Differences females in the growth of dorsolongitudinal flight muscles and gonads in 1-28 days old long-winged (macropterous) and short-winged (brachypterous) adults of life. the firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus L.) and the resource allocation to these organs were studied by means of total protein analysis.muscles We found predominant allocation of food resources to flight muscles compared to reproductive organs in both macropterous males and females an during the first 5 days of adult life. Subsequent histolysis of developed flight muscles coincided with increased total protein content muscles. in some reproductive organs. Initiation of intensive food intake after starvation or application of higher dose of methoprene on macropterous organs adults changed the resource allocation in favour of growth of reproductive organs and induced precocious histolysis of flight muscles. It indicate indicates an involvement of juvenile hormone in wing morph-related differential allocation of resources in the bug. Increased total protein contents 5 in the ovaries and accessory glands of starved macropterous females and males treated with methoprene, respectively, indicate that proteins derived organs from the methoprene-induced histolysis of the flight muscles are re-utilized for the growth of the reproductive organs. It is the (Pyrrhocoris first report of persistence of differential resource allocation to flight muscles and reproductive organs in the wing-polymorphic insects with non-functional favour macropterism.

The in study showed that the amounts of the total proteins and 53 kDa protein in male accessory glands (AGs) of the and firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus (L.) increased with age of the adult life. The 53 kDa protein, the most abundant polypeptide detected synthesis in the secretion of the AGs, and some other smaller peptides were identified as glycoproteins. Changes in the amounts of amounts the total proteins and 53 kDa protein in AGs were found to be wing morph-dependent and their levels were significantly significantly higher in 1-10 days old brachypterous males than in macropterous males of the same age. Macropterous males were characterized by adult delayed growth of the AGs. Treatment of adult macropterous males with methoprene significantly increased the amounts of total proteins and kDa 53 kDa protein in their AGs when compared to acetone-treated macropterous controls of the same age. Allatectomy of brachypterous males of decreased the levels of the total proteins and 53 kDa protein in their AGs, while application of methoprene enhanced the life. quantity of allatectomy-suppressed proteins in these tissues. This is the first report of juvenile hormone-dependent wing morph-related differences in the firebug synthesis of AG proteins and their endocrine control in wing-polymorphic insects.

Resembling the the main function of insect adipokinetic hormones (AKHs), the vertebrate hormone glucagon mobilizes energy reserves and participates in the control gut of glucose level in the blood. Considering the similarities, the effect of porcine glucagon was evaluated in an insect model indicates species, the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus. Using the mouse anti-glucagon antibody, presence of immunoreactive material was demonstrated for the first time by in the firebug CNS and gut by ELISA. Mammalian glucagon (porcine) injected into the adult bugs showed no effect on the hemolymph lipid level or on the level of AKH in CNS and hemolymph, however, it activated an antioxidant response when effect oxidative stress was elicited by paraquat, a diquaternary derivative of 4, 4'-bipyridyl. Glucagon elicited the antioxidant response by increasing glutathione cycling and decreasing protein carbonyl levels in hemolymph, decreasing both protein carbonyl and protein nitrotyrosine levels in CNS. Additionally, when co-injected the with paraquat, glucagon partially eliminated oxidative stress markers elicited by this redox cycling agent and oxidative stressor. This indicates that effect glucagon might induce an antioxidant defense in insects, as recently described for AKH. Failure of glucagon to alter AKH level glucose in the bug's body indicates employment of an independent pathway without involving the native AKH.

In with the present paper we studied the effects of five biogenic amines - norepinephrine, dopamine, octopamine, serotonin and histamine - on of the locomotory activity and mobilization of lipids in the adult females of the firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus (L.). We tested the of hypothesis (1) whether the stimulation of walking activity in the bugs injected with the bioamines is associated also with their the hyperlipaemic effects, like in the case of adipokinetic hormones (AKHs), and (2) whether these effects are direct or mediated through an a release of the AKHs into the hemolymph. The results demonstrated that all five tested biogenic amines mobilized the fat females body lipids, but only norepinephrine and dopamine were capable to enhance the walking activity simultaneously with an elevation of the indicate lipid level in the hemolymph. Those two amines had no effect on the level of AKHs in CNS, but modulated like the AKHs level in hemolymph: norepinephrine increased it, while dopamine decreased it. The results indicate an apparent feedback between AKH of characteristics and dopamine and norepinephrine actions occurring in this insect species. While the stimulatory effects of norepinephrine on lipid mobilization locomotory and walking activity could involve the release of bug's own AKHs, dopamine probably employs an independent stimulatory pathway.

