OBJECTIVES: To explore the number of necrophagous flies and seasonal distribution of common necrophagous flies at present in Beijing. METHODS: The specimens of necrophagous flies were collected by the methods of animal carcass, trapping and feeding. And the specimens were observed and counted after the classification and preservation. RESULTS: The necrophagous flies in Beijing belonged to 4 families, 9 subfamilies, 21 genera and 46 species, and 12 species of them were the first records in Beijing. The necrophagous flies had the characteristics of regional and seasonal distribution. CONCLUSIONS The data of seasonal distribution of necrophagous flies and common necrophagous flies in Beijing can provide reference for related research.
Animals ; Beijing ; Cadaver ; Diptera/physiology* ; Entomology ; Larva ; Postmortem Changes

The furcocercus cercariae of Neodiplostomum seoulense (Digenea: Neodiplostomidae) penetrate the skins of tadpoles and shed their tails. The speculated mechanism of this tail loss was physical efforts required to produce a vigorous zigzag motion during skin penetration; no other mechanism has been proposed. We examined the relationship between the host serum and cercarial tail loss. Cercariae of N. seoulense were collected from experimentally infected Segmentina hemisphaerula, and lots of 300 cercariae were cultured in medium 199 contained several types of sera. Cercarial tail degradation was induced in all media, but all the cercariae cultured except those cultured in media containing fetal bovine serum (FBS) died within 48 hr. After 72 hr cultivation in media containing FBS, cercarial tail degradation was induced in 67.0%; in continuous cultivation 13.3% of larvae survived for 7 days. Tail degradation did not occur in the absence of serum and when serum was heat inactivated at 56 degrees C for 30 min. The addition of 20 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) blocked cercarial tail degradation completely. Moreover, the addition of 20 mM MgCl2 restored tail degradation blocked by EDTA. These results suggest that the alternative complement pathway is related with the N. seoulense cercarial tail degradation induced by serum.
Trematoda/*physiology ; Tail/*physiology ; Larva/parasitology ; Complement System Proteins/immunology/*physiology ; Anura/parasitology ; Animals

OBJECTIVETo study the biological characteristics of Dorysthenes hydropicus in the farm of Cirtus grandis, and offer scientific evidence for prevention and controlling of D. hydropicus.

METHODIndoor-rearing and light trap were applied to study the biological characteristics, development course and harmful effect of D. hydropicus.

RESULTD. hydropicus reproduces one generation in 1-2 year in Guangdong province, and overwinters in the form of larvae. Its imago comes out of the earth mainly in late May after mature. The body length has great individual diversity normally ranged from 25-60 cm, It also shows strong phototaxy. One lamp can trap more than 2 000 of them per night. Female imago has a large egg load with the maximum amount of 543. The eggs hatching is in depth of 1-3 cm soil. The dominant hatching period of egg is from late June to early July, and hatchability is over 85%. The living space of larva ranges from 15-60 cm in soil. D. hydropicus has caused serious harm and lead to thousands of Cirtus grandis trees death every year.

CONCLUSIONDorysthenes hydropicus showed serious threat to the growth of Cirtus grandis and should be prevented and controlled.

Animals ; Citrus ; parasitology ; Coleoptera ; physiology ; Insect Control ; Larva ; physiology ; Ovum ; physiology ; Plant Diseases ; parasitology

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasitic nematode that needs to develop in different hosts in different larval stages. Freshwater snails, such as Pomacea canaliculata, are the intermediate host, and rats are the definitive host. Periodic shedding of the cuticle (moulting) is an important biological process for the survival and development of the parasite in the intermediate and definitive hosts. However, there are few studies on the cuticle alterations between different stages of this parasite. In this study, we observed the ultrastructural appearance and changes of the cuticle of the 2nd/3rd stage larvae (L2/L3) and the 3rd/4th stage larvae (L3/L4) using a scanning electron microscope. We also first divided L2/L3 into late L2 and early L3. The late L2 lacked alae, but possessed a pull-chain-like fissure. Irregular alignment of spherical particles on the cuticle were noted compared to the L3. Alae appeared in the early L3. The old cuticle turned into a thin film-like structure which adhered to the new cuticle, and spherical particles were seen regularly arranged on the surface of this structure. Regular rectangular cavities were found on the surface of L3/L4. The caudal structure of L3/L4 was much larger than that of L3, but caudal inflation, such as seen in L4, was not observed. These results are the first to reveal the ultrastructural changes of the cuticle of A. cantonensis before and after moulting of L2/L3 and L3/L4.
Angiostrongylus cantonensis/*physiology/*ultrastructure ; Animals ; Larva/physiology/ultrastructure ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; *Molting

In order to explore the environmental pest management method of Dorysthenes hydropicus, three strains of entomopathogenic nematodes, viz. Heterorhabditis bacteriphora (H06), Steinernema scapterisci (SS), S. carpocapsae (All) were used on larvae of Dorysthenes hydropicus, with treatments of 0, 5 000 and 10 000 nematodes each larva. The result showed that these three strains viz. All, H06 and SS had high lethal effects on the larvae. Lethal rates had dose-effects relationship with inoculation amounts. High dose treatments resulted in high mortalities and led to quick death, especially in the treatment of H06. Treatment of H06 with 10 000 nematodes per larva resulted in 100% mortality after inoculated 4 days. Different strains of these nematodes had various lethal characters, H06 with only one peak mortality, the larvae died quickly after inoculated, while All and SS with 2 peak mortalities, there was a stable stage with low mortality between the 2 peak mortalities. Entomopathogenic nematodes could be used as a hopeful method for controlling of Dorysthenes hydropicus in fields.
Animals ; Larva ; parasitology ; Moths ; growth & development ; parasitology ; physiology ; Nematoda ; physiology ; Pest Control, Biological ; methods

