The last part of the series on cervid taxonomy involves the subfamily Capreolinae. This subfamily could be divided into two clades: an Old World clade including Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus, C. pygargus), Chinese Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis) and Moose (Alces alces) and a New World clade including Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), Mule Deer (the genus Odocoileus) and deer of Mesoamerica and South America (Ozotoceros bezoarticus, Blastocerus dichotomus and species of the genera Hippocamelus, Pudu and Mazama). Most of the species belonging to Capreolinae are evolutionary young. The evolutionary relationships among extant South American deer remain unclear. Cervids are the most successful ungulate family that has ever colonized South America. and Jan Pluháček.
The honey bee is usually thought of as a key pollinator in cultural landscapes. Our results evidence that although it may be the most abundant, its importance is lower compared to hoverflies and bumblebees both in terms of the pollinated plant species number and the spectrum of vegetation types covered. The broad spectrum of hoverfly diets suggests the cause of their high importance as pollinators. and Zdeněk Janovský.
Herbivorous insects are often highly specialised, likely due to trade-offs in fitness on alternative host species. However, some pest insects are extremely adaptable and readily adopt novel hosts, sometimes causing rapid expansion of their host range as they spread from their original host and geographic origin. The genetic basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood, limiting our ability to predict or mitigate global insect pest outbreaks. We investigated the trajectory of early adaptation to novel hosts in a regionally-specialised global crop pest species (the cowpea seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus). After experimentally-enforced dietary specialisation for nearly 300 generations, we measured changes in fitness over the first 5 generations of adaptation to 6 novel hosts. Of these, C. maculatus reproduced successfully on all but one, with reduced fitness observed on three hosts in the first generation. Loss of fitness was followed by very rapid, decelerating increases in fitness over the first 1-5 generations, resulting in comparable levels of population fitness to that observed on the original host after 5 generations. Heritability of fitness on novel hosts was high. Adaptation occurred primarily via changes in behavioural and phenological traits, and never via changes in offspring survival to adulthood, despite high heritability for this trait. These results suggest that C. maculatus possesses ample additive genetic variation for very rapid host shifts, despite a prolonged period of enforced specialization, and also suggest that some previously-inferred environmental maternal effects on host use may in part actually represent (rapidly) evolved changes. We highlight the need to examine in more detail the genetic architecture facilitating retention of high additive genetic variation for host shifts in extremely adaptable global crop pests., Thomas N. Price, Aoife Leonard, Lesley T. Lancaster., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Many insects masquerade as parts of plants, such as bark or leaves, or mimic poisonous organisms in order to defend themselves against predators. However, recent studies indicate that plants may mimic insects and other arthropods to deter herbivores. Here, I report visually similar white structures of plants and arthropods in Japan and suggest they are part of a mimicry complex. Young shoots covered with white trichomes or waxy substances may mimic wax-producing insects, such as woolly aphids, coccids and caterpillars, potentially resulting in reduced herbivory. Since wax-producing insects would reduce plant quality and quantity, be distasteful and attract natural enemies, herbivorous insects and mammals may avoid such white shoots. Furthermore, fungus-infected insects, gregarious braconid cocoons, spider egg sacs and froth made by froghopper nymphs or blasticotomid sawfly larvae are also conspicuously white and impose risks for herbivorous insects. Thus, these white structures may be mimicry models for white shoots and are likely to be part of a defensive mimicry complex. Although this study focuses on defence against herbivores, there are simultaneous physiological roles for white colouration that will not be discussed in depth here., Kazuo Yamazaki., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This review article describes the phylogeny of sheep in genus Ovis. Individual species of sheep, their geographic distribu tion and nomenclature are presented in the light of the latest taxonomic revision. The current understanding of sheep domestication process is also described. Numerous gaps in our knowledge of this important and only seemingly well-known group of ruminants are mentioned. and Josef Suchomel.
The Yellow Sack Spider (Cheiracanthium punctorium) is a well-known species native to the Czech Republic. Several reports of its painful bite have gained much publicity. The species was considered to be very rare until the end of the 20th century. We provide information on the distribution, spread and ecology of this spider in the Czech Republic. Several cases of biting and its subsequent symptoms are described, and the toxicity of the spider is discussed. and Ondřej Košulič, Jan Korba, Jan Dolanský.