New records and review of the occurrence of the oriental hornet Vespa orientalis Linnaeus, 1771 in the islands of Greece (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Vespinae)

Two species of hornets are present in Iran: Vespa orientalis Linnaeus, 1771, has a widespread distribution in most parts of Iran, except for the Caspian coast in northern Iran, but V. crabro Linnaeus, 1758, is present only on the Caspian coast. The ambiguity regarding these two species in Iran, their distribution patterns, diagnoses and agricultural aspects are discussed.

The new data received on the distribution of two species of social wasps in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan-the eastern, or Vespa orientalis Linnaeus, 1771 (Oriental hornet), and the Polistes wattii Cameron, 1900. Currently in territory of Almaty oblast there is a stable self-reproducing population of the V. orientalis and its range is constantly expanding. On the territory of the Zhambyl oblast, it was previously recorded in the Talas district, but for Shu and Sarysu districts not indicated. In the Kyzylorda oblast, it was previously recorded in the Syrdarya district, for the Zhanakorgan district not specified. In general, it not specified earlier for the Karaganda oblast. Thus, in general, the territory of Kazakhstan is expanding its range. P. wattii in Kazakhstan was observed relatively recently (2012, the villages of Shardara and Asykata in Shardara and Maktaaral districts of the South Kazakhstan oblast). North of the indicated points of South Kazakhstan and in the Kyzylorda and Zhambyl oblasts, it was not previously indicated. Apparently, the species gradually expands its area within the Republic of Kazakhstan. Both species are of practical importance as pests of agriculture and beekeeping, and sanitary and epidemiological and medical - as poisonous animals. In addition, their introduction into new habitats can disrupt the existing ecological balance. Proceeding from, is necessary to monitor further spreading of these wasps within Kazakhstan, and to start working on the issue of measures to limit their numbers taking into account world experience.

The greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is the most destructive pest of honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae), throughout the world. The present study was conducted to determine the quantitative and qualitative impairing effects of the arthropod venoms, viz., death stalker scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus (Hemprich & Ehrenberg) venom (SV), oriental Hornet (wasp) Vespa orientalis Linnaeus venom (WV) and Apitoxin of A. mellifera (AP) on the larval haemogram. For this purpose, the 3rd instar larvae were treated with LC50 of each of these venoms (3428.9, 2412.6, and 956.16 ppm, respectively). The haematological investigation was conducted in haemolymph of the 5th and 7th (last) instar larvae. The important results could be summarized as follows. Five basic types of the freely circulating haemocytes in the haemolymph of last instar (7th) larvae of G. mellonella had been identified: Prohemocytes (PRs), Plasmatocytes (PLs), Granulocytes (GRs), Spherulocytes (SPs) and Oenocytoids (OEs). All venoms unexceptionally prohibited the larvae to produce normal hemocyte population (count). No certain trend of disturbance in the differential hemocyte counts of circulating hemocytes in larvae of G. mellonella after treatment with the arthropod venoms. Increasing or decreasing population of the circulating hemocytes seemed to depend on the potency of the venom, hemocyte type and the larval instar. In PRs of last instar larvae, some cytopathological features had been observed after treatment with AP or WV, but SV failed to cause cytopathological features. With regard to PLs, some cytopathological features had been observed after treatment with AP while both SV and WV failed to cause cytopathological features in this hemocyte type. No venom exhibited cytopathological effects on GRs, SPs or OEs.

The Edibility of Birds: Illustrated by Five Years' Experiments and Observations (1941–1946) on the Food Preferences of the Hornet, Cat and Man;and considered with Special Reference to the Theories of Adaptive Coloration

The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing communications in promoting tourism on the Greek island of Myconos. The research evaluates the effectiveness of the marketing communications used by public bodies to promote Myconos in Europe. The research location was the airport at Myconos. The researchers used a probability sampling technique in the form of stratified random sampling, since the population used for the research was multinational. Four-hundred questionnaires were gathered from a research population of 8000. The percentage of arrivals pertinent to each subset (tourist population divided by nationality) was compared with the total number of tourists who arrived on Myconos from the countries constituting the sampling frame, and the number of questionnaires to be given to each of the subsets was calculated. The study shows that marketing communications had a positive effect on the overall business performance and improved it noticeably. Marketing communications used by public bodies to promote Myconos were effective as they increased tourism arrivals and influenced the majority of the tourists to visit it. In addition to this, the study shows that there are factors such as tourists' origin, age, and annual income that affect the effectiveness of marketing communications. It also identified that tourists value a marketing strategy that involves analytical information about the tourism destination, as they stated that brochures, guidebooks, and the Internet influenced them to a great extent.

The “Invisible Children”: Uncertain Future of Unaccompanied Minor Migrants in Europe

The Hymenoptera is one of the vital and biggest insect orders comprising the bees, wasps, sawflies, and ants. Wasps are important to natural and biological pest control because they are predators or parasitoids of pest arthropods. This study investigated the genetic diversity among the three wasps, Vespa orientalis Linnaeus, Polistes bucharensis Erichson, and Polistes mongolicus du Buysson, collected from three different governorates in Egypt, using cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) DNA barcoding. PCR was performed to amplify COI fragment. The amplified COI regions (710 bp) were sequenced and analyzed. All novel nucleotide sequences of COI gene were deposited into the GenBank database. The genetic distances were estimated using Kimura two-parameter model. In spite of the wide geographical range, minor genetic diversity was observed between some populations of the three wasp species, revealing unrestricted gene flow between them. Phylogenetic relationship analysis was performed, using maximum likelihood (ML) method. The results of the phylogenetic analyses recovered P. bucharensis more closely related to P. dominula and P. gallicus. P. mongolicus collected from Menofia Governorate formed a distinct branch with 99% support. V. orientalis was sister to the yellowjacket Dolichovespula adulterine, with 84% support. It can be concluded that DNA barcode is a powerful tool for rapid and accurate identification of Egyptian wasp species.

