Moshe Inbar

Wings are a crucial evolutionary trait of insects and constitute an important part of their sensory system. Phloem-feeding aphids specialising in particular host plant species require an efficient sensory system and locomotive abilities to find an appropriate plant to complete the life cycle. Wings (in winged morphs) play a crucial role in this dispersal, but the sensory part of their structure is neglected. Here, we review campaniform sensilla, responsible for sensing the mechanical deformations of wings, in the aphid subfamily Eriosomatinae, where many species are host-alternating, which requires distant flights. Based on light and scanning electron microscopy, we illustrate sensilla and their arrangement on wings in 10 species. We also provide a broader sensory background by correlating their number with other important olfactory and campaniform sensilla of the antennae and legs. We find a strong relation of forewing sensilla with olfactory receptors on antennae, but their number is specific for particular morphs, depending on the required flight effort, led by the abundance of the host plant. Morphs migrating to less abundant host have 1.15 to 1.77 more campaniform sensilla per 1 mm of forewing length than morphs migrating to more abundant host. Aphids reveal a relatively high number of sensilla on the distal part of the forewings, showing their importance for effective sensing the deformation of wing.

The diet of ungulates is often characterized by low protein levels and the presence of indigestible and defensive compounds. It also often lacks micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) essential for growth, health and reproduction. Ungulates select rich plant organs to compensate for nutrient shortages and may consume soil, faeces and even bones. It is common for ungulates to incidentally ingest plant-dwelling insects (PDI) while feeding. It is well known that insects contain protein and essential nutrients that can feed livestock, potentially replacing conventional feed. Based on this, we propose the ‘nutritional benefit of incidental ingestion’ hypothesis, suggesting that ungulates may nutritionally benefit from ingesting PDI while foraging. Based on evidence from the literature on PDI ingestion by ungulates and on the nutritional properties of different insects, we discuss how and whether the ingestion of PDI while foraging might improve the nutrient balance of ungulates and recommend a set of controlled experiments to test it. We provide a new and unfamiliar dimension of nutritional ecology, which is relevant to various grazing ecosystems. We propose to modify “trivial” food web structures, as direct trophic interactions between ungulates and PDI may hold greater significance for ungulate performance and behaviour.

Pistacia palaestina hosts several Fordini gall-forming aphid species, which manipulate its anatomy and metabolism, creating galls that provide nutrients and protection. This study compared the extended metabolic profiles of P. palaestina leaves and galls induced by Baizongia pistaciae, Paracletus cimiciformis, and Geoica spp. GC–MS analysis of ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanol (MeOH) extracts revealed a high abundance of shikimic acid and quinic acid isomers, along with diverse hydrocarbons, lipids, terpenoids, phenolics, and carbohydrates, each showing distinct distributions across gall types. Paracletus cimiciformis galls closely resembled intact leaves, exhibiting limited metabolic disruption. In contrast, the larger, more complex galls of Baizongia and Geoica underwent profound metabolic modifications. These aphids manipulate host metabolism, leading to triterpenoid and phenolics accumulation, which likely fortifies gall structure and enhances chemical defense. The considerable variation among individual trees suggests that specific host plant templates significantly influence the metabolic profile of the galls.

Large mammalian herbivores (LMH) are important functional components and drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in grasslands. Yet their role in regulating food-web dynamics and trophic cascades remains poorly understood. In the temperate grasslands of northern China, we explored whether and how grazing domestic cattle ( Bos taurus ) alter the predator–prey interactions between a dominant grasshopper ( Euchorthippus unicolor ) and its avian predator the barn swallow ( Hirundo rustica ). Using two large manipulative field experiments, we found that in the presence of cattle, grasshoppers increased their jumping frequency threefold, swallows increased foraging visits to these fields sixfold, and grasshopper density was reduced by about 50%. By manipulatively controlling the grasshoppers’ ability to jump, we showed that jumping enables grasshoppers to avoid being incidentally consumed or trampled by cattle. However, jumping behaviour increased their consumption rates by swallows 37-fold compared with grasshoppers that were unable to jump. Our findings illustrate how LMH can indirectly alter predator–prey interactions by affecting behaviour of avian predators and herbivorous insects. These non-plant-mediated effects of LMH may influence trophic interactions in other grazing ecosystems and shape community structure and dynamics. We highlight that convoluted multispecies interactions may better explain how LMH control food-web dynamics in grasslands.

