Influence of grazing and solar panel installation on tenebrionid beetles (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae) of a central Asian steppe.

Grazing may represent a major threat to biodiversity in arid grasslands. The increasing use of grasslands for solar parks may represent a new important threat. No study has investigated the effects of solar parks on soil insects. Tenebrionids are a major component of the arthropod fauna of grasslands of central Asia. These ecosystems are threatened by grazing and increasing land use for solar parks. Aim of this work was to investigate the effects of grazing and solar panels on tenebrionids in arid grasslands (desert steppe) in China by comparing their community structure in ungrazed, heavily grazed, and solar park sites. Beetles were sampled by pitfall traps, and sites were compared for abundance and diversity (Hill numbers). All sites were characterized by simple, strongly dominated tenebrionid communities. Species proportions varied among sites. Grazing negatively influenced overall abundance, but did not alter species proportions; by contrast, solar panels had no effect on the average abundance, but reduced the proportion of the most abundant species. Compared with the other two sites, the solar park was characterized by a higher plant biomass and lower temperatures. A major availability of resources and less harsh conditions in the solar park might have a role in reducing the dominance of the most abundant species, allowing other species to attain higher abundances. This led to a more balanced community structure, with higher values of diversity. Although neither grazing nor solar panel installation modified radically tenebrionid species-abundance distribution or diversity, grazing and solar panel installation had different effects in species abundances and their impact might amplify the effect of other disturbance factors such as the ongoing climate change.

Research on Teleconsultation service quality based on multi-granularity linguistic information: the perspective of regional doctors.

BACKGROUND: Due to the increasing complexity in socioeconomic environments and the ambiguity in human cognition, decision makers prefer to give linguistic cognitive information with different granularities according to their own preferences. Consequently, to consider the uncertainty and preferences in the evaluation process, a method based on Multi-Granularity Linguistic Information (MGLI) for evaluating teleconsultation service quality is proposed, which provides a new research direction for scientific evaluation and improvement of teleconsultation service quality. METHODS: Firstly, this paper explored a service quality evaluation system from the perspective of regional doctors. And then considering the uncertainty and preferences of decision makers, MGLI was used to optimize the index system according to the similarity degree between the linguistic evaluation information and a given linguistic term set. Finally, the empirical research was conducted using Henan Province Telemedicine Center of China (HTCC) as an example to identify the direction for improving the service quality in teleconsultation. RESULTS: This study found that the number of consulting rooms, attitude of operators, consultation duration, charges, and attitude of experts are the key factors affecting the quality of teleconsultation service. CONCLUSIONS: Suggestions for improving the quality of teleconsultation service are put forward in terms of optimizing the allocation of consulting rooms, improving regional doctors' experience and standardizing charging standards, which provides a new direction for improving the quality of teleconsultation service.

Feeding behavior and life-history parameters of Therioaphis trifolii (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on 2 alfalfa cultivars.

Alfalfa, Medicago sativa, is a link connecting crop production and animal husbandry and plays a dominant role in the development of the livestock sector. The productivity of alfalfa is adversely affected by aphids' feeding damage and their capacity to transmit viral plant pathogens. To increase alfalfa forage yield, it is imperative to control pest insects and use resistant varieties. The aim of this study was to identify the mechanism of M. sativa resistance to aphids by examining changes in the physiology, feeding behavior, and life history of the pests. The leaves of Gannong No. 5 (HA-3, aphid-resistant cultivar) had denser, longer trichome and thicker cortical parenchyma cell, and greater xylem thicknesses than those of Hunter River (Hu, aphid-susceptible cultivar). Nonprobing behaviors suggested that the spotted alfalfa aphid, Therioaphis trifolii, became more active in searching for suitable feeding sites on HA-3 than on Hu plants. Additionally, T. trifolii showed shorter durations for salivating into sieve elements and ingesting phloem sap on HA-3 plants. Life-table analysis showed that T. trifolii on HA-3 had longer developmental duration, higher mortality rate, and lower fecundity, net reproductive rate, intrinsic rate of increase, finite rate of increase and gross reproduction rate values than that on Hu plants. Moreover, relative fitness was significantly reduced in T. trifolii on HA-3 plants. The results of this study provided a basis for developing better control strategies for T. trifolii and studying the mechanisms of alfalfa resistance to aphids.

Can rural e-commerce contribute to carbon reduction? A quasi-natural experiment based on China's e-commerce demonstration counties.

