The leaf-beetle genus Platypria Guérin-Méneville, 1840 comprises two subgenera and 34 species (Ch... more The leaf-beetle genus Platypria Guérin-Méneville, 1840 comprises two subgenera and 34 species (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Hispini). Host plants are documented for eight species and indicate mostly perennial species of Fabaceae and Rhamnaceae. Larvae and pupae have been documented for two Platypria species. This paper presents novel natural history data, based on a field study of populations of Platypria (Platypria) hystrix (Fabricius, 1798) on Erythrina stricta Roxb. and Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth. in Kerala, south India and on Erythrina variegata L., Pueraria montana var. lobata (Willd.) Maes. & S. Almeida and Mucuna pruriens (L) DC in Assam, northeast India. Three new Fabaceae hosts are reported for P. (P.) hystrix. Brief notes and new host records, based on field observations, are also provided for the other three species of Platypria in India – P. (P.) chiroptera Gestro, 1899, P. (P.) echidna Guérin-Méneville, 1840 and P. (P.) erinaceus (Fabricius, 1801). Platypria fema...
Deiphobella laticeps (Wood Mason, 1876), is an interesting preying mantis, rediscovered from Maha... more Deiphobella laticeps (Wood Mason, 1876), is an interesting preying mantis, rediscovered from Maharashtra State, India, after considerable lapse of time since its original description.
The mantis, Mesopteryx platycephala, is redescribed with digital images. Although known from Assa... more The mantis, Mesopteryx platycephala, is redescribed with digital images. Although known from Assam, West Bengal and other areas, the mantis is not recently collected or illustrated from India so far and is perhaps a rare species. This short note aims to fill up the lacuna.
An adult Keeled Skink entangled in the resin at Alipurduar, West Bengal showing the ventral conta... more An adult Keeled Skink entangled in the resin at Alipurduar, West Bengal showing the ventral contact of the skink that had accidentally crossed path on the dropped resin surface.
The brown hawk owl, Ninox scutulata (Raffles, 1822) is a common, medium sized bird of prey on the... more The brown hawk owl, Ninox scutulata (Raffles, 1822) is a common, medium sized bird of prey on the Indian subcontinent and listed as of least concern. Its distribution range extends up to eastern Siberia, Japan, the Andmans, the Malay Peninsula, the Great and Lesser Sundas, Wallacea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Australia. There are 11 well documented subspecies across this wide distribution. A pair of brown hawk owls was observed nesting on a Dillenia indica tree (Family Dilleniaceae), in Guwahati, Kamrup District, Assam, India. The nest was in a cavity at a height of about 4 m. The tree was about 14 m tall and the main trunk was about 7 m in girth. It had a dense canopy with its large elliptical leaves.
First records of the butterfly species Dark Himalayan Oakblue Arhopala rama and Slate Flash Rapal... more First records of the butterfly species Dark Himalayan Oakblue Arhopala rama and Slate Flash Rapala manea (Lycaenidae), Gaudy Baron Euthalia lubentina and Orange Oakleaf Kallima inachus (Nymphalidae), in Kaleshwar National Park, Haryana are presented along with photographs. The sightings of Dark Himalayan Oakblue Arhopala rama at Kaleshwar represent very low altitudinal records in the Himalaya.
LECH BOROWIEC1, SACHIN RANADE2, NILESH RANE2, and HEMANT V. GHATE2 1Zoological Institute, Univers... more LECH BOROWIEC1, SACHIN RANADE2, NILESH RANE2, and HEMANT V. GHATE2 1Zoological Institute, University of Wroc³aw, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wroc³aw, Poland, e-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Zoology, Modern College, Shivajinagar, Pune 411 005, India ... ABSTRACT. A new species Chiridopsis rubromaculata is described from India (Maharashtra). Descriptions of its immature stages and notes on bionomy are also given. ... Key words: entomology, taxonomy, new species, bionomics, immature stages, Coleoptera, ...