The insult in vivo effects of oxidative stress on adipokinetic hormone (AKH) titer in short-winged (brachypterous) males of the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus enhanced were tested using paraquat (PQ), a bipyridilium herbicide. PQ undergoes a cyclic redox reaction with oxygen during microsomal and electron might transfer reactions forming free radicals in the insect body. Oxidative insult (40 pmol PQ) resulted in enhanced protein carbonylation (a comparable biomarker for oxidative stress) and a depletion of glutathione (GSH) pool in the hemolymph. Interestingly, AKH titer was significantly enhanced non-specific in hemolymph at 4 h post inoculation of PQ, while its content in CNS (brain with corpora cardiaca) showed non-specific bipyridilium changes in comparable period. Co-injection of AKH with PQ (40 pmol each) reversed these effects by decreasing protein carbonyl formation,free increasing reduced GSH levels, and enhancing the total antioxidant capacity of cell free plasma. Our results indicate that there is PQ) a positive feedback regulation between an oxidative stressor action and the level of AKH in insect body, and that AKHs bipyridilium might be involved in the activation of antioxidant protection mechanism.

The brachypterous flightless bug Pyrrhocoris apterus (L.) is polymorphic for both wing length and flight muscle development. The developed flight muscles of due macropterous adults of both sexes first enlarge their volume during the first 5 days after adult emergence, but are then muscles histolyzed in all males and females older than 10 and 14 days, respectively. The flight muscles of brachypterous adult males differ and females are underdeveloped due to their arrested growth. The total protein content of histolyzed dorsolongitudinal flight muscles from 21-day-old dorsolongitudinal macropterous adults of both sexes is lower than that of developed dorsolongitudinal flight muscles in 5-10-days-old macropterous bugs, but substantially the higher than the protein content of underdeveloped dorsolongitudinal flight muscles from adult brachypters. Histolyzed dorsolongitudinal flight muscles differ from the and developed ones by decreased quantities of 18 electrophoretically separated proteins. Histolysis of developed dorsolongitudinal flight muscles is accompanied by significant and decreases in citrate synthase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase enzyme activities and an increase in alanine aminotransferase activity, and can the be precociously induced by application of a juvenile hormone analogue. This is the first report of flight muscle polymorphism, histolysis adults of developed flight muscles and its endocrine control in insects displaying non-functional wing polymorphism.

The dramatic effect of an insecticide, permethrin (Ambush 25 EC), on the titre of two adipokinetic hormones in the central nervous system and (CNS) and haemolymph of the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus (L) was tested. Doses of 2.5, 12.5 and 25 ng of the peptides insecticide elicited no significant effect on the titre of the adipokinetic peptides in CNS, but caused their dramatic elevation in the the haemolymph of both macropterous and reproductive brachypterous bugs. Changes in diapausing brachypterous bugs were minimal and not significant. Using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and competitive ELISA, both adipokinetic peptides of P apterus (Pyrap-AKH and Peram-CAH-II) were identified and quantified tested. in the CNS of all experimental groups. The ratios of the two peptides in the CNS of the bugs used Both were affected by insecticide treatment, but in all three groups of bugs the Pyrap-AKH level remained dominant. The insecticide-treated bugs haemolymph were compared with those exposed to forced running (shaking) and dark shock. Both factors also acted as stressors and enhanced tested. the titre of adipokinetic peptides in the haemolymph but had no effect on hormone titre in CNS. The results indicate and an involvement of adipokinetic peptides in the response of insect to various stressors including insecticides.

A this new member of the AKH/RPCH family was isolated from the corpora cardiaca of the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus. It is the peptide second adipokinetic peptide identified in this species. The peptide was characterized and its structure was deduced from the multiple MS(N)inactive electrospray mass spectra as that of an octapeptide with the sequence pGlu-Leu-Thr-Phe-Thr-Pro-Asn-Trp-NH(2.) The peptide differs from the original P. apterus pGlu-Leu-Thr-Phe-Thr-Pro-Asn-Trp-NH(2.) AKH (Pya-AKH) by one amino acid in position 3. Topical application and/or injection of the peptide induced lipid mobilization, but sequence was inactive in mobilization of carbohydrates.