As information and communication technologies gain prominence in rural areas, rural e-commerce has emerged as a crucial mechanism for fostering agricultural and rural development. While the economic impact of rural e-commerce is widely studied, its effects on carbon emissions remain underexplored. Utilizing a multi-period DID model and Chinese county-level panel data from 2011 to 2017, this paper examines the impact of rural e-commerce on carbon emission reduction, employing the "comprehensive demonstration of e-commerce into villages" policy introduced by the Chinese government in 2014 as a quasi-natural experiment. Our findings show that e-commerce demonstration counties experienced a 10.6% reduction in carbon emissions compared to the control group, indicating a significant emission reduction effect. Further analysis reveals that rural e-commerce drives carbon reduction through decreased fertilizer usage, altered cropping structures, and enhanced transportation efficiency. Notably, rural e-commerce's emission reduction effect is more pronounced in major grain-producing regions and areas with higher digitalization levels. This study has crucial theoretical and practical implications for achieving carbon emission reduction and sequestration in agriculture and advancing green agricultural development.

Furcanthicus gen. nov., a New Genus of Oriental Anthicini (Coleoptera, Anthicidae), with Description of Three New Species.

Furcanthicus gen. nov. (Anthicinae: Anthicini) and three new species from the Oriental region are described: Furcanthicus acutibialis sp. nov. (China: Tibet), F. telnovi sp. nov. (China: Yunnan), and F. validus sp. nov. (China: Sichuan). Some critical morphological characters of this genus are discussed. Eight new combinations are established for the following taxa: Furcanthicus punctiger (Krekich-Strassoldo, 1931) comb. nov., F. rubens (Krekich-Strassoldo, 1931) comb. nov., F. maderi (Heberdey, 1938) comb. nov., F. monstrator (Telnov, 2005) comb. nov., F. vicarius (Telnov, 2005) comb. nov., F. lepcha (Telnov, 2018) comb. nov., F. vicinor (Telnov, 2018) comb. nov. (all from Anthicus Paykull, 1798), and Nitorus lii (Uhmann, 1997) comb. nov. (from Pseudoleptaleus Pic, 1900). Two informal species-groups are established: F. maderi and F. rubens species-group. The little-known species F. maderi, F. rubens, and F. punctiger are redescribed, diagnosed, and illustrated. The distribution map and key to species of this new genus are provided.

The impact of environmental information disclosure quality on green innovation of high-polluting enterprises.

With the gradual increase of social awareness of environmental protection, environmental information disclosure has become the key for enterprises to accept social supervision and fulfill their social responsibility. This study examines the high-polluting enterprises that were listed on Chinese A-shares between 2008 and 2021. The influence of environmental information disclosure quality on green innovation is examined using ordinary least squares (OLS) as a benchmark model. The results show that the improvement of environmental information disclosure quality of high-polluting enterprises can significantly improve the quantity and quality of green innovation of enterprises and are mediated by alleviating financing constraints and enhancing cash reserves. Moreover, improving the quality of environmental information disclosure of highly polluting enterprises has a more significant contribution to the quantity and quality of green patents of non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises located in central and eastern China, and large enterprises. The findings of this paper provide theoretical support for achieving a "win-win" situation of environmental protection and green innovation.

Niche overlap and species co-occurrence patterns in carabid communities of the northern Chinese steppes.

Understanding how species sort themselves into communities is essential to explain the mechanisms that maintain biodiversity. Important insights into potential mechanisms of coexistence may be obtained from observation of non-random patterns in community assembly. The spatial niche overlap (Pianka index) and co-occurrence (c-score) patterns in carabid species in three types of steppes (desert steppe, typical steppe, and meadow steppe) in China was investigated. Non randomness was tested using null models. Niche overlap values were significantly higher than expected by chance in the desert steppe, where vegetation cover is less abundant and less uniformly distributed, which possibly forces species to concentrate in certain places. In the typical and meadow steppes, results were influenced by the scale of the analysis. At a broad scale, niche separation was found as a result of species segregation among different sectors (habitats) within these steppes, but when the analysis was conducted at a finer scale, species appeared to be no more segregated than expected by chance. The high co-occurrence averages found in the meadow and typical steppes indicate that the distributions of the species found in a site may be negatively affected by the presence of other species, which suggests that some species tend to exclude (or reduce the abundance of) others. The very low c-score average observed in the desert steppe suggests that competition is not involved there. Thus, in more homogeneous landscapes (such as the typical and meadow steppes), competition might play some role in community structure, whereas spatial variation in the abundances of species is more driven by the uneven spatial distribution of vegetation in the landscape where productivity is lower and less uniformly distributed.