Notosacantha vicaria completes life cycle on Carallia brachiata, a plant belonging to Rhizophorac... more Notosacantha vicaria completes life cycle on Carallia brachiata, a plant belonging to Rhizophoraceae. The larva is a leaf miner and even pupation takes place within the leaf mine. The larva is very similar to hispine larvae in general appearance. The lateral processes on abdominal segments are much shorter than in other cassidines and the supra-anal processes or furci are absent. The pupa also differs from that of other cassidines in some respects, e.g. there are no prothoracic spinules and supra-anal furci in the pupa of Notosacantha. The pupal mine has a distinctive shape. The beetles feed only by scraping on the upper surface of the leaf, without making holes, and the feeding marks are characteristic.
The collapse of South Asia's Gyps vulture populations is attributable to the veterinary use of th... more The collapse of South Asia's Gyps vulture populations is attributable to the veterinary use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac. Vultures died after feeding on carcasses of recently-medicated animals. The governments of India, Nepal and Pakistan banned the veterinary use of diclofenac in 2006. We analysed results of 62 necropsies and 48 NSAID assays of liver and/or kidney for vultures of five species found dead in India between 2000 and 2012. Visceral gout and diclofenac were detected in vultures from nine states and three species: Gyps bengalensis, G. indicus and G. himalayensis. Visceral gout was found in every vulture carcass in which a measurable level of diclofenac was detected. Meloxicam, an NSAID of low toxicity to vultures, was found in two vultures and nimesulide in five vultures. Nimesulide at elevated tissue concentrations was associated with visceral gout in four of these cases, always without diclofenac, suggesting that nimesulide may have similar toxic effects to those of diclofenac. Residues of meloxicam on its own were never associated with visceral gout. The proportion of Gyps vultures found dead in the wild in India with measurable levels of diclofenac in their tissues showed a modest and non-significant decline since the ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac. The prevalence of visceral gout declined less, probably because some cases of visceral gout from 2008 onwards were associated with nimesulide rather than diclofenac. Veterinary use of nimesulide is a potential threat to the recovery of vulture populations.
A study on the occurrence of coprophagy behavior and its relationship to B-vitamin status in grow... more A study on the occurrence of coprophagy behavior and its relationship to B-vitamin status in growing-finishing pigs.
The leaf-beetle genus Platypria Guérin-Méneville, 1840 comprises two subgenera and 34 species (Ch... more The leaf-beetle genus Platypria Guérin-Méneville, 1840 comprises two subgenera and 34 species (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae: Hispini). Host plants are documented for eight species and indicate mostly perennial species of Fabaceae and Rhamnaceae. Larvae and pupae have been documented for two Platypria species. This paper presents novel natural history data, based on a field study of populations of Platypria (Platypria) hystrix (Fabricius, 1798) on Erythrina stricta Roxb. and Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth. in Kerala, south India and on Erythrina variegata L., Pueraria montana var. lobata (Willd.) Maes. & S. Almeida and Mucuna pruriens (L) DC in Assam, northeast India. Three new Fabaceae hosts are reported for P. (P.) hystrix. Brief notes and new host records, based on field observations, are also provided for the other three species of Platypria in India – P. (P.) chiroptera Gestro, 1899, P. (P.) echidna Guérin-Méneville, 1840 and P. (P.) erinaceus (Fabricius, 1801). Platypria fema...
Deiphobella laticeps (Wood Mason, 1876), is an interesting preying mantis, rediscovered from Maha... more Deiphobella laticeps (Wood Mason, 1876), is an interesting preying mantis, rediscovered from Maharashtra State, India, after considerable lapse of time since its original description.
The mantis, Mesopteryx platycephala, is redescribed with digital images. Although known from Assa... more The mantis, Mesopteryx platycephala, is redescribed with digital images. Although known from Assam, West Bengal and other areas, the mantis is not recently collected or illustrated from India so far and is perhaps a rare species. This short note aims to fill up the lacuna.
An adult Keeled Skink entangled in the resin at Alipurduar, West Bengal showing the ventral conta... more An adult Keeled Skink entangled in the resin at Alipurduar, West Bengal showing the ventral contact of the skink that had accidentally crossed path on the dropped resin surface.
