Publications by authors named "Urszula Walczak"
High herbivore abundances on trees surrounded by distantly related neighbors (phylogenetic isolation) might in part be due to local adaptation of herbivores to host trees, but this has not been tested. We studied if free-feeding and semi-concealed (shelter-building) Lepidoptera can be adapted to leaf traits of individual trees, and if this is affected by phylogenetic isolation. We performed a reciprocal transplant experiment on free-feeding and semi-concealed lepidopteran caterpillars collected from oak trees () in a mixed forest in Poland.
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- The defensive strategies of plants against herbivorous insects depend on environmental costs and benefits, influencing whether defenses are constitutive (always present) or inducible (produced in response to attack).
- An experiment involving oak saplings in different tree-dominated neighborhoods revealed that oaks emit volatile compounds within 24 hours of herbivore treatment, while their leaf phenolics and carbon to nitrogen ratios showed little change over 16 days.
- The study suggests oaks primarily use phenolic compounds as a constant defense mechanism and volatiles to attract natural predators when under attack, with potential influence from neighboring tree species possibly affecting leaf chemistry through shading effects.
Article Synopsis
- The study explores how various factors, including tree genetics and neighbor species, affect caterpillar communities on oak trees, finding that recent leaf development and tree growth influences herbivore diversity and parasitism rates.
- It highlights that the genetic makeup of oak trees plays a role in hosting certain herbivores, particularly leaf-mining casebearers, while the evolutionary relationships among trees can impact overall herbivore abundance.
- Ultimately, the research suggests that the composition of insect communities on trees is primarily shaped by interactions involving tree traits and parasitism rather than the movement of insects among different tree species.
Recently in Poland, cases of host expansion have frequently been observed in the typically monophagous bird-cherry ermine moth (), which has moved from its native host plant, bird cherry (), to a new, widely distributed plant that is invasive in Europe, black cherry ( ) We attempted to verify the reasons behind this host change in the context of the enemy-free space hypothesis by focusing on parasitoids attacking larval on one of three host plant variants: The primary host, ; initially and later (/); or the new host, . This experiment investigated if changing the host plant could be beneficial to in terms of escaping from harmful parasitoids and improving survival rate We identified nine species of parasitoids that attack larval , and we found that the number of parasitoid species showed a downward trend from the primary host plant to the / combination to the new host plant alone. We observed a significant difference among variants in relation to the percentage of cocoons killed by specific parasitoids, but no effects of non-specific parasitoids or other factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: PALG CLL4 is the first, randomized, phase IIIb study with rituximab, cladribine, and cyclophosphamide (RCC) induction and subsequent maintenance with rituximab in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients.
Methods: The induction treatment consisted of 6 RCC cycles regimen. Patients with complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) after an induction phase were randomized into a maintenance arm with rituximab or an observational arm.
A new combination, Rhigognostis erysiphaea (Meyrick, 1938) is proposed. The species is re-described with a photo of the type specimen. The male and female genitalia are described and illustrated for the first time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEidophasia tauricella Staudinger, 1880 is redescribed with a photo of the type specimen. The female genitalia are described for the first time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFYpsolopha lonicerella Stöckl, 1922 is shown to be a junior synonym of Y. leuconotella Snellen, 1884.
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