A significant amount of apiaries is destroyed in most areas of Iraq by attacking of the hornet Vespa orientalis Linnaeus, 1771, as well as the deterioration of European honey bees’ Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 productivity recently because the environmental changes and pollutions; this effect was evident in the economy and plant production, because the bees as the most popular species of pollinator of crops globally. There is no effective and environmentally safe method yet; Therefore, this study suggested to use essential oils of Mediterranean cypress Cupressus sempervirens L., 1753 (Pinales: Cupressaceae), and testing as a repellant substance. In the current investigations, we used three concentrations: 25000, 50000 and 100000 ppm to test efficacy the essential oil as a repellant with cow spleen as attractive bait for this wasp, in addition to, the extract was tested it within the apiary beehives to prevent wasps attacking and catching the worker bees. The result showed that the concentrations of 50000 and 100000 ppm were high repellant material, without finding any significant difference in statistical analysis; although it’s found between these concentrations and other treatments including the control. Therefore, we recommend using the concentration 50000 ppm in the apiaries to give it amazing results and a clear repellant of wasps, as they avoid getting close to the beehives openings at a distance of 45 cm. In addition, this essential oil did not effect on the activity of bees during the field observations.

This study was carried out in the bee laboratory in the Faculty of Agriculture –University of Kufa in September 2021 to evaluate some protein sources and hive products against the oriental hornet Vespa orientalis Linnaeus 1771 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). The food sources included: beef meat, gut fish, beef lung, honeybee, wax, propolis, pollen, bee worker, and water, in addition to control which was an empty petri dish. The number of visits and their duration were calculated. The results showed that the wasps preferred bee honey and wax significantly higher than the rest of the stimuli.

Summary In this study, the material of the family Vespidae was collected from different localities of Turkey in 1957-2004 and it has been determined that totally 24 species and subspecies belonging to Vespidae occurring in the collection of LEMT (Lodos Entomological Museum, Turkey). Some new localities were found for some species and subspecies previously known in Turkey. Among them, Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1799) and Vespa orientalis Linnaeus, 1771 were the abundant and widespread species. Separately, Polistes gallicus (Linnaeus, 1767) and P. dominulus (Christ, 1791) were the other common species.

Rearing of tropical tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury is mainly conducted in outdoor on Terminalia tomentosa W. & A. a nature grown primary host plant available in forest and also on raised primary host plant Terminalia arjuna Bedd. Temperature, relative humidity and rainfall are the main environmental factors for occurrence of pests (parasites and predators) of tasar silkworm during I, II and III crop rearing in the tropical tasar producing zones. The present study was aimed to study the influence of abiotic factors on prevalence of tasar silkworm pests. The study was conducted at different agro-climatic regions viz., Central Tasar Research &Training Institute, Ranchi, Jharkhand, Regional Extension Centre, Katghora, Chattisgarh and Regional Extension Centre, Hatgamaria during 2010-13 covering 3 seed crop and 6 commercial crops. Data on incidence of tropical tasar silkworm endo-parasitoids like Uzi Fly, Blepharipa zebina Walker and Ichneumon fly (Yellow Fly), Xathopimpla pedator, Fabricius and Predators such as Stink bug (Eocanthecona furcellata Wolf), Reduviid bug (Sycanus collaris Fabricius) and Wasp (Vespa orientalis Linnaeus) was recorded Weekly. The meteorological data was collected daily. Data was collected from 4 different agro-climatic zones of tasar growing areas. Analysis of the data revealed a significant negative correlation between abiotic factors and incidence of ichneumon fly and uzi fly. Based on the 3 years data on prevalence of pests region-wise pest calendars and prediction models were developed.

GALILEO and GPS Performances in the Maritime Environment

The last checklist of the water mites of the Balkan countries published in 2010 by Pešić et al. is updated to November 2017. This supplement includes new records of water mite species from the Balkan countries (Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece) published after 2010, as well as unpublished records based on material collected from Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and Greece. Numerous new records for the national faunas, including one species new for the Mediterranean region (Arrenurus stjordalensis Thor, 1899), are reported and one species new to science (Trichothyas jadrankae Pešić sp. nov.) is described. With these additions, a total number of 390 water mite species and subspecies from 34 families and 77 genera is now recorded from the Balkan peninsula (including the Greek Islands).

Tzanoudakis, D., Panitsa, M., Trigas, P. & Iatrou, G.: Floristic and phytosociological investigation of the island Antikythera and nearby islets (SW Aegean area, Greece). — Willdenowia 36 (Special Issue): 285–301. — ISSN 0511-9618; © 2006 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. doi:10.3372/wi.36.36123 (available via http//dx.doi.org/)Resulting from field work in all seasons 120 taxa are newly recorded for the island of Antikythera, among them 13 local or Aegean endemics. The total number of native plant taxa on the island is raised to 336. From the nearby islets Thimonies and Prassou, thus far unexplored botanically, 8 and 98 taxa, respectively, are recorded. Chorological and biological spectra of the total flora of the islands are given and discussed. A description of the vegetation of the area is added, including a vegetation map. The need for intensive exploration of the Greek island flora during all seasons is emphasized.

Europe is experiencing levels of forced migration not seen since the Second World War. Its sources lie in the fragile, strife-torn states of the Middle East and Africa: four million...