When the guard honey bees, Apis mellifera L., form a clump at the hive entrance or on the flight board, the oriental hornet, Vespa orientails L., either creeps toward the clump or hovers over it in order to take a bee. Once the hornet creeps, only few bees facing the hornet become alert, rock their heads and antennae, open their wings, and take a posture of defense. The rest of the clump stays listless without any signal of concern. However, the clump stays dense and the defending bees do not detach themselves neither from the rest of the clump nor from each other. For this reason, it is very difficult for the hornet to grab a bee unless the latter makes a “mistake” by detaching herself from other adjacent bees. If the hornet grabs such a bee, the other defending bees will not attack the hornet to free that bee even when the latter is one centimeter from the others. The defending bees can capture the hornet only when the latter grabs one of them which stands very close to the others. The hornet seems very “aware” of such a situation; hence she seldom becomes a captive. On the other hand, hovering over the clump makes it easier for the hornet to grab a bee. The hovering puts all the clump, rather than part of it, on alert. If the hornet is persistent, which is not often the case, then the clump will no longer be dense. The bees will panicly disperse all over the flight board; hence the hornet can find a detached bee and grabs it easily. The hornet also waits on wing in front of the hive to capture an outgoing or incoming flying bee but the latter usually maneuver to escape. Also, foraging bees reduce their activity during main hours of hornet presence. Among the main factors reducing the hornet impact are the continuous chasing of hornets to each other and the non-persistent attempts of the hornets when they attack bee clumps.
The Capparis spinosa L. is a species has a great interest in the field of traditional medicine for its pharmacological properties with many bioactive compounds. Our study is aiming at the recovery of this species through a phytochemical analysis and an evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant activities of leaves of Capparis spinosa L. collected from natural habitats within the region of Al-Jadriya, Baghdad, Iraq. Phytochemical investigation demonstrated the presence of flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, tannins, and glycosides in the methanolic extract of leaves. The quantitative analysis of total phenolic contents is being performed by Folin-Ciocalteau method and expressed in terms of gallic acid equivalents. C. spinosa exhibited progress
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Pollen grains morphology have been studied for the wild species of the genus Erysimum L. which belong to Crucifereae family in Iraq. These species are E. filifolium Boiss. et Hausskn., E. oleifolium J. Gay, E. repandum L., E. eginense Hausskn. ex Bornm., E. aucheranum J. Gay, E. cheiranthoides L., E. alpestre Ky. ex Boiss., E. kurdicum Boiss. et Hausskn., E. tenellum DC., E. strophades Boiss., E. gladiiferum Boiss. et Hausskn., E. nasturtioides Boiss. et Hausskn. The study was performe by using light microscope . The study reveal that there was only one type of pollen grain named Tricoplate in all studied species . The study also demonstrated that there were differences among pollen grains morphology . The species E. kurdicum , E. alpestre
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Al-Chibayish Marsh (CM) is considered as the major part of Central Marshes area of this marsh is 1050 Km². The water quality of these marshes is suffering from salt accumulation due to intensive dam construction, limited supply of water from sources, climate change impacts, and the absence of outlet flow from these marshes, specifically at low flow periods. So, the current research aims to assess and improve these marshes' hydraulic behavior and water quality and define the best location for outlet drains. Field measurements and laboratory tests were conducted for two periods (November 2020 and February 2021) to define the (TDS) concentrations at nine different locations. Samples were also examined for water's phy
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Nutlets of 22 taxa of Stachys (13 species and seven subspecies and two varieties), representing seven of the currently recognized sections distributed in northern Iraq were examined by light microscope. The basic shape of nutlets in most taxa studied is Obovoid, but Oblong also found in S.megalodanta Hausskn.& Bornm. ex P.H.Davis, S.setirefa C.A.Mey. subsp daenensis (Gandog.) Rech.f.and S. kurdica Boiss.& Hohen. var.kurdica, while the Subgloboid shape found in S. iberica M.Bieb. and S. inflata Benth., more over the Broad triangular shape was found in S. nephrophylla Rech.f. and S.lanigera (Bornm.) Rech.f.., the biggest size of nutlets was found in S.inflata L. and the smallest was in S.melampyroides Hand.-Mzt. Regarding sculpturing pa
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Burdock ( Arctium lappa), is among the most popular plants in traditional medicine and it is associated with several biological effects. Literature survey revealed the presence of phenylpropanoid compounds .The most widespread are hydroxycinnamic acids ( mainly caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid) and lignans (mainly arctiin and arctigenin). This work will confirm the presence of these compounds in Arctium lappa, cultivated in Iraq, in both root and leaf samples. The dried plant samples were extracted by soxhlet with 80% methanol then separated the main constituents by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Identification of the isolated compounds wa
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Hedera helix L. plant belongs to the family Araliaceae that provide a host of bioactive compounds (mainly saponins) of important biological activities, like spasmolytic, secretolytic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities. Literature survey revealed that there was no previously study concerning H. helix L. which is cultivated in Iraq, so we decided to carry out this study which include extraction, isolation, purification and identification of biologically important triterpenoid saponin hederacoside C from leaves of H. helix L. Extraction of hederacoside C was carried out using two methods; in the first method maceration was done with methanol 99.8% and in the second method soxhlet extraction wit
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This study detects the presence of an important flavonoid "Casticin" in the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. grown in Iraq. The pharmaceutical importance of Casticin arise from its consideration as anti-tumor substance and have cytotoxic effects, and the absence of any study concerning Casticin content of this medicinal plant in Iraq, gave this study its importance. This study concerned with the extraction, identification, isolation and purification of Casticin from the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. The extraction of this compound was carried out using two methods. Identification of this compound was done by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) in which three different solvent system has been tried. This identif
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This research deals with study and analyze the industrial buyer behavior and identified its objectives by determine the nature of selection the members of the purchases committees and determine the role of the purchases committees to provide requirements of the educational and scientific process and knowledge Impact of the factors ( environmental , organizational , social , and individual ) and positions of the purchase in the behavior of the members of the purchases committees and starts the importance of research in it helps university administrations in the correct choice for the members of the purchases committees and gives a picture of professional conduct professional who is supposed to b
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Examination of 241 specimens of two bee-eater species, Merops apiaster and Merops
superciliosus persicus reveal recording of Haemoproteus meropis (Zagar, 1945) emend.
Bennett, 1978 and H. manwelli Bennett, 1978 for the first time in Iraq. A new species
Haemoproteus hudaidensis sp. nov. is described. Microfilariae are also infected the two host
species. The results are discussed with the pertinent literature and the necessary comparision
of morphometric measurements of the recorded parasites with that previously reported is
provided along with a taxonomic key including the newly described haemoproteid.
Several specimens of the avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta L. are found infected with
Himantocestus gigantivcus sp. nov. ( Cestoda , Diploposthidae) . This cestode is related to H.
blanksoni Ukoli 1965 but easily differentiated from it in having longer and wider strobila,
larger size of testes but lesser in number, cirrus situated in the middle of mature segment
histead of anterior third and slightly posterior to the middle in gravid segment instead of the
middle , ovary and vitelline gland are larger , and the uterus has more branches.