Palaearctic species of the genus Gymnophora are reviewed. Four new species, G. amurensis sp. n., G. gornostaevi sp. n., G. perpropinqua sp. n., and G. victoria sp. n., are described from the European Russia, Middle Asia, and Russian Far East. Females of two other species from the Far East are described under code letters. G. laciniata Michailovskaya, 1997 is synonymised under G. prescherweberae Disney, 1997. Lectotypes of G. arcuata (Meigen, 1839) and G. verrucata (Schmitz, 1929) are designated. The latter species is redescribed. Palaearctic females of G. nigripennis demonstrate wide variation of taxonomically important features and may, in fact, represent a group of closely related species. One female of G. nigripennis, which has been caught alive, is recorded to be infected with fungi.
Adults of some coccinellid species overwinter in aggregations consisting of many individuals. They may clump because adults are attracted to particular environmental stimuli and/or of an innate tendency to join conspecific individuals. Aggregation behaviour was studied in Coccinella septempunctata L., which forms small clumps, and Ceratomegilla undecimnotata (Schneider) and Hippodamia variegata (Goeze), which form large clumps. Adults were recorded at five hilltop hibernacula (400-1500 m altitude) in central Europe (50-51°N, 14-16°E) for periods up to 27 years. The hibernacula occur in areas sparsely covered with isolated grass tussocks or completely with stones. Numbers of adults recorded under each of 300-900 stones or among the stems of the grass tussocks were counted every year at each hibernaculum. The degree of aggregation was determined using Taylor's power law. The coccinellid distributions became more aggregated and the size of the aggregations increased as their abundance increased, less in C. septempunctata than in the other two species. Aggregations formed even in the absence of prominent structures, which may attract immigrants, and even when unoccupied stones or tussocks suitable for overwintering were available. Aggregations may be established and their size limited by the strength of the intrinsic preference to join conspecifics. The supposed advantage of aggregated overwintering must be greater than the risk associated with the easy spread of diseases.
The relationship between species richness of plants and animals and altitude can be either hump-shaped, a monotonic decrease or increase. In this study the altitudinal distribution of moths on one of the highest mountains in South Korea was investigated. Moths were captured using a UV-light trap from May to October in 2007 and 2008. This revealed that the relationship between the total numbers of moth species and individuals and altitude is hump-shaped. A significant relationship was also recorded between the size of the area at each altitude and moth abundance and richness. However, the evenness index yielded a consistent decrease with increase in altitude because of the dominance of few species at high altitudes. Non-metric multidimensional scaling identified two major axes for the moth assemblage on Mount Jirisan. The correlations between the axes and variables demonstrated that the first axis was strongly correlated with altitude and aspect and the second axis with forest and site location.
Jurské rohovce z oblasti dnešního Bavorska představují nezanedbatelný fenomén, který na rozdíl od mnoha jiných proniká do kulturního prostředí pravěkých Čech ze západu. Ačkoli jsou tyto suroviny využívány v českém prostředí nepřetržitě přinejmenším od mladého paleolitu po starší eneolit, je možné pozorovat různé trendy jak v množství jejich přísunu, tak v preferenci jednotlivých variet. Předkládaná stať přináší přehled dosavadního stavu pramenné základny, a především na jejím základě formuluje své závěry. and The Jurassic cherts from the area of today’s Bavaria represent a significant phenomenon which, unlike other phenomena, penetrates the Bohemian prehistoric cultural environment from the west. Although these raw materials have been used in the territory of Bohemia continuously at least from the Upper Paleolithic period to the Early Eneolithic, it is possible to observe different trends both in terms of supply amount, and in the preference for individual varieties. The presented paper offers an overview of the current state of source materials, and also forms conclusions on this basis.
