Return of large native herbivores to selected areas is increasingly advocated as a cost-efficient approach to managing natural biotopes that depend on disturbance-succession dynamics and are imperilled by successional changes. We tested efficiency of this approach for insect conservation by studying butterflies of the former military training range Milovice, Czech Republic, refaunated since...
Kings and queens of termites, like reproductive individuals of other advanced eusocial insects, are endowed with admirable longevity, which dramatically exceeds the life expectancies of their non-reproducing nest-mates and related solitary insects. In this study, we tested the possible correlation between the activation of the telomerase mechanism and differential longevities of termite castes.
The trap-jaw ants are famous for having one of the natural world’s fastest movements, but the evolution of the mechanism allowing their jaw movement has been little known. In a comprehensive study published in Plos Biology, researchers led by D. Booher (USA) and E. Economo (Japan) in collaboration with Milan Janda from our institute, revealed that the mechanism itself arose multiple times...
Extracellular adenosine (Ado) was formerly considered a defensive metabolite with general protective effects on tissues. However, prolonged adenosine signaling in chronic diseases may exacerbate tissue damage. A detailed study of the nervous system in mammals shows that Ado maintains cell viability at a low degree of damage, whereas it has the opposite effect at more intense damage.
Scientists from the Institute of Entomology examined the infection by intracellular bacterium Wolbachia in Aricia and Pseudophilotes blue butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).
There is no doubt that Drosophila is able to record stressful situations and then respond to them accordingly. But can Drosophila also feel pleasure? The current state of knowledge about this phenomenon is summarized in our review article.
Eusocial insect species, such as bees, ants, or termites, offer excellent systems for aging research, as they exhibit notable lifespan differences among individuals depending on the social organization within the colonies.
Although it is usually associated with silkworm larvae, silk spinning is rather common phenomenon in Lepidoptera. Cocoons and protective shelters are also formed by primitive species such as the clothing moth (Tineola bisselliella). However, the silk composition has been studied mostly in the more advanced species.
Researchers from our institute examined the biogeographic patterns of four Holarctic butterflies currently known from different habitats
Insect decline is one of the major environmental problems of today and affects the number of individuals in insect communities. But how many insect individuals are there? And does the number of insects in temperate deciduous forests differ from those in tropical rain forests? An international team of scientists led by ecologist Vojtech Novotny from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of...
