Oncideres saga Dalman: first record damaging Stryphnodendron adstringens Mart. Coville (Fabaceae) in Brazil

Oncideres females girdle tree branches of the Fabaceae family, interrupting the sap flow and turning the wood conditions ideal for their larvae development. The bark of Stryphnodendron adstringens (Mart.) Coville, a species native to the Brazilian Cerrado, is widely used in the traditional medicine. The objectives were to report, for the first time, Oncideres saga (Dalman), using S. adstringens as a host and to describe the pattern of branch girdling and oviposition distribution by this insect on these branches. The diameter at the base and the length of the girdled branches were measured and the number of incisions made by the O. saga females to oviposit, per branch section (basal, median and apical), counted. The emerged specimens were counted and the diameter of the exit holes measured. The average diameter at the base of the girdled branches was 2.5 ± 0.16 cm and the length was 90.6 ± 4.6 cm. The average number of incisions per branch was 37.7 ± 2.7. Damage by O. saga can reduce the growth and cause losses on S. adstringens, a tree with great extractivism potential.,

Effects and Risk Assessment of the Polycyclic Musk Compounds Galaxolide® and Tonalide® on Early Life Stages of Marine Organisms

The current research investigated the environmental risk of the polycyclic musk compounds, Galaxolide® (HHCB) and Tonalide® (AHTN), in the marine environments. These substances are lipophilic, bioaccumulated and potentially biomagnified in aquatic organisms. To understand the toxicity of HHCB and AHTN, we performed acute toxicity tests by exposing marine microalgae (Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Tretraselmis chuii and Isochrysis galbana), crustaceans (Artemia franciscana), echinoderms (Paracentrotus lividus), bivalves (Mytilus galloprovincialis), fish (Sparus aurata) and a candidate freshwater microalga (Raphidocelis subcapitata) to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.005 - 5 µg/L) following standardized protocols. The effects of both substances on microalgae growth were incipient and only I. galbana was sensitive to HHCB and AHTN, with IC10 values of 5.22 µg/L and 0.328 µg/L, respectively. Significant (p < 0.01) concentration dependent responses were measured in P. lividus and M. galloprovincialis larvae developments as well as S. aurata mortality tested with HHCB. The effect of HHCB on P. lividus larvae development was the most sensitive endpoint recorded, producing an EC50 value of 4.07 µg/L. Our results show that HHCB represents a high risk to P. lividus larvae development for early life stages in marine environments.

Assessment of mosquito larvae (Diptera: Culicidae) productivity in urban cemeteries in Wroclaw (SW Poland)

In many European countries, cemeteries are found to be suitable habitats for the proliferation of native and invasive mosquito species. The study aimed to assess for the first time in Poland the suitability of urban cemeteries for mosquito larvae development in water supply wells. From May to September 2019 in three urban cemeteries in Wroclaw (SW Poland), a total of 757 inspection of water supply wells were carried out. The mosquito larvae development, expressed as the general container index (GCI), differed between the examined areas and months of the study. The highest GCI value was calculated for Grabiszyński and Bujwida cemeteries (72.0 % and 59.3 % respectively). Larvae of three native mosquito species were identified in all inspected breeding places during the survey: Culex pipiens s.l. Linnaeus (95 %), Cx. torrentium Martini (4 %), Anopheles maculipennis s.l. Meigen (less than 1 %). No larvae of invasive Aedes mosquito species were found. In the inspected water supply wells larval productivity peaked in June, when the average temperature reached 22.7 °C. Due to the likelihood of the establishment and adaptation of invasive aedine mosquito species in Poland, constant analysis of the larvae composition in cemeteries should be continued.

Early developmental stages of native populations of Ciona intestinalis under increased temperature are affected by local habitat history

Temperature modulates marine ectotherm physiology, influencing survival, abundance and species distribution. While native species could be susceptible to ocean warming, thermal tolerance might favour the spread of non-native species. Determining the success of invasive species in response to climate change is confounded by the cumulative, synergistic or antagonistic effects of environmental drivers, which vary at a geographical and temporal scale. Thus, an organism's acclimation or adaptive potential could play an important evolutionary role by enabling or conditioning species tolerance to stressful environmental conditions. We investigated developmental performance of early life stages of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis (derived from populations of anthropogenically-impacted and control sites) to an extreme weather event (i.e. marine heat wave). Fertilisation rate, embryo and larval development, settlement, metamorphosis success and juvenile heart beat rate were assessed as experimental endpoints. With the exception of fertilization and heart beat rates, temperature influenced all analysed endpoints. C. intestinalis derived from control sites were the most negatively affected by increased temperature conditions. Opposingly, C. intestinalis from anthropogenically impacted sites showed a positive response to thermal stress, with a higher proportion of larvae development, settlement and metamorphosis success being observed under increased temperature conditions. No differences were observed for heart beat rates between sampled populations and experimental temperature conditions. Moreover, interaction between temperature and populations was statistically significant for embryo and larvae development, and metamorphosis. We hypothesize that selection resulting from anthropogenic forcing could shape stress resilience of species in their native range and subsequently confer advantageous traits underlying their invasive potential.