In in view of the antioxidant role of glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid (AA), we have examined capacity of the GSH-AA redox carbonylation cycle in relation to oxidative stress effects in the midgut of the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata. Adult gut harbors redox a higher capacity to cope with oxidative stress than the larval gut. Protein carbonylation was pronounced in the wall of anterior anterior larval midgut and was generally lower in the food digest than in the gut wall. Restriction of oxidative stress markedly effects in anterior gut lumen manifested by lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation is interpreted as a mechanism favoring digestion and capacity absorption in the posterior midgut. Presence of high GSH in the posterior midgut and AA in both posterior and anterior compared midguts of adults points to higher utility of the GSH-AA redox system in limiting oxidative stress to manageable levels. The manifested presence, gene expression and activity of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) were demonstrated for the first time in L. decemlineata which was to markedly higher in the anterior than in the posterior midgut in both stages. But, it is probably central to the of maintenance of reduced GSH levels in the whole gut, despite a GSSG/2GSH redox potential tending towards oxidizing ranging from -183.5 activity to -124.4mV. Glutathione-dehydroascorbate reductase (G(DHA)R) activity was markedly augmented in adult gut compared with larva, pointing to a more efficient and conversion of dehydroascorbate (DHA) to AA. Also, ascorbate peroxidase (APOX) activity was significantly elevated in all gut compartments of adult (GSH) except the wall of posterior midgut. The results emphasize the potential importance and role of the GSH-AA redox cycle as towards a defense strategy against oxidative stress in the gut of L. decemlineata.

Injections glutathione of 38 pmol paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bypyridilium) into adult Pyrrhocoris apterus (average body weight 29.6 mg in males and 36.9 mg in transpeptidase females) caused a significant elevation of lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation and a decline of membrane fluidity in the microsomal Arch. brain fraction. Another manifestation of oxidative stress was a depletion of the reduced glutathione pool and reduction of the gamma-glutamyl of transpeptidase activity in the brain extracts. The damaging action of paraquat on the brain was counteracted by simultaneous injection of upregulated 1 pmol 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). 20E restrained lipid peroxidation and the formation of protein carbonyls, ameliorated changes in microsomal membrane fluidity,and enhanced the level of reduced glutathione, and upregulated the activity of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. At the organismic level, 20E curtailed three of detrimental effects caused by paraquat injection: the disappearance of a blood protein, the suppression of fecundity and egg hatchability, and of the shortening of adult life span. The data showed that 20E provided a systemic antioxidant protection but the significance of and endogenous ecdysteroids in the management of oxidative stress remains to be shown. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 65:114-124, 2007.(c) 2007 in Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The A level of adipokinetic hormones (AKHs)(Peram-CAH-I and II) in the corpora cardiaca and the hemolymph of Leptinotarsa decemlineata enormously increases titer in the adults fed on genetically modified potatoes containing either GNA lectin or Cry 3Aa toxin concomitant with increased oxidative mitigation, stress in gut tissues. A similar enhancement of the AKH titer is achieved when the adults are injected with paraquat indicate that evokes oxidative stress. On the other hand, an injection of exogenous AKH reduces oxidative stress biomarkers in the hemolymph These by reducing protein carbonyls and enhancing reduced glutathione levels. These facts indicate that there is a feedback regulation between an fed oxidative stressor action and the level of AKH in the insect body, and that AKHs might be involved in the in activation of an antioxidant protection mechanism. These results are to our knowledge, the first evidence for the involvement of AKHs of in oxidative stress mitigation, in addition to a plethora of other roles.

