measured removal of eggs implanted into non-irrigated field plots. A first experiment confirmed that a single imidacloprid application reduced the abundance of nontarget fauna and the rate of egg removal. A second experiment compared the impacts of imidacloprid with those of three other neonicotinoids, while a third measured the impact of imidacloprid when applied in July, August or September. Egg removal declined 28.3-76.1% in imidacloprid-treated plots across all studies. Effects were detected as early as one week after treatment (WAT) and persisted as long as four WAT. The extent of suppression did not vary across month of application. Clothianidin, dinotefuran and thiamethoxam also suppressed egg removal, and the effects were similar among them and with imidacloprid. There was no discernible association between variation in rainfall and treatment effects, but this was not explicitly tested. Results support the hypotheses that a single neonicotinoid application can suppress predation on pest populations and that the effect does not vary with respect to active ingredient or season of application. Neonicotinoid application at the time of beetle oviposition puts intended effects (mortality of neonates) in conflict with unintended effects (disruption of egg predation). The conservation of predation on early life stages might buffer the reduced efficacy of late season applications that target more advanced instars. As application timing and post-application irrigation affect insecticide performance, they might also be manipulated to reduce nontarget effect

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: RSD measurement from the power spectrum and bispectrum of the DR12 BOSS galaxies

We measure and analyse the bispectrum of the final, Data Release 12, galaxy sample provided by the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, splitting by selection algorithm into LOWZ and CMASS galaxies. The LOWZ sample contains 361\,762 galaxies with an effective redshift of $z_{\rm LOWZ}=0.32$, and the CMASS sample 777\,202 galaxies with an effective redshift of $z_{\rm CMASS}=0.57$. Combining the power spectrum, measured relative to the line-of-sight, with the spherically averaged bispectrum, we are able to constrain the product of the growth of structure parameter, $f$, and the amplitude of dark matter density fluctuations, $\sigma_8$, along with the geometric Alcock-Paczynski parameters, the product of the Hubble constant and the comoving sound horizon at the baryon drag epoch, $H(z)r_s(z_d)$, and the angular distance parameter divided by the sound horizon, $D_A(z)/r_s(z_d)$. After combining pre-reconstruction RSD analyses of the power spectrum monopole, quadrupole and bispectrum monopole; with post-reconstruction analysis of the BAO power spectrum monopole and quadrupole, we find $f(z_{\rm LOWZ})\sigma_8(z_{\rm LOWZ})=0.427\pm 0.056$, $D_A(z_{\rm LOWZ})/r_s(z_d)=6.60 \pm 0.13$, $H(z_{\rm LOWZ})r_s(z_d)=(11.55\pm 0.38)10^3\,{\rm kms}^{-1}$ for the LOWZ sample, and $f(z_{\rm CMASS})\sigma_8(z_{\rm CMASS})=0.426\pm 0.029$, $D_A(z_{\rm CMASS})/r_s(z_d)=9.39 \pm 0.10$, $H(z_{\rm CMASS})r_s(z_d)=(14.02\pm 0.22)10^3\,{\rm kms}^{-1}$ for the CMASS sample. We find general agreement with previous BOSS DR11 and DR12 measurements. Combining our dataset with {\it Planck15} we perform a null test of General Relativity (GR) through the $\gamma$-parametrisation finding $\gamma=0.733^{+0.068}_{-0.069}$, which is $\sim2.7\sigma$ away from the GR predictions.Comment: 34 pages, 22 figures, 8 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Data available at https://sdss3.org//science/boss_publications.ph

Food Availability, Foraging Behavior, and Diet of Autumn Migrant Landbirds in the Boise Foothills of Southwestern Idaho

