Cet article propose une approche de suivi des papillons avec une caméra hyperspectrale de type linescan grâce aux filtres de Kalman intégrant mouvement, orientation de vol et déformations dues au battement des ailes. Contrairement aux approches basées sur le filtre de Kalman qui ne prennent pas en compte la dynamique de déformation, notre approche améliore la prédiction de la position et des mesures de la boîte englobante orientée. Les tests sur des séquences d’images spatio-spectrales montrent que le filtre de Kalman Étendu, tenant compte de la dynamique des déformations non linéaires du papillon, améliore la précision du suivi.

Cushion plants, which dominate nival ecosystems, are known to host a large diversity of plant, microbe, and animal life. However, a comprehensive assessment of this diversity is still lacking, particularly with regard to invertebrate soil fauna. In this study, we sampled soil beneath cushion plants in various climatic and geological conditions throughout the French Alps. Our results demonstrate that cushion plants host a remarkably high abundance and diversity of invertebrates, with some individual cushions hosting nearly 400 specimens belonging to 15 different families. Across all samples, 8845 specimens were found. The taxonomic diversity is particularly notable, with groups such as Collembola, Acari, and Nematoda, as well as Gastropoda, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Hemiptera. In total, 44 different families were identified. In particular, our findings show that cushion plants not only function as habitats for adult invertebrates, but also as site for the egg laying and larval development of several insect groups, including Diptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera. In addition, different species of cushion plant tend to host distinct invertebrate communities, which makes them a key driver spatial variation in invertebrate populations. However, the factors determining the alpha diversity of invertebrates assemblages in nival environments remain unclear. Overall, our results emphasize the key role of cushion plants in maintaining biodiversity in the nival vegetation belt.

Parmi tous les animaux, l'insecte représente sans doute l'altérité la plus radicale. Il s'oppose en cela à l'ours que sa taille à peu près équivalente à celle d'un être humain et le fait qu'il se dresse sur ses pattes arrière désignent au contraire comme son plus proche parent animal. L'insecte est non seulement extrêmement petit, doté d'un corps articulé incomparable mais sa motricité le rend aussi extraordinaire : il sait voler et sa marche hexapode lui permet même de grimper, ce qui lui vaut l'intérêt actuel de la robotique. L'insecte évolue donc au seuil du monde humain, dans ses encadrements, tout en haut et tout en bas. Pour cette raison, il ne peut être considéré au singulier ni logé dans une catégorie homogène, mais doit être renvoyé à l'une ou l'autre extrémité de l'espace dont il symbolise les pôles positif et négatif. La signification des insectes s'élabore de ce fait à l'intérieur d'un système semi-symbolique où l'opposition spatiale restitue une axiologie fondamentale : de la même façon que nous situons le paradis en haut et l'enfer en bas, les insectes ailés sont associés au « bien » et ceux qui marchent et grimpent au « mal ». Le langage pictural récuse néanmoins cette polarité imaginaire car les insectes renvoyés aux marges de notre monde partagent le nôtre et entrent en interaction avec nous. Au lieu de saisir le papillon dans les airs ou de représenter l'insecte qui se déplace au plus près du sol, la peinture restitue la continuité de la perception quotidienne et les représente tous deux alors que leur monde entre en interaction avec le nôtre, non pas à leur hauteur mais à la nôtre, en quelque sorte à mi-hauteur. Elle approche ainsi l'insecte de l'observateur, guette l'intersection ordinaire des deux mondes, ce qui distingue l'image artistique de ses autres statuts, en particulier de l'image scientifique qui, grâce à des instruments, peut rejoindre l'insecte là où il se trouve, même sous terre.