The increased vector of Chagas' disease, Rhodnius prolixus, feeds exclusively on blood. The blood meals are slowly digested, and these insects wait then some weeks before the next meal. During the life of an insect, energy-requiring processes such as moulting, adult gonadal and by reproductive growth, vitellogenesis, muscular activity, and fasting, lead to increased metabolism. Carbohydrates are a major source of energy and their the mobilization is important. We determined the amounts of glycogen, trehalose, and glucose present in the fat body and/or hemolymph of .07+/- .01 adult males of R. prolixus and recorded the processes of accumulation and mobilization of these carbohydrates. We also tested our is hypothesis that these processes are under endocrine control. The amount of glycogen in the fat body progressively increased until the hemolymph fourth day after feeding (from 9.3+/-2.2 to 77. 3+/-7.5 microg/fat body), then declined to values around 36.3+/-4.9 microg/fat body on feeding the fifteenth day after the blood meal. Glycogen synthesis was eliminated in decapitated insects and head-transplanted insects synthesized glycogen. The important. amount of trehalose in the fat body increased until the sixth day after feeding (from 16. 6+/-1.7 to 40. 6+/-5.3 muscular nmol/fat body), decreased abruptly, and stabilized between days 7 and 15 at values ranging around 15-19 nmol/fat body. Decapitated insects effect did not synthesize trehalose after feeding, and this effect was reversed in head-transplanted insects. The concentration of trehalose in the day hemolymph increased after the blood meal until the third day (from .07+/- .01 to .75+/- .05 mM) and at the fourth day blood it decreased until the ninth day ( .21+/- .01 mM), when it increased again until the fourteenth day ( .79+/- .06 mM) after the third blood meal, and then declined again. In decapitated insects, trehalose concentrations did not increase soon after the blood meal and that at the third day it was very low, but on the fourteenth day it was close to the control values.In The concentration of glucose in the hemolymph of untreated insects remained low and constant ( .18+/- .01 mM) during the 15 days energy after feeding, but in decapitated insects it progressively increased until the fifteenth day (2.00+/- .10 mM). We recorded the highest trehalase We activity in midgut, which was maximal at the eighth day after feeding (2,830+/-320 nmol of glucose/organ/h). We infer that in and Rhodnius prolixus, the metabolism of glycogen, glucose, and trehalose are controlled by factors from the brain, according to physiological demands the at different days after the blood meal.(c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The .5 resting activity was studied in filiform sensilla of the firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus). Three functional types (T(1), T(2) and T(3)) were negligible detected on the abdomen. A resting discharge of nerve impulses is present in all-always in types T(1) and T(2) and only occasionally in type T(3). In T(1) the mean rate is 57, in T(2) 3.3 and in T(3) .5 imp/s. Shortening mechanism the hair length had a negligible effect on the resting discharge, which indicates an intrinsic origin. The resting activity is of highly temperature dependent. In T(1), the activation energy was 56.8, in T(2) 84 and in T(3) 61.4 kJ/mol (Q (10):is 2.27, 5.6 and 5.5, respectively). Such values are typical for mechano-transduction, suggesting the involvement of the transduction mechanism itself. The of destruction of the hair base in T(1) caused halving of the original discharge rate and shifted the discharge to a hair regular interval mode. The activation energy decreased to 38 kJ/mol. The destruction of the hair bases in T(2) and T(3)is completely abolished the discharge. It appears that at least two mechanisms are involved in the generation of the resting activity on in T(1) units while only one can be assumed in case of T(2) and T(3).

The for existence of significant variability in duration and temperature norms of development has been shown for the first time between families and within insect populations. This variability is infer-family and therefore has genetic basis. Revealed for the first time is the statistically can significant positive correlations between the regression coefficient of the rate of development for temperature and the threshold of temperature for results development of eggs and larvae from different families. The greater the slope of the regression line of the development rate corresponding for temperature, the higher the temperature threshold value in this particular family. These results demonstrate for the first time existence of of genetic covariation between the regression coefficient and the temperature threshold within the insect populations. It is suggested that the of intrapopulational genetic variability in the development time, regression coefficient, and the temperature threshold for development, which is the subject of genetic natural selection, might be the source of the interpopulation and interspecies variability of the temperature reaction norms of development. It development was found that value of the linear regression coefficient of development rates for temperature were statistically significantly higher, while the first temperature threshold values--lower in eggs as compared with the corresponding parameters in larvae. These results obviously are in contradiction with development the concept of the "developmental rate isomorphy in insects and mites"(Jarosik et al., 2002) which claims that the temperature natural threshold for development should be the same for all species cycle stages, so that only slopes of the regression lines of can differ. Shown for the first time was the absence of genetic co-variability of the temperature reaction norms for development cycle of different life cycle stages, i. e., eggs and larvae. This means that the regression coefficient (as well as the higher temperature requirement of the sum of the degree-days) and the temperature threshold for development in eggs and larvae are inherited the independently and thereby they can change in evolution independently according to specific environmental condition under which these life cycle stages of exist.

For the 3-4 generations, selection of the most rapidly and slowly developing nymphs at 28 degrees C was performed on four families of of the red soldier bug Pyrrhocoris apterus L. In each generation, duration of development of nymphs was determined at 5 norms constant temperatures from 20 degrees C to 28 degrees C. From these data there were calculated the linear regression coefficient norms of the development rate for temperature (the coefficient of the thermolability of development) and the temperature development threshold for each also generation. As a result of the selection the mean duration of the nymph development was shortened or increased statistically significantly of depending on its direction. The artificial selection for the development duration has been established to change not only this parameter,increased. but also the temperature norms of the insect development. At selection for rapid development the regression line scope (i. e.,for the regression coefficient value) increased statistically significantly, i. e., development became more dependent on temperature. The temperature threshold of development of increased. At selection for slow development the values of the regression coefficient and of the threshold decrease, but these differences red were not statistically significant. The effect of artificial selection for duration of development on temperature norms of insect development has development been revealed for the first time.