The Modeling and Forecasting of Carabid Beetle Distribution in Northwestern China.

Beetles are key insect species in global biodiversity and play a significant role in steppe ecosystems. In the temperate steppe of China, the increasing degeneration of the grasslands threatens beetle species and their habitat. Using Generalized Additive Models (GAMs), we aimed to predict and map beetle richness patterns within the temperate steppe of Ningxia (China). We tested 19 environmental predictors including climate, topography, soil moisture and space as well as vegetation. Climatic variables (temperature, precipitation, soil temperature) consistently appeared among the most important predictors for beetle groups modeled. GAM generated predictive cartography for the study area. Our models explained a significant percentage of the variation in carabid beetle richness (79.8%), carabid beetle richness distribution seems to be mainly influenced by temperature and precipitation. The results have important implications for management and conservation strategies and also provides evidence for assessing and making predictions of beetle diversity across the steppe.

Decrease in Carabid Beetles in Grasslands of Northwestern China: Further Evidence of Insect Biodiversity Loss.

Ground-dwelling beetles are important functional components in nutrient-poor grasslands of middle temperate steppe ecosystems in China. Here, we assessed the changes in ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities in the grasslands of northwestern China over 12 years to improve the management and conservation of beetles all over the world. The Generalized Additive Model (GAM) was applied to estimate the changes in carabid beetle communities in two regions: a desert steppe (Yanchi region), and a typical steppe and meadow steppe (Guyuan region). During the 12-year investigation, a total of 34 species were captured. We found that species abundance and richness per survey declined by 0.2 and 11.2%, respectively. Precipitation was the main factor affecting the distribution of carabid beetles. A distinct decline in carabid beetle species in the Yanchi region indicated that they may be threatened by less precipitation and loss of habitat, which could be due to climate change. Overall, species richness was stable in the Guyuan region. It is necessary to estimate and monitor the changes in carabid beetle communities in a temperate steppe of northern China and to protect them. Extensive desertification seriously threatens the distribution of carabid beetles. Future research should develop methods to protect carabid beetle communities in temperate steppes in China.

Competing Vegetation Structure Indices for Estimating Spatial Constrains in Carabid Abundance Patterns in Chinese Grasslands Reveal Complex Scale and Habitat Patterns.

Carabid communities are influenced by landscape features. Chinese steppes are subject to increasing desertification processes that are changing land-cover characteristics with negative impacts on insect communities. Despite those warnings, how land-cover characteristics influence carabid communities in steppe ecosystems remains unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate how landscape characteristics drive carabid abundance in different steppes (desert, typical, and meadow steppes) at different spatial scales. Carabid abundances were estimated using pitfall traps. Various landscape indices were derived from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images. Indices expressing moisture and productivity were, in general, those with the highest correlations. Different indices capture landscape aspects that influence carabid abundance at different scales, in which the patchiness of desert vegetation plays a major role. Carabid abundance correlations with landscape characteristics rely on the type of grassland, on the vegetation index, and on the scale considered. Proper scales and indices are steppe type-specific, highlighting the need of considering various scales and indices to explain species abundances from remotely sensed data.

[Application of NIR spectroscopy technology in the field of insect pests detection].

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is the most rapidly developing and the most noticeable spectrographic technique in the 80's (the last century). Its principle in detection of insect pests was introduced. The applications of NIRS to the field of insect pests detection were mainly summarized. The applications of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) in detection of insect pests in stored-products, seed and forage or in leaves of plants are more active due to its rapid, timely, less expensive, non-destructive, and straightforward analytic characteristics. The applications of NIRS to the field of detection of insect pests in our country are rare and only on the beginning. So, there are still some further applications of NIRS in detection of insect pests in future, such as analyzing trace elements in fruit and biosecurity inspection. In the present paper, the authors analyzed the NIRS applications status home and abroad, and discussed the applied prospects to promote its applications to the field of research and practice of detection of insect pests in our country.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Odontothrips loti (Haliday, 1852) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae).

Odontothrips loti (Haliday, 1852) is an important insect pest of Medicago sativa. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of O. loti (GenBank Accession number: MN584901) was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq X Ten. The genome is 15,584 bp long and comprises 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and putative control region (CR). The nucleotide composition of O. loti mitochondrial genome is 41.18% of A, 34.45% of T, 12.72% of C, and 11.64% of G. The CR, located between tRNA-Thr and ND5, is 651 bp long. The length of 22 tRNAs range from 56 bp to 69 bp. The two rRNAs were located on the H-strand of which one was 1127 bp (16S rRNA) long and another was 732 bp (12S rRNA) long. Phylogenetic analysis showed that O. loti is closely related to Frankliniella intonsa and Frankliniella occidentalis. These new mitochondrial genome data are more complete and can be better used to provide a basis for studies of the mitochondrial evolution of Odontothrips.

