Bumblebees as a model organism for gut microbiota studies. The gut microbiota of bumblebee is simple and specific and has numerous parallels to the human gut microbiota. Bumblebee colonies are available for experiments year-round and keeping indoors. Gnotobiotic bees can be easily generated in the lab, which facilitates the research of interactions between gut microbiota and the host. A set of established methods for quantifying bumblebee behaviors enable us to investigate the mechanism of microbiota-gut-brain communication. Mother-to-child vertical inheritance of gut bacteria exists in newly established bumblebee nests. The unique social life cycle of bumblebees provides new opportunities to study vertical transmission.

Vitellogenesis, the timely production and uptake of yolk proteins, is essential for female fecundity. In the silkworm, Bombyx mori, a nucleus-enriched long-noncoding RNA (lncRNA) lncR26319 regulates Endophilin A (EndoA), a member of the endophilin protein family of endocytosis, by competitively binding to miR-2834. The lncR26319-miR-2834-EndoA axis contributes to the endocytic activity in the yolk uptake process and leads to the normal progression of oogenesis in the silkworm.

We first determined the forkhead box O (FoxO) as a target gene of microRNA miR-2765-3p, and verified that juvenile hormone (JH) regulated the reproductive diapause in Galeruca daurica via mediating miR-2765-3p which regulated the expression of FoxO.

When silencing the V-ATP-E gene of Asian citrus psyllid adults, the fluorescence signal of Huanglongbing pathogen in their midgut was significantly stronger than that of control group, which indicated that knockdown of V-ATP-E can affect CLas passing through the midgut and into the hemolymph of psyllid host.

Annually, the butterfly Vanessa cardui migrates over at least 4000 km. In June and July, these butterflies annually arrive in Germany.

To understand the influence of wing structure on wing damage and mechanisms that might mitigate wing damage, we examined the frequency of wing damage in Vanessa cardui.

The results show that hindwings experience a greater frequency of damage than forewings and forewings suffered from more serious damage on the lateral margin, while hindwings were more damaged in the trailing margin.

Ion channel families, including the ryanodine receptor (RyR), the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), the voltage-gated sodium channel (VGSC), the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel, and the ligand-gated chloride channel (LGCC), serve as primary targets of many small-molecule insecticides. The recent progress in the structural biology of insecticide target ion channels has provided many valuable insights into the mechanisms of actions and insecticide resistance, and also provide guidance for designing more selective insecticides.

Both viral infection and insecticidal dsRNA trigger the same RNAi machinery, which determines the efficacy of RNAi in insects. RNAi-based biological control not only avoids off-target effects in beneficial organisms, but also achieves synergy between RNAi and other biological control agents.

The transcriptomic signature of responses to larval crowding in Drosophila melanogaster.

We demonstrate that adult ticks (Ixodes scapularis) infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme Disease, have greater overwintering survival than uninfected ticks.

Adult ticks were placed in individual microcosms and allowed to overwinter. In the spring we collected the ticks and tested both dead and living ticks for B. burgdorferi DNA. We also performed lab tests to show that we could accurately identify B. burgdorferi DNA in ticks 10 weeks after their death. The study was repeated over 3 years, and infected ticks were more likely to survive the winter than uninfected ticks in each of the 3 winters in two different microclimates (i.e., dune grass and forest). Increased overwintering survival of infected ticks will lead to an enrichment of infected adult ticks in the early spring relative to the fall, and this has important public health implications. Moreover, the increased winter survival of adult female ticks could have a large impact on tick population growth. Our results suggest that, in addition to climate change, B. burgdorferi infection itself may be promoting the northern range expansion of I. scapularis. This is a novel insight. Our study highlights how pathogens could promote host range expansion.

In an invasive population in the United States, a combination of laboratory experiments for males and paternity analysis with eight polymorphic DNA microsatellite markers for field-caught females was used to estimate the number of mating by both sexes. Our data clearly show for the first time that both male and female small hive beetles are commonly mating with multiple partners and that paternities can be skewed.

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged in the past decade and profoundly accelerated our understanding of brain complexity. scRNA-seq has a higher resolution than bulk RNA-seq, which enables novel cell type classification, dynamic trajectory construction, and gene regulatory network identification. To give a general understanding of scRNA-seq application in brain science, we depict a brief overview of the experimental workflow and a typical downstream data analysis in this graphical abstract.

Sublethal spinetoram exposure originates Aedes aegypti females with smaller size and weaker blood-feeding capacity; sublethal spinetoram exposure prolonged the immature development period in Ae. aegypti; and sublethal spinetoram exposure dysregulates mitochondrial function and stimulates dengue virus replication both in cells and in female mosquitoes.

Anoplophora glabripennis is a devastating wood boring pest native to Asia. This non-native invasive species attacks forests and urban trees in North America and Europe. This review covers recent research concerning distribution and destruction of Asian longhorn beetle (ALB), as well as major efforts to control and manage ALB in China.

Mosquito salivary proteins (MSPs) bear multitudinous functions, embracing facilitating blood feeding and affecting the infection of mosquito-borne viruses (MBVs) via directly interplaying with MBVs or tuning the homeostasis of host cells. In vivo, MSPs can modulate host's innate and adaptive immunity, which in turn impacts the native infection at the bite site and the remote dissemination of MBVs. MSP-based MBV transmission-blocking vaccines are neoteric and effective tactics to stifle the MBV transmission.