Food availability and acquisition are critical components of a stopover site\u27s suitability, but we know relatively little about how changes in food availability affect the stopover ecology of migrating landbirds. We examined fruit and arthropod availability in three habitats, studied foraging behavior and diet, and investigated use versus availability for passerines migrating through southwestern Idaho in autumn. Hemiptera dominated foliage-dwelling arthropod communities in all three habitats, whereas Hymenoptera were most numerous among ground-dwelling arthropods. Mountain shrubland had relatively high biomass of both ground-dwelling and foliage-dwelling arthropods, whereas conifer forest had high biomass of foliage-dwelling arthropods only and shrub steppe had high biomass of ground-dwelling arthropods only. Species\u27 foraging behavior varied, but most species foraged in mountain shrubland more often than expected by chance. Diets of most species included a high proportion of certain Hemiptera and Hymenoptera with smaller proportions of Coleoptera, Diptera, and Heteroptera; Coleoptera and some Hemiptera were consistently preferred by most species. Importantly, all 19 bird species examined consumed some fruit, and this is the first documentation of frugivory for two warbler species. These data point to the importance of several arthropod taxa, especially the Hemiptera and Hymenoptera, and fruits to landbirds migrating in mountain shrubland in autumn. Finally, we found no effect of annual variation of fruit or arthropod abundance on migrants\u27 energetic condition, suggesting that food was sufficient for mass gain in all years of this study and/or that foraging behavior may be plastic enough to allow birds to gain mass despite annual differences in food availability

Changes in the circumscription of Deprea (Physalideae, Solanaceae): Thirty two new combinations

According to the latest phylogenetic and cytogenetic results, Larnax and Deprea should be merged in order to form a natural group. Consequently, we propose 32 combinations of Larnax species names under Deprea: D. abra-patriciae (S.Leiva & Barboza) S.Leiva & Deanna, comb. nov., D. altomayoensis (S.Leiva & Quip.) Barboza & Deanna, comb. nov., D. andersonii (N.W.Sawyer) Deanna & S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. bongaraensis (S.Leiva) Deanna & Barboza, comb. nov., D. chotanae (S.Leiva, Pereyra & Barboza) S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. darcyana (N.W.Sawyer) Barboza & S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. dilloniana (S.Leiva, Quip. & N.W.Sawyer) Barboza, comb. nov., D. grandiflora (N.W.Sawyer & S.Leiva) Deanna & Barboza, comb. nov., D. harlingiana (Hunz. & Barboza) S.Leiva & Deanna, comb nov., D. hawkesii (Hunz.) Deanna, comb. nov., D. kann-rasmussenii (S.Leiva & Quip.) S.Leiva & Barboza, comb. nov., D. longipedunculata (S.Leiva, E.Rodr. & J.Campos) Barboza, comb. nov., D. lutea (S.Leiva) Deanna, comb. nov., D. macasiana (Deanna, S.Leiva & Barboza) Barboza, comb. nov., D. maculatifolia (E.Rodr. & S.Leiva) S. Leiva, comb. nov., D. nieva (S.Leiva & N.W.Sawyer) Barboza & Deanna, comb. nov., D. parviflora (N.W.Sawyer & S.Leiva) S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. pedrazae (S.Leiva & Barboza) Deanna & S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. peruviana (Zahlbr.) S.Leiva & Barboza, comb. nov., D. pilosa (S.Leiva, E.Rodr. & J.Campos) Deanna, comb. nov., D. pomacochaensis (S.Leiva) Barboza, comb. nov., D. psilophyta (N.W.Sawyer) S.Leiva & Deanna, comb. nov., D. pumila (S.Leiva, Barboza & Deanna) S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. purpurea (S.Leiva) Barboza & S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. purpureocarpa (S.Leiva, Deanna & Barboza) Deanna, comb. nov., D. sachapapa (Hunz.) S.Leiva & Deanna, comb. nov., D. sagasteguii (S.Leiva, Quip. & N. W.Sawyer) Barboza, comb. nov., D. sawyeriana (S.Leiva, E.Rodr. & J.Campos) S.Leiva, comb. nov., D. schjellerupiae (S.Leiva & Quip.) Barboza & Deanna, comb. nov., D.  steyermarkii (Hunz.) S.Leiva & Barboza, comb. nov., D. toledoana (Barboza & S.Leiva) Barboza, comb. nov., and D. vasquezii (S.Leiva, E.Rodr. & J.Campos) Deanna, comb. nov.Fil: Deanna, Rocío. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Leiva González, Segundo. Universidad Privada Atenor Orrego. Museo de Historia Natural; PerúFil: Barboza, Gloria Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Multi-State Trials of Bt Sweet Corn Varieties for Control of the Corn Earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Field tests in 2010-2011 were performed in New York, Minnesota, Maryland, Ohio, and Georgia to compare Bt sweet corn lines expressing Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab2 and Cry1Ab with their non-Bt isolines, with and without the use of foliar insecticides. The primary insect pest in all locations during the trial years was Heliocoverpa zea (Boddie), which is becoming the most serious insect pest of sweet corn in the United States. At harvest, the ears were measured for marketability according to fresh market and processing standards. For fresh market and processing, least squares regression showed significant effects of protein expression, state, and insecticide frequency. There was a significant effect of year for fresh market but not for processing. The model also showed significant effects of H. zea per ear by protein expression. Sweet corn containing two genes (Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab2) and a single gene (Cry1Ab) provided high marketability, and both Bt varieties significantly outperformed the traditional non-Bt isolines in nearly all cases regardless of insecticide application frequency. For pest suppression of H. zea, plants expressing Bt proteins consistently performed better than non-Bt isoline plants, even those sprayed at conventional insecticide frequencies. Where comparisons in the same state were made between Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab2 and Cry1Ab plants for fresh market, the product expressing Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab2 provided better protection and resulted in less variability in control. Overall, these results indicate Cry1A.105 + Cry2Ab2 and Cry1Ab plants are suitable for fresh market and processing corn production across a diversity of growing regions and years. Our results demonstrate that Bt sweet corn has the potential to significantly reduce the use of conventional insecticides against lepidopteran pests and, in turn, reduce occupational and environmental risks that arise from intensive insecticide us