A case of furuncular myiasis was reported for the first time in a 29-year-old young Taiwanese traveler returning from an ecotourism in Peru. Furuncle-like lesions were observed on the top of his head and he complained of crawling sensations within his scalp. The invasive larva of botfly, Dermatobia hominis, was extruded from the furuncular lesion of the patient. Awareness of cutaneous myiasis for clinicians should be considered for a patient who has a furuncular lesion and has recently returned from a botfly-endemic area.
Adult ; Animals ; Diptera ; growth & development ; physiology ; Humans ; Larva ; physiology ; Male ; Myiasis ; diagnosis ; parasitology ; Taiwan ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo study the biological character of Hepialus introduced from Yunnan province.

METHODH. jianchuanensis introduced from Yunnan was bred artificially to observe its biological character.

RESULTThe pupa duration was about 40 d, pupa emergence lasted for one day, female to male ratio was about 1.2:1, the mating peak was 19:30-20:30, the adults duration was about 25 d, the average life time of female was 5-6 d and that of male 6-7 d, the average number of the producing egg was about 300, the average weight of the 100 eggs was 10.33 mg. Lasting period of the larva is 350 d and the infancy larva showed the character of the polyphagy and cold endurance.

CONCLUSIONResults indicate that there are some differences in the whole duration, weight of the 100 eggs and the number of the eggs left in the abdomen between H. jianchuanensis and others bred at the Kangding base.

Animals ; Arachnid Vectors ; microbiology ; physiology ; China ; Cold Temperature ; Feeding Behavior ; physiology ; Female ; Larva ; anatomy & histology ; physiology ; Male ; Moths ; anatomy & histology ; physiology ; Oviposition ; physiology ; Ovum ; physiology ; Pupa ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo detect the species of larval trematodes (cercariae) in Melanopsis praemorsa snails from 5 different fresh water bodies in Palestine.

METHODSA total of 1 880 Melanopsis praemorsa snails were collected from different fresh water bodies in Palestine from October, 2008 to November, 2010. Cercariae in Melanopsis praemorsa snails were obtained by lighting and crushing methods. The behavior of cercariae was observed using a dissecting microscope.

RESULTSThree different species of larval trematodes were identified from Melanopsis praemorsa snails collected only from Al-Bathan fresh water body, while snails from other water bodies were not infected. These species were microcercous cercaria, xiphidiocercaria and brevifurcate lophocercous cercaria. These cercariae called Cercaria melanopsi palestinia I, Cercaria melanopsi palestinia II and Cercaria melanopsi palestinia III have not been described before from this snail in Palestine. The infection rate of Melanopsis praemorsa collected from Al-Bathan fresh water body was 5.7%, while the overall infection rate of snails collected from all fresh water bodies was 4.3%. Details are presented on the morphology and behavior of the cercariae as well as their development within the snail.

CONCLUSIONSThese results have been recorded for the first time and these cercariae may be of medical and veterinary importance.

Animals ; Cercaria ; Fresh Water ; Host-Parasite Interactions ; Larva ; Snails ; parasitology ; Trematoda ; physiology

UNLABELLEDTo study the effects of the integrated pest control techniques on growth of host larvae of Cordyceps sinensis.

METHODThe integrated pest control techniques were compared with conventional techniques to evaluate the effects on growth of host larvae.

RESULT AND CONCLUSIONThe results showed that the techniques had broken the balance of the microbial living in the material, produced effective inhibition on the pests, raised the survival rate and promoted the growth of the host larvae at the same time.

Animals ; Cordyceps ; physiology ; Larva ; growth & development ; microbiology ; Moths ; growth & development ; microbiology ; Pest Control, Biological ; methods

OBJECTIVE: In order to determine the major species of sarcosaphagous flies and their regular activity on carcass in Hohhot district. METHODS: Six rabbits were killed and placed outdoors at different time from July to October in Hohhot district. Some species of sarcosaphagous flies that appeared the cadavers were observed and identified. RESULTS: It showed that there are 10 main spieces belonging to 3 families and 8 genera were from Diptera, including Musa domestica domestica Linnaeus, Musa domestica vicina Maequart, Ophyra capensis (Wiedemann), Hydrotaea armipes (Fall.), Muscina stabulans (Fall.) from Museidae; Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius), Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) from Calliphoridae; Boettcherisca peregrina (Robineau-Desvoiy), Parascarcophaga crassipalpis (Maequart) from Sacrophagidae. Besides, it showed obvious regulations that different species of sarcosaphagous flies appeared on carcass at different postmortem interval and the first part of carcass that sarcosaphagous flies appeared on. CONCLUSION It may be useful for estimating postmortem interval in Hohhot district.
Animals ; China ; Diptera/physiology* ; Larva/growth & development* ; Postmortem Changes ; Rabbits ; Seasons ; Species Specificity ; Time Factors