Fighting and aggressive sound determines larger male to win male-male competition in a bark beetle.

Intrasexual selection occurs in male-male competition over access to females and usually results in the larger male winning. While much research has documented that size matters, little is known about how the larger male wins. Dendroctonus valens is an aggregating monogamous bark beetle in which males have large variation in body size and display intense competition over females. Behavioral observation showed two males fight each other within the gallery by pushing/shoving and stridulated more when two males encountered each other. Experiments using two different-sized males synchronously competing showed that larger males won 95% of contests. Reciprocal displacement experiments using muted and intact males of different or equal size were used to simulate male-male competition. Larger males displaced the smaller resident male in 90% of contests, while smaller males prevailed over larger residents in 6.7% of contests. With both males silenced, larger males displaced smaller males in 80% of contests, while smaller males prevailed in 8% of contests. Further experiments using equal-sized males showed aggressive sound-emitting males displaced muted males in 67% of contests, yet intact males displaced other intact males in only 37.5% of contests. Sound analysis showed sound pressure level is an honest signal of body size and males chose soft sounds over loud aggressive sounds in assays. Therefore, D. valens males have evolved dual behaviors, fighting and aggressive sounds associated with body size, to assess rivals to compete for a partner, gaining insights in male-male competition for this species and for other animals.

Physical contact, volatiles, and acoustic signals contribute to monogamy in an invasive aggregating bark beetle.

The behavioral strategies and mechanisms by which some insects maintain monogamous mating systems are not well understood. We investigated the mating system of the bark beetle Dendroctonus valens, and identified several contributing mechanisms. Field and laboratory observations suggest the adults commonly form permanent bonds during host colonization. Moreover, it showed mated females that remained paired with males produced more offspring than mated females that were alone in galleries. In bioassays, a second female commonly entered a gallery constructed by a prior female. Videos show she commonly reached the location of the first female, but they did not engage in actual fighting. Rather, the second female typically departs to form her own gallery. Acoustic signaling likewise does not appear to influence female-female encounters, based on controlled muting experiments. Instead, the intruder appears to perceive the resident's presence by physical contact. Both acoustic signals and volatiles released by females during gallery constructing were shown to attract males. After a male joined a female in a gallery, the male-produced aggressive sounds, which were shown by playback to deter other males from entering the gallery. Unlike female-female interactions, resident males use their head and rear to push intruders out of galleries. Additionally, volatiles released by males during feeding repelled intruding males, discouraging them from entering the gallery. Males also construct plugs that block the entrance, which may prevent subsequent males and predators from entering the gallery. Thus, D. valens has evolved multifaceted mechanisms contributing to single pairings that confer benefits to both sexes.

Corn defense responses to nitrogen availability and subsequent performance and feeding preferences of beet armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Many studies have reported the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilization on plant constitutive defense responses; however, little is known about their effects on plant induced defense patterns and its consequence for insect herbivores. In our experiments, the effects of N availability on growth, nutritional quality (N content, protein/carbohydrate [P:C] ratio, modified gross energy [MGE]), and constitutive phenolics of corn, Zea mays L. were quantified. Moreover, the indirect effects of N fertilization on the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua Hübner through larval performance and feeding preference were examined. N fertilization increased plant growth, and depressed defense traits by increasing N content and the P:C ratio, as well as decreasing the constitutive concentration of phenolics. Subsequently, beet armyworm showed higher performance and preferentially fed on high-N corn because of its low defense traits. After beet armyworm feeding, high-N corn significantly deterred larval feeding, and had negative effects on the performance of beet armyworm through decreasing P:C ratio and increasing induced phenolics. On the contrary, there were no significant changes in P:C ratio and phenolics in low-N corn after feeding damage. Larval performance and preference were also not affected by induced compounds in low-N corn, which suggested that the expression of induced defense was dependent on N availability. The result indicates that N availability can exert a variety of bottom-up effect on plant defense patterns to influence insect population dynamics, and thereby may represent a source of variation in plant-insect interactions.

[The aquation of oxaliplatin and the effect of acid].

AIM: To investigate the aquation of oxaliplatin in aqueous solution at different temperatures and gain the kinetic data. METHODS: Electronic conductometry and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to measure the oxaliplatin content in the reaction systems at different time. RESULTS: The aquation of oxaliplatin followed a pseudo-first-order rate law. In the absence of H+, the observed rate constant kobs was 7.76 x 10(-6).min-1 and the half life t1/2 was 62 days at 25 degrees C. In the presence of H+, the aquation could be accelerated by H+ according to the equation kobs = (2.61 + 21.9 [H+]) x 10(-4).min-1. The mechanism of aquation has also been proposed in this paper. From the mechanism, the rate of aquation following to r = (k1 k2) [l-OHP]/k-1 in the absence of H+ and r = (k1 + K0k3 [H+]) [l-OHP] in the presence of H+ have been deduced, which were in perfect agreement with the experimental results. CONCLUSION: In the absence of H+, the aqueous solution of oxaliplatin is stable, which meets to the request of clinical.

[Analysis of a novel platinum anticancer compound HJ5 by high performance liquid chromatography].

Cis-dichloroamine (4-amino-2, 2, 6, 6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl) platinum (II) (abbreviated to HJ5) is a novel platinum anticancer compound which has prospects for research and application. In order to establish a conventional analytical method, an HPLC has been studied. Under the conditions of acetonitrile-water (10:90, volume ratio) as mobile phase, detection wavelength of 210 nm, a Phenomenex column C18(150 mm x 3.9 mm i.d., 10 microns). The linear equation, recovery and accuracy of the method were determined with external standard method. The HPLC has satisfactory resolution between the peaks of HJ5 and impurities. The peak areas of HJ5 were linear to its amounts detected and the detection limit was 0.07 microgram. The hydration of HJ5 can be inhibited effectively by NaCl solution. In a 9 g/L NaCl solution, the stability can be kept for more than 2 hours which is enough for analysis.