The correlation between halo mass and stellar mass for the most massive galaxies in the universe

I.Z. is supported by NSF grant AST-1612085. Funding for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, and the Participating Institutions. SDSS-IV acknowledges support and resources from the Center for High-Performance Computing at the University of Utah.We present measurements of the clustering of galaxies as a function of their stellar mass in the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. We compare the clustering of samples using 12 different methods for estimating stellar mass, isolating the method that has the smallest scatter at fixed halo mass. In this test, the stellar mass estimate with the smallest errors yields the highest amplitude of clustering at fixed number density. We find that the PCA stellar masses of Chen et al. clearly have the tightest correlation with halo mass. The PCA masses use the full galaxy spectrum, differentiating them from other estimates that only use optical photometric information. Using the PCA masses, we measure the large-scale bias as a function of M∗ for galaxies with log M∗ ≥ 11.4, correcting for incompleteness at the low-mass end of our measurements. Using the abundance matching ansatz to connect dark matter halo mass to stellar mass, we construct theoretical models of b (M∗) that match the same stellar mass function but have different amounts of scatter in stellar mass at fixed halo mass, σlog M∗. Using this approach, we find σlogM∗ =  0.18 -0.02 +0.01. This value includes both intrinsic scatter as well as random errors in the stellar masses. To partially remove the latter, we use repeated spectra to estimate statistical errors on the stellar masses, yielding an upper limit to the intrinsic scatter of 0.16 dex.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Socially sensitive lactation: Exploring the social context of breastfeeding

Many women report difficulties with breastfeeding and do not maintain the practice for as long as intended. Although psychologists and other researchers have explored some of the difficulties they experience, fuller exploration of the relational contexts in which breastfeeding takes place is warranted to enable more in-depth analysis of the challenges these pose for breastfeeding women. The present paper is based on qualitative data collected from 22 first-time breastfeeding mothers through two phases of interviews and audio-diaries which explored how the participants experienced their relationships with significant others and the wider social context of breastfeeding in the first five weeks postpartum. Using a thematic analysis informed by symbolic interactionism, we develop the overarching theme of ‘Practising socially sensitive lactation’ which captures how participants felt the need to manage tensions between breastfeeding and their perceptions of the needs, expectations and comfort of others. We argue that breastfeeding remains a problematic social act, despite its agreed importance for child health. Whilst acknowledging the limitations of our sample and analytic approach, we suggest ways in which perinatal and public health interventions can take more effective account of the social challenges of breastfeeding in order to facilitate the health and psychological well-being of mothers and their infants