The pistachio tree (Pistacia vera) is globally renowned for its nutritious nuts, while its leaves remain an underutilized source of chemicals with significant potential value as food preservatives. Similar value may be found in the leaves of other wild Pistacia species common in Central Asia, the Levant, and around the Mediterranean. Some species’ leaves have been used as natural preservatives, demonstrating their effectiveness and highlighting their rich bioactive components. This review investigates the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of Pistacia leaves, comparing both cultivated and wild species. A comprehensive search was performed across several scientific databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, utilizing a combination of keywords related to Pistacia species and their bioactive compounds. The inclusion criteria focused on articles published in English from 2017 till the end of June 2024, analyzing the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Pistacia leaves and employing relevant extraction methods. A total of 71 literature sources were included, covering species such as P. vera, P. atlantica, P. terebinthus, and others sourced from countries such as Iran, Turkey, and Italy. This review found that Pistacia leaves are rich in polyphenolic compounds and exhibit robust antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, with certain wild species outperforming P. vera, suggesting species-specific traits that enhance their preservative potential. The major findings indicate that extracts from wild species exhibit superior bioactivity, which could be harnessed for food preservation. These insights underscore the promising role of Pistacia leaves as natural food preservatives, with further research needed to address challenges in extraction and application. Exploring their synergistic effects with other preservatives could lead to innovative solutions in food preservation while fostering local economic growth.

Pathogens are ubiquitous in ecosystems and play a key role in affecting host community structure. In grasslands, large grazing animals such as cattle and sheep have been shown to affect foliar fungal pathogens. However, theory and empirical studies have come to conflicting conclusions because grazers can directly and indirectly impact pathogens through a wide variety of mechanisms and various grazers may impact pathogens in different ways. A better understanding of the mechanisms by which grazers impact pathogens is important for a fundamental understanding of herbivore pathogen interactions and also to optimise grazing managements to reduce pathogen outbreaks. Here, we investigate multiple mechanisms by which livestock grazing impacts foliar fungal pathogens in grasslands. We integrate a large‐scale grazing experiment, with a removal experiment manipulating plant density and litter biomass, to identify direct and indirect effects of two herbivores on pathogens with different life histories (biotrophs and necrotrophs), in a temperate grassland in northeast China. We found that grazing by cattle and sheep had contrasting impacts: cattle grazing significantly reduced pathogen load, of both biotrophs and necrotrophs, whereas sheep grazing increased biotrophic pathogen load, but did not affect the necrotrophs. The grazing effects were mostly indirect and mediated by different impacts of the herbivores on plant community structure. Cattle grazing reduced pathogen load because it reduced the abundance of susceptible, fast‐growing plants, and the overall density of plants, while sheep grazing increased pathogen infection because it reduced the abundance of resistant plant species. Plant diversity also reduced pathogen infection but these effects were independent of the herbivores. Our results show that different herbivores can have contrasting impacts on pathogen infection through contrasting impacts on host community competence. This suggests the importance of considering multiple mechanisms simultaneously to evaluate the impact of herbivores on host‐pathogen interactions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Avoiding attacks is clearly better than suffering, or even overcoming attacks. Here we discuss the signalling ways by which galls (i.e., gall-inducers) may defend themselves from damage by avoiding attacks. Many colourful galls that are simultaneously chemically and/or physically defended, and/or omit repelling odours fulfilling the general criteria to be tentatively considered as aposematic. It has been shown experimentally that chemically defended galls also emit volatiles that repel relevant herbivores. Thus, both visual and olfactory gall traits may serve as adaptive signals that have been usually overlooked. It is also highly probable that the conspicuous colours (red, yellow) of many galls may also serve physiological functions, such as defence from reactive-oxygen production, from UV, and from excess visible light, or serve other, unknown functions. The certain role of camouflage (especially by being green), in defence from enemies, thus potentially increasing a gall-inducers’ fitness, was not given the attention it deserves. Detailed comparative and especially experimental studies on the adaptive role of gall shape, colouration and odours can further shed light on these phenomena.