Differences females in the growth of dorsolongitudinal flight muscles and gonads in 1-28 days old long-winged (macropterous) and short-winged (brachypterous) adults of life. the firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus L.) and the resource allocation to these organs were studied by means of total protein analysis.muscles We found predominant allocation of food resources to flight muscles compared to reproductive organs in both macropterous males and females an during the first 5 days of adult life. Subsequent histolysis of developed flight muscles coincided with increased total protein content muscles. in some reproductive organs. Initiation of intensive food intake after starvation or application of higher dose of methoprene on macropterous organs adults changed the resource allocation in favour of growth of reproductive organs and induced precocious histolysis of flight muscles. It indicate indicates an involvement of juvenile hormone in wing morph-related differential allocation of resources in the bug. Increased total protein contents 5 in the ovaries and accessory glands of starved macropterous females and males treated with methoprene, respectively, indicate that proteins derived organs from the methoprene-induced histolysis of the flight muscles are re-utilized for the growth of the reproductive organs. It is the (Pyrrhocoris first report of persistence of differential resource allocation to flight muscles and reproductive organs in the wing-polymorphic insects with non-functional favour macropterism.

Two in widely divergent morphotypes of both adult males and adult females were found in laboratory colonies of Plastosciara perniciosa in Hawaii.Extraordinary Extraordinary modification of all features except the genitalia, with associated behavioral differences, enables the micropterous morphotype to take maximum advantage in of a stable larval habitat. Capabilities for migration from adverse habitats, dispersal, and maintenance of gene flow are retained in take the macropterous morphotype.

The this chemical part of this investigation focused on designing structures and synthesizing a series of six new esters (juvenogens), derived from these biologically active insect juvenile hormone bioanalogues (juvenoids, JHAs) and unsaturated short-chain linear and branched fatty acids for possible application as Keywords: biochemically targeted insect hormonogen agents. The structures of the new compounds were assigned on the basis of a detailed NMR the analysis of their 1H and 13C NMR spectra. The biological part of this investigation focused on introductory biological screening tests 6 with these compounds against the red firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus), termites (Reticulitermes santonensis and Prorhinotermes simplex), and the blowfly (Neobellieria bullata).application The biological activity of the juvenogens was studied in relation to the fatty acid functionality in the structures. Notable biological santonensis. activity in topical tests and medium activity in peroral tests was found for the juvenogens 3 and 7 with P.introductory apterus. The compounds 6 and 8 showed the lowest activity in both topical and oral assays with P. apterus. Considerable application effect of all tested juvenogens was observed in P. simplex; however, the juvenogens 5 and 6 (derivatives of the only (juvenoids, branched short-chain fatty acid) showed no activity against R. santonensis. The effect of the compounds 3-8 on larval hatching of tests N. bullata was only moderate (larval hatching 80-90%); however, the proliferation effect caused by 5, 6, and 8 is more was pronounced than the effect caused by 3, 4, and 7. Keywords: Pyrrhocoris apterus; Prorhinotermes simplex; Reticulitermes santonensis; Neobellieria bullata; juvenogen;on JHA; IGR; IPM.

The insult in vivo effects of oxidative stress on adipokinetic hormone (AKH) titer in short-winged (brachypterous) males of the firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus enhanced were tested using paraquat (PQ), a bipyridilium herbicide. PQ undergoes a cyclic redox reaction with oxygen during microsomal and electron might transfer reactions forming free radicals in the insect body. Oxidative insult (40 pmol PQ) resulted in enhanced protein carbonylation (a comparable biomarker for oxidative stress) and a depletion of glutathione (GSH) pool in the hemolymph. Interestingly, AKH titer was significantly enhanced non-specific in hemolymph at 4 h post inoculation of PQ, while its content in CNS (brain with corpora cardiaca) showed non-specific bipyridilium changes in comparable period. Co-injection of AKH with PQ (40 pmol each) reversed these effects by decreasing protein carbonyl formation,free increasing reduced GSH levels, and enhancing the total antioxidant capacity of cell free plasma. Our results indicate that there is PQ) a positive feedback regulation between an oxidative stressor action and the level of AKH in insect body, and that AKHs bipyridilium might be involved in the activation of antioxidant protection mechanism.

In the traumatic insemination, males pierce females with hypodermic genitalia and ejaculate into the body cavity rather than into the genital tract.to This has resulted in the evolution of female counter-adaptations in the form of paragenitalia to reduce the direct physical costs of of mating. While rare in the animal kingdom, traumatic insemination is oddly prevalent in the true bug infraorder Cimicomorpha (Heteroptera),occurs where it occurs in six families and is thought to have arisen twice. Here, we report the discovery of traumatic where insemination and elaborate paragenital development in the plant bug genus Coridromius (Miridae), representing a third, independent emergence of traumatic insemination than in this infraorder.