Insects diversity

Law J. H., Ribeiro J. M. and Wells M. A. (1992) Biochemical insights derived from insect diversity. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 61, 87-111. 

Auerswald, F. and Lopata, A.F. 2005. Insects—diversity and allergy. Curr Allergy Clin Immunol 18(2) 58-60. 

Dutta D, Gachhui R (2007) Nitrogen-fixing and cellulose-producing Gluconacetobacter kombuchae sp. nov., isolated from Kombucha tea. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57 353-357 Engel P, Moran NA (2013) The gut microbiota of insects diversity in structure and function. FEMS Microbiol Rev 37 699-735... 

Miller, S. E. and Rogo, L. M. (2002). Challenges and opportunities in understanding and utilisation of African insect diversity. Cimebasia, 17 197-218. 

Stork, N. E. (1988). Insect diversity facts, fiction and speculation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society,... 

Sources of filth and contamination are diverse and numerous, each contributing its individual weight to the final summation and measurement. Rats, mice, and flies are themselves filthy in habit and also indicative of filthy conditions. Any evidence of their presence in or about a food product constitutes a heavy measure of filth. Insects which infest foodstuffs, or which live in or close to a food processing plant, create and leave evidence of their presence and reflect field, factory, and storage conditions. 

Viviani, V. R. (2002). The origin, diversity, and structure function relationships of insect luciferases. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 59 1833-1850. 

Terpenoid substances are of broad distribution and diverse function in insects. One set, elaborated by the mandibular glands of Acanthomyops claviger, acts both as a defensive secretion and as an alarm releaser. When fed Cu-labeled acetate or mevalonate, laboratory colonies of these ants produce radioactive citronellal and citral, providing unambiguous evidence for de novo synthesis of these terpenes by the ant. The incorporations of these precursors implicate the mevalonic acid pathway as the likely biosynthetic route. 

In addition, naturally growing plants resist plant pathogen and Insect attack because resistance develops over time via natural selection (35). Also, most natural and crop plants have, as a part of their basic physical and chemical makeup, a wide array of mechanisms that help them resist pest attack. These Include chemical toxicants, repellents, altered plant nutrients, hairiness, thorns, and diverse combinations of these (35). 

Permian 290 Myr All land united in one large continent - Pangaea large glaciers form. Reptiles, including mammal-like forms, radiate amphibians decline diverse orders of insects evolve. Conifers appear. Mass extinction at end of period (ca. 95% of all species disappear)... 

Scott, J.G., Liu, N.A., and Wen, Z. (1998). Insect cytochromes P450 diversity, insect resistance and tolerance to plant toxins. In D.R. Livingstone and J.J. Stegeman (Eds.) Forms and Function of Cytochrome P450, 147-156. 

Acetamiprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide with outstanding systemic activities and a broad insecticidal spectrum. Acetamiprid controls diverse soil and foliar insect pests infesting cotton, sugar beet, vegetables, fruits and other major food crops by both contact and stomach action... 

Contrary to the structure similarity of the pheromones secreted by taxonomical related moths, some differences are necessary for their sexual communication systems to play an important role in their reproductive isolation. In addition to further modifications of the various structures, diversity of the lepidopteran sex pheromones is generated by blending multiple components. Innumerable pheromone blends are based not only on combinations of different components but also on variations in the mixing ratio. A pioneer study with Adoxophyes spp. (Tortricidae Tortricinae) had already proposed this concept in the early 1970s. While the smaller tea tortrix (A. honmai) and the Japanese summerfruit tortrix (A. oranafasciata) had been considered to be variant strains with different host preferences in the same species, Tamaki et al. found that females of the former pest insect in the tea garden secreted Z9-14 OAc and Zll-14 OAc in a ratio of 7 4 but females of the latter defoliator of apple trees secreted them in a ratio of 13 4 [127,128]. Furthermore, two other components (Ell-14 OAc and MelO-12 OAc) were subsequently identified from the former species [129]. 

Coleoptera comprise the largest order of insects and accordingly pheromone structures and biochemical pathways are diverse [98, 99]. Beetle pheromone biosynthesis involves fatty acid, amino acid, or isoprenoid types of pathways. In some cases dietary host compounds can be converted to pheromones, but it is becoming apparent that most beetle pheromones are synthesized de novo. 

Abstract Hymenoptera is a very large and diverse insect order that includes the majority of both the social and the parasitic insects. With such diversity comes a variety and complexity of semiochemicals that reflect the varied biology of members of this order. This chapter reviews the chemical identification of pheromones and semiochemicals in the order Hymenoptera since 1990. For this review, the species in Hymenoptera have been classified as solitary, parasitic, or social. The chemical diversity of semiochemicals in Hymenoptera and future trends in pheromone identification are also discussed. 

The repertoire of chemicals that can be used for communication is limited by the biosynthetic ability of the insect. Compared to other insect orders, pheromone biosynthesis in Hymenoptera has received little study [191]. However, the biosynthetic origins of chemically diverse hymenopteran semiochemicals likely include aromatic, fatty acid, and terpenoid pathways as well as simple modifications of host-derived precursors. Notable recent studies include the biosynthesis of the fatty acid components (2 )-9-oxodec-2-enoic acid 52 and (2 )-9-hydroxydec-2-enoic acid of the honeybee queen mandibular pheromone from octadecanoic acid [192,193], and the aliphatic alcohol and ester... 

With adequate resources and effort, the tools are available to chemically identify many more semiochemicals in Hymenoptera. Much is still to be understood about the chemically-mediated communication in this large and diverse insect order. In addition,because many hymenoptera are significant beneficial or pest insects, and the use of semiochemicals in the management and monitoring of insects is becoming standard, the identification of additional semiochemicals in Hymenoptera is an economically worthwhile endeavor. 

Nature is a highly innovative chemist, and we know only a small fraction of the universe of natural products. Currently, about half of the most widely prescribed drugs in the United States are either small-molecule natural products, such as penicillin, or synthetic molecules that are based on natural products but have better properties. The other half are products of the creative imagination of medicinal chemists. Nature s genetic and chemical diversity is a treasure that should not be squandered. One reason to maintain ecosystems such as rain forests intact is that less than 10% of plant species have been systematically investigated for their chemical products. Also, many microbes, insects, and other species have not been explored for useful products. 

---