Influence of Climate and Local Habitat Characteristics on Carabid Beetle Abundance and Diversity in Northern Chinese Steppes.

Carabids are an important insect group in grassland ecosystems and are involved in numerous ecosystem services. Steppes are the most widespread ecosystems in China, but they are under increasing degradation. Despite their importance, little is known about the relationships between environmental variables and carabid community structure in Chinese steppes. We studied the effects of fine-scale factors (soil and vegetation) and coarse-scale factors (climate) on carabid community parameters (abundance, richness, diversity, dominance, and evenness) in three types of steppes (desert, typical, and meadow steppes) in northern China. Carabid communities responded to environmental factors in different ways according to the type of steppe. Climate factors were the most important drivers of community structure, whereas the effects of soil and vegetation were less important. Desert steppe showed the lowest carabid abundance, richness, diversity, and evenness, and the highest dominance. This community is relatively simple and strongly dominated by a few species adapted to the severe conditions of this environment. Typical and meadow steppes showed carabid communities with a more complex structure. As expected on the basis of environmental severity, the most severe ecosystem (i.e., the desert) was only influenced by climatic factors, whereas a certain influence of biotic factors emerged in the other ecosystems.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Aporia crataegi L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Aporia crataegi is 15,147 bp long, and consists of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and a putative control region (GenBank accession No. MN371463). The nucleotide composition is significantly biased (A, G, C, and T is 39.66%, 7.30%, 11.41%, and 41.63%, respectively) with A + T contents of 81.29%. All PCGs are initiated by ATG, ATT, and ATC codons. Seven PCGs use a common stop codon of TAA, whereas the remaining six terminated with a single T. The phylogenetic relationships based on maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree method showed that A. crataegi is closely related to Aporia bieti, Mesapia peloria, and Aporia martineti.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Cyamophila willieti (Wu) (Hemiptera: Psyllidae).

Cyamophila willieti (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is an important insect pest of Sophora japonica. In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of C. willieti (GenBank accession number MN364946) was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq X Ten. The mitogenome is 15,809 bp long, and comprises 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and putative control region (CR). The nucleotide composition of C. willieti mitochondrial genome is 37.96% of A, 35.88% of T, 15.98% of C and 10.18% of G. Two rRNAs are located between tRNA-Leu and CR, separated by tRNA-Val. The CR, located between 12 s rRNA and tRNA-Ile, is 844 bp long. The length of 22 tRNAs range from 60 to 70 bp. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. willieti belongs to Psyllinae, genetically close to other four species belonging to the same subfamily. Cyamophila willieti mitogenome provides an important data resource for further studies and contributes to our understanding of the phylogeny of this group.

Two new species of Yunnanomonticola Telnov (Coleoptera, Anthicidae) from China.

Two new species of the genus Yunnanomonticola Telnov, 2002 are described based on the specimens collected in China. Yunnanomonticolalatissima sp. n. is collected from Yunnan and Y.tenuipenis sp. n. is from Guizhou. Photographes of the new species are provided, with a key to the three species of Yunnanomonticola.

Effects of Lecanicillium lecanii strain JMC-01 on the physiology, biochemistry, and mortality of Bemisia tabaci Q-biotype nymphs.

BACKGROUND: Lecanicillium lecanii is an entomopathogenic fungi, which was isolated from insects suffering from disease. Now, it is an effective bio-control resource that can control agricultural pests such as whitefly and aphids. There are many studies on the control of various agricultural pests by L. lecanii, but no report on its control of Bemisia tabaci biotype-Q exists. In this work, we studied the susceptibility of B. tabaci Q-biotype (from Ningxia, China) to L. lecanii JMC-01 in terms of nymph mortality and the changes in detoxifying protective enzymes activities. METHODS: B. tabaci nymphs were exposed to L. lecanii JMC-01 conidia by immersion with the host culture. Mortality was assessed daily for all nymph stages. The detoxifying and protective enzyme activity changes, weight changes, and fat, and water contents of the nymphs were determined spectrophotometrically. RESULTS: All instars of B. tabaci died after being infested with 1 × 108 conidia/mL. The 2nd-instar nymphs were the most susceptible, followed by the 3rd-instar nymphs. The corrected cumulative mortality of the 2nd- and 3rd-instar nymphs was 82.22% and 75.55%, respectively. The levels of detoxifying and protective enzymes initially increased and then decreased. The highest activities of carboxylesterase, acetylcholinesterase, peroxidase, and catalase occurred on the 3rd day, reaching 10.5, 0.32, 20, and 6.3 U/mg prot, respectively. These levels were 2.2-, 4.3-, 2.4-, and 1.4-fold the control levels, respectively. The highest activities of glutathione-S transferase and superoxide dismutase on the 2nd day were, respectively, 64 and 43.5 U/mg prot. These levels were, respectively, 2.7 and 1.1-fold that of the control level. The water and fat content in the infected B. tabaci nymphs decreased and differed significantly from the control levels. The weight increased continuously in the first 24 h, decreasing thereafter. At 72 h, the infestation level was about 0.78-fold that of the control level. CONCLUSIONS: The studied L. lecanii JMC-01 strain is pathogenic to the B. tabaci Q-biotype. This strain interferes with the normal functioning of detoxifying and protective enzymes, and is also involved in the disruption of normal physiological metabolism in B. tabaci.