The brown hawk owl, Ninox scutulata (Raffles, 1822) is a common, medium sized bird of prey on the... more The brown hawk owl, Ninox scutulata (Raffles, 1822) is a common, medium sized bird of prey on the Indian subcontinent and listed as of least concern. Its distribution range extends up to eastern Siberia, Japan, the Andmans, the Malay Peninsula, the Great and Lesser Sundas, Wallacea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Australia. There are 11 well documented subspecies across this wide distribution. A pair of brown hawk owls was observed nesting on a Dillenia indica tree (Family Dilleniaceae), in Guwahati, Kamrup District, Assam, India. The nest was in a cavity at a height of about 4 m. The tree was about 14 m tall and the main trunk was about 7 m in girth. It had a dense canopy with its large elliptical leaves.
First records of the butterfly species Dark Himalayan Oakblue Arhopala rama and Slate Flash Rapal... more First records of the butterfly species Dark Himalayan Oakblue Arhopala rama and Slate Flash Rapala manea (Lycaenidae), Gaudy Baron Euthalia lubentina and Orange Oakleaf Kallima inachus (Nymphalidae), in Kaleshwar National Park, Haryana are presented along with photographs. The sightings of Dark Himalayan Oakblue Arhopala rama at Kaleshwar represent very low altitudinal records in the Himalaya.
LECH BOROWIEC1, SACHIN RANADE2, NILESH RANE2, and HEMANT V. GHATE2 1Zoological Institute, Univers... more LECH BOROWIEC1, SACHIN RANADE2, NILESH RANE2, and HEMANT V. GHATE2 1Zoological Institute, University of Wroc³aw, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wroc³aw, Poland, e-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Zoology, Modern College, Shivajinagar, Pune 411 005, India ... ABSTRACT. A new species Chiridopsis rubromaculata is described from India (Maharashtra). Descriptions of its immature stages and notes on bionomy are also given. ... Key words: entomology, taxonomy, new species, bionomics, immature stages, Coleoptera, ...
Notosacantha vicaria completes life cycle on Carallia brachiata, a plant belonging to Rhizophorac... more Notosacantha vicaria completes life cycle on Carallia brachiata, a plant belonging to Rhizophoraceae. The larva is a leaf miner and even pupation takes place within the leaf mine. The larva is very similar to hispine larvae in general appearance. The lateral processes on abdominal segments are much shorter than in other cassidines and the supra-anal processes or furci are absent. The pupa also differs from that of other cassidines in some respects, e.g. there are no prothoracic spinules and supra-anal furci in the pupa of Notosacantha. The pupal mine has a distinctive shape. The beetles feed only by scraping on the upper surface of the leaf, without making holes, and the feeding marks are characteristic.
The collapse of South Asia's Gyps vulture populations is attributable to the veterinary use of th... more The collapse of South Asia's Gyps vulture populations is attributable to the veterinary use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac. Vultures died after feeding on carcasses of recently-medicated animals. The governments of India, Nepal and Pakistan banned the veterinary use of diclofenac in 2006. We analysed results of 62 necropsies and 48 NSAID assays of liver and/or kidney for vultures of five species found dead in India between 2000 and 2012. Visceral gout and diclofenac were detected in vultures from nine states and three species: Gyps bengalensis, G. indicus and G. himalayensis. Visceral gout was found in every vulture carcass in which a measurable level of diclofenac was detected. Meloxicam, an NSAID of low toxicity to vultures, was found in two vultures and nimesulide in five vultures. Nimesulide at elevated tissue concentrations was associated with visceral gout in four of these cases, always without diclofenac, suggesting that nimesulide may have similar toxic effects to those of diclofenac. Residues of meloxicam on its own were never associated with visceral gout. The proportion of Gyps vultures found dead in the wild in India with measurable levels of diclofenac in their tissues showed a modest and non-significant decline since the ban on the veterinary use of diclofenac. The prevalence of visceral gout declined less, probably because some cases of visceral gout from 2008 onwards were associated with nimesulide rather than diclofenac. Veterinary use of nimesulide is a potential threat to the recovery of vulture populations.
A study on the occurrence of coprophagy behavior and its relationship to B-vitamin status in grow... more A study on the occurrence of coprophagy behavior and its relationship to B-vitamin status in growing-finishing pigs.
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