Relative role of deterministic and stochastic determinants of soil animal community: a spatially explicit analysis of oribatid mites.

1. Ecologists are debating the relative role of deterministic and stochastic determinants of community structure. Although the high diversity and strong spatial structure of soil animal assemblages could provide ecologists with an ideal ecological scenario, surprisingly little information is available on these assemblages.

Parasitic infection protects wasp larvae against a bacterial challenge.

Host antibacterial defense after Strepsiptera parasitization is a complex and rather unexplored topic. The way how these parasites interact with bacteria invading into the host insect during an infection is completely unknown. In the present study we demonstrate that larvae of the paper wasp Polistes dominulus are more efficient at eliminating bacteria when they are parasitized by the strepsipteran insect Xenos vesparum.