<div>Un nouveau ravageur venu d'Asie<p>La pyrale du buis, ou Cydalima perspectalis, est un lépidoptère asiatique de la famille des Crambidae qui s'attaque aux espèces du genre Buxus. </p></div>

We present the first nuclear genome assembly and a complete mitogenome for Hylesia metabus (Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Saturniidae). The assembled nuclear genome sequence is 1,271 Mb long, which is among the 10 largest lepidopteran genome assemblies published to date. It is scaffolded in 31 pseudo chromosomes, has a BUSCO score of 99.5%, and has a highly conserved synteny compared to phylogenetically close species. Repetitive elements make up 67% of the nuclear genome and are mainly located in intergenic regions, among which LINEs were predominant, with CR1-Zenon being the most abundant. Phylogenetic and comparative analyses of H. metabus assembly and 17 additional Saturniidae and Sphingidae assemblies suggested that an accumulation of repetitive elements likely led to the increased size of H. metabus’ genome. Gene annotation using Helixer identified 26,122 transcripts. The Z scaffold was identified using both a synteny analysis and variations of coverage for two resequenced male and female H. metabus . The H. metabus nuclear genome and mitogenome assemblies can be found and browsed on the BIPAA website and constitute useful resources for future population and comparative genomics studies.

In this study, we reassess the phylogenetic relationships of the genus Sesamia Guenée, 1852 and examine in more detail the members of the nonagrioides species group, for which three distinct species complexes are identified. The calamistis subgroup comprises eight species, of which four new species are described: Sesamia kabirara Le Ru sp. nov., Sesamia kalale Le Ru sp. nov., Sesamia mapalense Le Ru sp. nov. and Sesamia teke Le Ru sp. nov. The incerta subgroup consists of 11 species, of which four new species are described: Sesamia kamba Le Ru sp. nov., Sesamia lalaci Le Ru sp. nov., Sesamia lusese Le Ru sp. nov. and Sesamia msowero Le Ru sp. nov. The nonagrioides subgroup comprises ten species of which two new species are described: Sesamia libode Le Ru sp. nov. and Sesamia satauensis Le Ru sp. nov. Phylogenetic and molecular species delimitation analyses of a multi-marker molecular dataset allow us to investigate and clarify the status of Sesamia species and species complexes. Our results yield a well-supported phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus, which supports the monophyletic nature of all but one species subgroup. The results of 16 distinct molecular species delimitation analyses show some levels of incongruence and, overall, a tendency towards over-splitting. We also present an updated list of species for the genus Sesamia and provide morphological keys based on male and female genitalia to determine the species group of any Sesamia species and to identify all species belonging to the nonagrioides species group.

The pine processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa is a defoliating lepidopter that develops during winter. The larvae are gregarious and bear urticating setae that are harmful to humans and vertebrates. They shelter in conspicuous silk tents that are easy to detect. We here present a dataset comprising tree characterization and tent counts from 3 agglomerations in France located in regions with different climatic environments. The studied trees belong to various conifer species that are potential hosts for the caterpillars. In each site, we defined clusters as one target tree and its 10–62 nearest neighbors, and surveyed each tree within the clusters by informing: tree species, coordinates, size, number of tents. We characterized a total of 3690 trees, including 2009 trees in Orléans (grouped in 68 clusters), 359 trees in La Baule (18 clusters) and 1322 trees in Montpellier (52 clusters). We provide the raw data characterizing each individual tree, graphs showing the prevalence and mean number of tents for the tree species included in the survey, and maps allowing to locate each tree. This dataset brings information about host preference of the pine processionary moth and will be useful as a baseline to study spatio-temporal variability of host-insect relationships. It can also be informative for decision-makers and managers of urban greenings to avoid trees that are likely to be heavily infested for plantation in proximity to vulnerable people.

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We study the Large Magellanic Cloud Papillon Nebula (N 159-5), a conspicuous High Excitation Blob (HEB) lying in the star forming complex N 159. Using JHK near-infrared photometry obtained at the ESO VLT with the ISAAC camera, we examine the stellar populations associated with the Papillon, tracing their history using stellar evolution models. Two populations are revealed: one composed of young, massive stars with an age &tilde; 3 Myr, and a second consisting of older lower mass stars of age spreading between 1 and 10 Gyr. We analyze the properties of those populations and discuss their significance in the context of N 159. We also estimate that if the star at the center of the Papillon is single its initial mass is &tilde; 50 M<SUB>&sun;</SUB> and it is affected by an extinction A<SUB>V</SUB> &tilde; 7 mag.