Effects of methanol extracts of Xanthium strumarium on different cancer cell lines and on
the mortality rates of Aedes caspius, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) were investigated. Among
the cell lines tested, the Jurkat cell line was the most sensitive to the methanol extract and ethyl acetate
fraction, with reported LC50 values of 50.18 and 48.73 lg/ml respectively. Conversely, methanol
extracts were not that toxic to the A549 cell line though the toxicity increased on further purification.

This study describes for the first time the necrophagous Diptera attracted to rabbit carcasses in three distinct
habitats in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A mean number of 1,427 flies belonging to 8 families and
16 species were collected during the decomposition process of the rabbits at the three different sites. Carcasses
in the agricultural habitat attracted 1,146 flies from 7 families and 14 species, compared to carcasses in the
urban site, which attracted 249 flies from 5 families and 9 species. Carcasses in the desert site attracted the lowest

Invasive species are capable of causing considerable damage to natural ecosystems,
agriculture and economies throughout the World. Samsum ant, Brachyponera (Pachycondyla)
sennaarensis has been a reason for medical implication and social nuisance through its poisonous
and severely painful sting causing anaphylactic shock in many cases. We surveyed for the presence
of the samsum ant in various provinces of Saudi Arabia. B. sennaarensis was the abundant
Ponerinae species in human settlements. In the Eastern provinces, however, few samples were collected,