Assessing immunocompetence in red palm weevil adult and immature stages in response to bacterial challenge and entomopathogenic nematode infection

Parasites and pathogens can follow different patterns of infection depending on the host developmental stage or sex.In fact,immune function is energetically costly for hosts and trade-offs exist between immune defenses and life history traits as growth,de-velopment and reproduction and organisms should thus optimize immune defense through their life cycle according to their developmental stage.ldentifying the most susceptible target and the most virulent pathogen is particularly important in the case of insect pests,in order to develop effective control strategies targeting the most vulnerable individuals with the most effective control agent.Here,we carried out laboratory tests to identify the most susceptible target of infection by infecting different stages of the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus(larvae,pupae,male,and female adults)with both a generic pathogen,antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli XL1-Blue,and two specific strains of entomopathogenic nematodes(EPNs),Steinernema carpocapsae ItS-CAO1 and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora ItH-LUI.By evaluating bacterial clearance,host mortality and parasite progeny release,we demonstrate that larvae are more resistant than adults to bacterial challenge and they release less EPNs progeny after infection despite a higher mortality compared to adults.Considering the two EPN strains,S.carpocapsae was more virulent than II.bacteriophora both in terms of host mortality and more abundant progeny released by hosts after death.The outcomes attained with unspecific and specific pathogens provide useful information for a more efficient and sustainable management of this invasive pest.

Which are the most favourable conditions for reducing soil CO_(2)emissions with no-tillage?Results from a meta-analysis

No-tillage practices have a recognised beneficial impact on soil and water conservation while reducing erosion processes and enhancing soil organic matter content.However,scientists continue to debate the effectiveness of no-tillage in reducing soil carbon dioxide(CO_(2))emissions from farming.Following the same line of inquiry pursued by the authors who reviewed the impact of conservative practices on direct CO_(2)emissions,we applied meta-analytic and machine learning techniques to unravel the effect of no-tillage under contrasting pedo-environmental conditions and agricultural management.We analysed fifty-six experimental studies investigating direct soil CO_(2)emissions from no-tillage and conventional tillage practices(102 paired observations),considering pedological(soil texture,soil organic carbon content),environmental(climate type),and management(crop rotation,experiment duration)factors.We estimated the effect of different practices on the daily amount of soil CO_(2)emissions,and the impact of tillage in the period immediately following the event.The main insights of this study are:(i)the conditions leading to the highest reduction of CO_(2)emissions due to no-tillage were long-term experiments(standardised mean differenceβ=0.64)conducted in arid environments(β=0.76)and clay soils(β=0.81),with low organic carbon content(β=0.79)where crop rotations(β=0.65)were performed;(ii)the same conditions were associated with the lowest absolute CO_(2)emissions,irrespective of soil management;(iii)the highest contribution to the variability of absolute soil CO_(2)emissions was associated with soil texture(mean decrease in accuracy of Random Forest models,MDA=4.57),rotation(MDA=3.07),experiment duration(MDA=2.93)and soil organic carbon content(MDA=2.24),rather than to tillage practices;(iv)soil CO_(2)emissions almost doubled in the first day after a tillage event,consistently across studies(p=0.001).This meta-analysis offers quantitative figures on the impact of tillage practices on soil CO_(2)emissions and releases data for informing policies aimed at promoting climate change mitigation.

Interactional behaviors of the parasitic beetle Paussus favieri with its ant host Pheidole pallidula:the mimetic role of the acoustical signals

The social parasitic beetle Puussus favieri(Coleoptera,Carabidae,Paussini)performs different types of stridulations,which sclectively mimic those emitted by dif-ferent ant castes of its host Pheidole pallidula(Hymenoptera,Formicidae,Myrmicinae).However,the significance of this acoustical mimicry for the success of the parasitic strat-egy and the behaviors elicited in the host ants by stridulations was unknown.We reared Paussus favieri in Pheidole pallidula colonies and filmed their interacting behaviors.We analyzed in slow motion the behavior of ants near a stridulating beetle.We analyzed sep-arately trains of pulse(Pa+Pb,produced by repeated rubbings)and single pulse(Pc,produced by a single rubbing)of stridulations,clearly recognizable from the shaking up and down of the beetle hind legs.and associated them with differcent ant responscs.The full repertoire of sounds produced by P:favieri elicited benevolent responses both in workers and soldiers.We found that different signals elicit different(sometimes multiplc)bchaviors in ants,with different frequency in the two ant castes.However,Pc(alone or in conjunction with other types of pulses)appears to be the type of acoustic signal mostly responsible for all recorded behaviors.These results indicate that the acoustic channel plays a pivotal role in the host-parasite interaction.Finding that a parasite uses the acoustical channel so intensively,and in such a complicated way to trigger ant bchaviors,indicates that acoustic signals may be more important in ant societies than commonly recognized.