Age determination of adult field crickets: methodology and field applications

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1564-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene Zuk

Details of a method originated by A.C. Neville for aging adult insects by counting daily growth rings in tibial or other body sections are given. A test of the method's accuracy using laboratory-reared field crickets (Gryllus pennsylvanicus and Gryllus veletis) showed that the number of growth rings counted is equivalent to the number of days past adult molt until the insect is approximately 25–30 days old, when cuticle growth is completed and rings are no longer added. Field populations of the two cricket species sampled in 2 years seldom contained individuals with more than 18 rings. Several applications for the technique to ecological and behavioral studies are given, using examples from data on G. veletis and G. pennsylvanicus.

Author(s):  
Alexander I. Arkhipkin ◽  
Zhanna N. Shcherbich

The discovery thirty years ago of daily growth increments in squid statoliths and the development of statolith ageing techniques gave new insight into squid age, growth and metabolism. The techniques have shown that the majority of recent coleoid cephalopods live in the ‘fast lane’, growing rapidly and completing their life cycles in a year or less. Surprisingly, these useful approaches to the study of age and growth in squid have not gained much momentum. Only approximately an eighth of more than 300 squid species have had their basic age assessed and described. Two dozen species are subject to continuing arguments about which increments to consider as daily growth increments. This paper outlines major problems encountered during age determination of squid and suggests ways to improve the techniques and make them applicable to a wider spectrum of species.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nita Novita ◽  
Hasrayati Agustina ◽  
Bethy S. Hernowo ◽  
Abdul H. Hassan

Wound examination is indispensable in forensic practice. The scientific field of wound age determination has advanced progressively during recent years.The purpose of this study was to determine the differences of fibronectin and TGF-β1 expression in both antemortem and postmortem wounds. This study was an experimental with completely randomized design.  The skin wounds (vital and postmortem) were taken from fourty Wistar rats and divided into 10 groups of rats. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to determine the differences between antemortem and postmortem wounds. The result showed that in 30 minutes after antemortem wound infliction, all of samples showed weak reactivity for fibronectin and TGF-β1 (100%).  In first hour after wound infliction, 3 samples (75%) showed weakly positive and 1 sample (25%) strongly positive for fibronectin and TGF-β1.  In 2 hour after wound infliction, 1 sample (25%) showed weakly positive and 3 sample (75%) strongly positive for fibronectin and TGF-β1.  In 3 and 4 hour after wound infliction, all of samples strongly positive for fibronectin and TGF-β1.  In postmortem wound, all of samples showed negativity for fibronectin and TGF-β1. In conclusion, fibronectin and TGF-β1 may be useful in the determination of wound vitality. Keywords: wound, fibronectin, TGF-β1, vitality


Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 147 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-621
Author(s):  
Laura A Katz ◽  
Richard G Harrison

Two species of crickets, Gryllus veletis and G. pennsylvanicus, share six electrophoretic mobility classes for the enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI), despite evidence from other genetic markers that the two species are not closely related within eastern North American field crickets. Moreover, the frequencies of the two most common PGI electrophoretic classes (PGI-100 and PGI-65) covary in sympatric populations of these species in the eastern United States, suggesting that PGI may be subject to trans-specific balancing selection. To determine the molecular basis of the electrophoretic variation, we characterized the DNA sequence of the Pgi gene from 29 crickets (15 G. veletis and 14 G. pennsylvanicus). Amino acid substitutions that distinguish the electrophoretic classes are not the same in the two species, and there is no evidence that specific replacement substitutions represent trans-specific polymorphism. In particular, the amino acids that diagnose the PGI-65 allele relative to the PGI-100 allele differ both between G. veletis and G. pennsylvanicus and within G. pennsylvanicus. The heterogeneity among electrophoretic classes that covary in sympatric populations coupled with analysis of patterns of nucleotide variation suggest that Pgi is not evolving neutrally. Instead, the data are consistent with balancing selection operating on an emergent property of the PGI protein.


2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 442-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaya Gnanalingam ◽  
Mark J Butler ◽  
Thomas R Matthews ◽  
Emily Hutchinson ◽  
Raouf Kilada

Abstract In crustaceans, ecdysis was long believed to result in the loss and replacement of all calcified structures, precluding the use of conventional ageing methods. However, the discovery of bands in the gastric ossicles of several crustaceans with some correlation with age suggests that direct age estimation may be possible. We applied this method to a tropical spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, one of the most iconic and economically valuable species in the Caribbean. The presence of growth bands was investigated using wild lobsters of unknown age and was validated with captive reared lobsters of known age (1.5–10 years) from the Florida Keys, Florida (USA). Bands were consistently identified in ptero- and zygo-cardiac ossicles of the gastric mill and did not appear to be associated with moulting. Validation with known age animals confirms that bands form annually. Counts between independent readers were reproducible with coefficients of variation ranging from 11% to 26% depending on reader experience and the structure used. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that direct age determination of P. argus is possible.


2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 1340-1351 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.P. Gladkochub ◽  
T.V. Donskaya ◽  
M.T.D. Wingate ◽  
A.M. Mazukabzov ◽  
S.A. Pisarevsky ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 185 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Smuts ◽  
J. L. Anderson ◽  
J. C. Austin

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