Loxoscelism (bites by spiders of the genus Loxosceles) is the only proven arachnological cause of dermonecrosis. Although Loxosceles spiders can be found worldwide, their distribution is heavily concentrated in the Western Hemisphere, particularly the tropical urban regions of South America. Although Loxosceles bites are usually mild, they may ulcerate or cause more severe, systemic reactions. These injuries mostly are due to sphingomyelinase D in the spider venom. There is no proven effective therapy for Loxosceles bites, although many therapies are reported in the literature.

Spiders have been incriminated as causes of human suffering for centuries, but few species worldwide cause medically significant envenomation. Widow spiders (Latrodectus spp.) occur worldwide and cause latrodectism, which is characterized by pain (local and generalized) associated with nonspecific systemic effects, diaphoresis, and less commonly other autonomic and neurological effects. Recluse spiders (Loxosceles spp.) are distributed mostly through the tropical and subtropical Western Hemisphere and can cause severe skin lesions and rarely systemic effects; most bites are unremarkable. Highly dangerous spiders in South America (armed spiders) and Australia (funnel-web spiders) cause rare but severe envenomation requiring medical intervention and sometimes antivenom. Most other spiders involved in verified bites cause minor, transient effects. Many spiders blamed for causing medical mischief have been elevated to medical significance via circumstantial evidence, poor reporting, and repetitive citation in the literature; several species have been shown to be harmless with more stringent scientific evidence involving verified bites in humans.

Thousands of individuals in a house-hunting honey bee swarm make a collective decision for one among many nest sites discovered. We recorded the dances on swarms in a forested area, where one swarm's search encompassed about 150 km 2 and many different sites. We then analyzed swarms in a desert area with only nest sites that we provided and monitored, to study how the swarm winnows multiple finds to a single site over the course of a few days. Most bees did not visit any site, very few visited more than one. Apparently choices were made with little or no direct comparison, through the interaction of two mechanisms: positive feedback through recruitment leading to growth in the number of scouts visiting good nest sites, and attrition reducing activity and recruitment for non-chosen sites. Individual differences between bees substantially affected these dynamics. Scouts varied considerably in amount of dancing and persistence, but most that danced did so vigorously after their first few visits, and then dropped out, ceasing their dancing though continuing to visit the nest site. Dances were nearly twice as long as reported for nectar and pollen. Scouts followed dances of others, and occasionally visited alternative sites, but rarely switched their dancing. When unanimity is reached, the bees must recognize that a decision has been made, break up the swarm cluster, and fly to the nest site. Buzz-running (Schwirrlaufen) probably plays a role here, but we observed less buzz-running than previously reported, and this occurred even early in the process; it might function as a chain-reaction effect triggering the end of the househunting process. Our results suggest that the choice among nest sites relies less on direct comparison of nest sites, and more on inherent processes of positive feedback and attrition by dancers dropping out.

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Each of the seven compounds that have been identified from femaleHeliothis virescens sex pheromone glands was examined for its ability to elicit sexual responses from male moths in a flight tunnel. The two compounds initially described as pheromone components, (itZ)-11-hexadecenal and (itZ)-9-tetradecenal, were necessary for behavioral activity to occur. Of the remaining five compounds, hexadecanal was most consistent in elevating behavioral activity of males when it was added to treatments. Live, calling females elicited greater sexual activity from males than did the 7-compound mixture on rubber septa.

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