Background and Purpose: In the early 20 th century, two native North American poeciliid species Gambusia holbrooki and Gambusia affinis were introduced to Europe as a mosquito control agent. The first introduction to Istria from Italy in 1924 was followed by several independent introductions and massive translocations. Presently, the distribution of these two species in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) is still largely unknown and they are often confused. The purpose of this study was to determine the taxonomic status of individual Gambusia populations and to shed more light on the distribution and phylogeographic patterns of these invasive species in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Materials and Methods: (Gambusia, Poeciliidae). In the course of mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases control efforts they were introduced throughout the world. However, beyond their native range they act as invasive species representing a threat to native biota (1). Their taxonomy has undergone a number of changes in the past including species synonymisation and elevation (2). Briefly, in the mid-19th century, three species were recognised: G. affinis, G. patruelis and G. holbrooki. Shortly after they were considered as a single polytypic species with two subspecies, western one, G. affinis affinis (encompassing former species G. affinis and G. patruelis) and eastern subspecies G. affinis holbrooki. However, their taxonomic status continued to be questioned. Black and Howell 1979 (3) reported about the existence of reproductive barriers between them, and genetic study of Wooten et al. 1988 (4) based on allozyme analysis, revealed a high degree of genetic divergence as well as the geographical structuring of allele frequencies. Taking all this into consideration, Wooten et al. 1988 (4) have elevated the two subspecies of G. affinis, to a species level. These two species have been successfully introduced from North America to most of the warmer parts of the world (2). The distribution of these two species in the areas of introduction is still largely unknown and they are often confused primarily while the most of introductions took place before the last changes in their taxonomy, but also due to the lack or deficiency of historical records about the origins of introduced stocks as well as the complex patterns of their translocation (2, 5). The same is true for Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina where, until recently, only G. affinis was listed at the official lists of invasive species. Detail analysis, of taxonomic status of Gambusia sp. present in this region, was never conducted.In Croatian biological and medical literature (6, 7, 8, 9, 10), we find different information on the year of introduction, the type of introduced mosquitofish and the extent of the initial introduction. These data mainly refer to the type of G. affinis, and the period from 1924 to 1932. Prof. Dr. Massimo Sella, biologist, researcher and former director of Office of malaria in Geneva, introduced the first mosquito...
Azijska pamučna štitasta uš Takahashia japonica Cockerell (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha, Coccidae), vrsta je porijeklom iz Japana. U Europi je prvi put pronađena 2017. godine u Italiji te 2018. godine u Velikoj Britaniji. U ovom radu dajemo pregled prvog nalaza vrste T. japonica u Hrvatskoj. Prvi nalaz kukca T. japonica uočen je 2019. godine u Puli (Istarska županija, Hrvatska), a vrsta je determinirana u proljeće 2020 godine. Kako bi što učinkovitije prikupili terenske podatke, pokrenuli smo kampanju po načelu „građani znanstvenici“ pod naslovom: “Traži se neobičan kukac - Takahashia japonica”. Poziv za dostavu dojava s lokacijama poslan je svim komunalnim gradskim poduzećima u Istri, javnim ustanovama zaštićenih područja, nevladinim udrugama te je podijeljen u lokalnim novinama i radio postajama. Specifična morfologija ooteka omogućila je lako prepoznavanje ove vrste i osigurala pouzdanost dojava građana. Tijekom kampanje prikupljeno je ukupno sedam dojava u širem središtu grada Pule. Najčešća biljka domaćin bila je Acer sp. i Morus alba L. od kojih su neka stabla pretrpjela značajnu defolijaciju te propadanje krošnje. S obzirom na ograničenu zarazu i relativno mali broj zaraženih stabala opravdano je pokušati provesti potpuno uklanjanje ove vrste. Postupci mjera ranog otkrivanja i brzog iskorjenjivanja invazivnih štetočina u skladu su s Pravilnikom br. 1143/2014 Europskog parlamenta i Vijeća te Europske i Mediteranske Organizacije za Zaštitu Bilja (EPPO). Aktivnosti iskorjenjivanja dogovorene su s gradskim komunalnim poduzećem Herculanea d.o.o. koji je odgovoran za hortikulturu i zaštitu biljaka u gradu Puli.
Hesperomyces virescens (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales), a fungal ectoparasite, is thus far reported on Harmonia axyridis from five continents: North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. While it is known that He. virescens can cause mortality of Ha. axyridis under laboratory conditions, the role of biotic and abiotic factors in influencing the distribution of He. virescens in the field is unknown. We collected and screened 3,568 adult Ha. axyridis from 23 locations in seven countries in Central Europe between October and November 2018 to test the effect of selected host characters and climate and landscape variables on the infection probability with He. virescens. Mean parasite prevalence of He. virescens on Ha. axyridis was 17.9%, ranging among samples from 0 to 46.4%. Host sex, climate, and landscape composition did not have any significant effect on the infection probability of He. virescens on Ha. axyridis. Two color forms, f. conspicua and f. spectabilis, had a significantly lower parasite prevalence compared to the common Ha. axyridis f. novemdecimsignata.
Some wild, morphologically diverse taxa of the genus Iris in the broad Alpine-Dinaric area have never been explored molecularly, and/or have ambiguous systematic status. The main aims of our research were to perform a molecular study of critical Iris taxa from that area (especially a narrow endemic accepted species I. adriatica, for which we also analysed genome size) and to explore the contribution of eight microsatellites and highly variable chloroplast DNA (ndhJ, rpoC1) markers to the understanding of the Iris taxa taxonomy and phylogeny. Both the microsatellite-based UPGMA and plastid markers-based maximum likelihood analysis discriminated three main clusters in the set of 32 analysed samples, which correspond well to the lower taxonomic categories of the genus, and support separate status of ambiguous regional taxa (e.g., I. sibirica subsp. erirrhiza, I. x croatica and I. x rotschildii). The first molecular data on I. adriatica revealed its genome size (2C = 12.639 ± 0.202 pg) and indicated the existence of ecotypes. For future molecular characterisation of the genus we recommend the utilisation of microsatellite markers supplemented with a combination of plastid markers.
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