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For more than 100 years, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been one of the most studied model organisms. Here, we present a single-cell atlas of the adult fly, Tabula Drosophilae, that includes 580,000 nuclei from 15 individually dissected sexed tissues as well as the entire head and body, annotated to >250 distinct cell types. We provide an in-depth analysis of cell type-related gene signatures and transcription factor markers, as well as sexual dimorphism, across the whole animal. Analysis of common cell types between tissues, such as blood and muscle cells, reveals rare cell types and tissue-specific subtypes. This atlas provides a valuable resource for the Drosophila community and serves as a reference to study genetic perturbations and disease models at single-cell resolution.

A large number of herbivorous mammals and reptiles in many terrestrial ecosystems across the globe are presently in the receiving end of extinction. Over-exploitation by its immediate predator and anthropogenic actions is one of the main reasons. Reintroduction of apex predator or top predator at some instances has proven to be a successful strategy in restoring ecological balance. In this paper, we conceptualize the role of top predator in enriching the density of vulnerable species of lower trophic level, with the help of mathematical modeling. First, the dynamical behavior of two species system (prey and mesopredator) is studied, where growth of prey is subject to strong Allee effect. Also, the cost of predation induced fear is incorporated in the growth term. Parametric regions, for which the species perceive extinction risk are analyzed and depicted numerically. We consider that whenever density of the vulnerable species reach a certain threshold, minimum viable population, top predator is introduced in the habitat. Our obtained results show that a species population can be restored from the verge of extinction to a stable state with much higher population density with the introduction of top predator and even it stabilizes an oscillatory system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the chance of predation, many prey species adopt group defense mechanisms. While it is commonly believed that such defense mechanisms lead to positive feedback on prey density, a closer observation reveals that it may impact the growth rate of species. This is because individuals invest more time and effort in defense rather than reproductive activities. In this study, we delve into a predator–prey system where predator-induced fear influences the birth rate of prey, and the prey species exhibit group defense mechanism. We adopt a nonmonotonic functional response to govern the predator–prey interaction, which effectively captures the group defense mechanism. We present a detailed mathematical analysis, encompassing the determination of feasible equilibria and their stability conditions. Through the analytical approach, we demonstrate the occurrence of Hopf and Bogdanov–Takens (BT) bifurcations. We observe two distinct types of bistabilities in the system: one between interior and predator-free equilibria, and another between limit cycle and predator-free equilibrium. Our findings reveal that the parameters associated with group defense and predator-induced fear play significant roles in the survival and extinction of populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a nonlinear ratio-dependent prey–predator model with constant prey refuge in the prey population. Both Allee and fear phenomena are incorporated explicitly in the growth rate of the prey population. The qualitative behaviors of the proposed model are investigated around the equilibrium points in detail. Hopf bifurcation including its direction and stability for the model is also studied. We observe that fear of predation risk can have both stabilizing and destabilizing effects and induces bubbling phenomenon in the system. It is also observed that for a fixed strength of fear, an increase in the Allee parameter makes the system unstable, whereas an increase in prey refuge drives the system toward stability. However, higher values of both the Allee and prey refuge parameters have negative impacts and the populations go to extinction. Further, we explore the variation of densities of the populations in different bi-parameter spaces, where the coexistence equilibrium point remains stable. Numerical simulations are carried out to explore the dynamical behaviors of the system with the help of MATLAB software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed flower‐visitor assemblages, breeding system and pollination of Elaeocarpus floribundus Blume (Elaeocarpaceae) which is widely distributed throughout Asian countries. As soon as flowers opened, an array of flower visitors including members of Diptera, Hymenoptera and Thysanoptera visited flowers for their forage. The members of Diptera (82.6%) were the dominant visitors in comparison to Hymenoptera (10.4%) and Thysanoptera (7.0%). The flower visitor frequency, activity rate and index of visitation rate revealed that Chrysomya sp., Musca domestica and Eristalinus sp. of Diptera acted as potential pollinators. Self‐incompatibility index and reproductive efficacy were 0.53 and 0.35 respectively, indicating incomplete self‐compatibility. Hand pollination showed significantly higher fruit set in xenogamous pollination (36%) than open pollination (12.82%). A detailed understanding of such flower‐visitor interactions will be helpful in the conservation and sustenance of the species as well as biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]