Carabid community structure in northern China grassland ecosystems: Effects of local habitat on species richness, species composition and functional diversity.

BACKGROUND: Most carabid beetles are particularly sensitive to local habitat characteristics. Although in China grasslands account for more than 40% of the national land, their biodiversity is still poorly known. The aim of this paper is to identify the main environmental characteristics influencing carabid diversity in different types of grassland in northern China. METHODS: We investigated the influence of vegetation (plant biomass, cover, density, height and species richness), soil (bulk density, above ground litter, moisture and temperature) and climate (humidity, precipitation and temperature) on carabid community structure (species richness, species composition and functional diversity-measured as body size, movement and total diversity) in three types of grasslands: desert, typical and meadow steppes. We used Canonical correspondence analysis to investigate the role of habitat characteristics on species composition and eigenvector spatial filtering to investigate the responses of species richness and functional diversities. RESULTS: We found that carabid community structure was strongly influenced by local habitat characteristics and particularly by climatic factors. Carabids in the desert steppe showed the lowest richness and functional diversities. Climate predictors (temperature, precipitation and humidity) had positive effects on carabid species richness at both regional and ecosystem levels, with difference among ecosystems. Plant diversity had a positive influence on carabid richness at the regional level. Soil compaction and temperature were negatively related to species richness at regional level. Climatic factors positively influenced functional diversities, whereas soil temperature had negative effects. Soil moisture and temperature were the most important drivers of species composition at regional level, whereas the relative importance of the various environmental parameters varied among ecosystems. DISCUSSION: Carabid responses to environmental characteristics varied among grassland types, which warns against generalizations and indicates that management programs should be considered at grassland scale. Carabid community structure is strongly influenced by climatic factors, and can therefore be particularly sensitive to ongoing climate change.

[Darkling beetle community structure and its relations with environmental factors in Sidunzi of Yanchi, Ningxia, China].

From March to October 2009, a field survey was conducted on the darkling beetle community structure and related environmental factors in the desert grasslands with different vegetation cover and human disturbance intensity in Sidunzi of Yanchi, Ningxia, China. By using diversity index and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) , the relationships between the beetle community structure and related environmental factors were analyzed. A total of 5431 individuals were collected, belonging to 20 species and 10 genera. Blaps femoralis femoralis, Microdera kraatzi kraatzi, and Platyope mongolica were the dominant species, accounting for 47.30%, 39.90%, and 3.59% of the total, respectively. CCA explained 100% of the correlations between the beetle species and related environmental factors, suggesting that the occurrence of the beetle species had close relations to the changes of related environmental factors. Among the environmental factors, the Shannon diversity index of plant community (HP), plant biomass (BP), and soil water content (SW) affected the beetle species occurrence most. The occurrence frequency of Mantichorula semenowi, Anatolica amoenula, A. sternalis, and A. gravidula was negatively correlated with BP and plant coverage (CP), and that of B. gobiensis, Cyphogenia chinensis, Gonocephalum reticuluatum, and Crypticus rufipes was positively correlated with plant density (DP) and SW. The distribution of P. mongolica, M. kraatzi kraatzi, Scytosoma pygmaeum, and B. kiritshenkoi showed a positive correlation to HP, and that of Eumylada oberbergeri, B. femoralis femoralis, and B. davidea showed a positive correlation to BP and CP. There was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.943, P = 0.005) between the beetle activity density and SW. The CCA ordination showed that the darkling beetles had different demands for multidimensional ecological resources in desert and semi-desert ecosystems.