The development of a B-biotype Bemisia tabaci Italian colony was studied on bean at 9 constant temperatures (15, 16, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35°C). The developmental time from egg-to-adult varied from 70 days at 16°C to 22 at 26°C and higher temperatures. A thermal requirement for egg-to-adult development of 307 day-degrees was calculated, based on a lower developmental threshold of 11.53°C. The survival of egg, nymph and adult whiteflies was investigated at 0, 2, 4, and 6°C on broad bean for periods of 1-8 days. The adult was the most cold-sensitive stage, while the egg and nymph showed a similar level of cold resistance. The effect of sub-lethal cold stress of 4-8 days at 4°C on eggs and nymphs was studied. After exposure to low temperatures, whiteflies needed longer developmental times, from 5 to 8 days more. The presence of B. tabaci under outdoor conditions in Italy was investigated with field surveys and correlated with climatic data; the whitefly species was found in open field conditions only south of the 41° parallel, in areas characterised by less than 5 frost days per winter and by annual mean temperatures >16°C.
The common shrew is a major evolutionary model for understanding the factors that lead to chromosomal subdivision; it is one of the most chromosomally variable species. We karyotyped 106 common shrews (Sorex araneus) from 24 localities in north-eastern European Russia which we showed to belong to five chromosomal races: Kirillov, Manturovo, Petchora, Serov and Sok. These new data were combined with published results on 146 individuals from 55 localities (with three additional races: Kanin, Yagry and Yuryuzan) to provide a substantive analysis of chromosomal variation in this region. The ranges of the eight races were mapped, the areas of contacts between neighbouring races were determined and new interracial hybrid zones were localised. In total, F
1 hybrid karyotypes were found in 22 individuals from 11 localities; including our demonstration of Manturovo-Petchora, Manturovo-Sok, Petchora-Serov, Petchora-Sok and Serov-Sok F 1 hybrid karyotypes for the first time. These hybrids would be expected to produce ring-of-four, ring-of-six or ring-
of-eight meiotic configurations. The distribution of the races could not readily be related to environmental or geographic features, and in particular major rivers did not appear important in separation of races. This represents one of the most detailed studies of chromosomal variation in the common shrews at a regional geographic scale and is of especial significance because north-eastern European Russia has been little affected by human activity, and therefore the results are likely to represent fully natural processes.
The hypothalamic supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei consist of oxytocin and arginine vasopressin synthesizing neurons that send projections to the neurohypophysis. A growing body of evidence in adult animals and young animals at near term confirmed the structure and function in the vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic network. However, whether those distinctive neural networks are formed before near term is largely unknown. This study determined the special patterns in location and distribution of oxytocin- and vasopressin-neurons in the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei from preterm to term in the ovine fetuses. The results showed that oxytocin- and vasopressin-neurons were present in both nuclei at the three gestational time periods (preterm, near term, and term). In the paraventricular nuclei, vasopressin-cells concentrated mainly in the core of the middle magnocellular paraventricular nuclei, and oxytocin-cells were scattered surrounding the core. In the supraoptic nuclei, vasopressin-cells mostly located in the ventral part, and oxytocincells in the dorsal part. The data demonstrated that the special distributed patterns of vasopressin- and oxytocin-neuron network have formed in those two nuclei at least from preterm. Intracerebroventricular injection of angiotensin II significantly increased fetal plasma oxytocin and vasopressin levels at preterm, which was associated with an increase of oxytocin- and vasopressin-neuron activity marked with c-fos expression. The data provided new evidence for the structural and functional development of the oxytocin- and vasopressin-network before birth., L. Shi, Y. Fan, Z. Xu., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
The abundance and distribution of coccinellids in non-crop habitats was studied using removal sampling and visual observation. Coccinellids were most frequently found on grassland habitats. Coccinellid abundance appeared to be most strongly correlated with the percentage ground cover of thistle, grasses and nettles. The most commonly collected coccinellids were Coccinella septempunctata and Adalia bipunctata comprising 60% and 35% of the catches respectively. Most coccinellids were found on Rubus spp. with nettles (Urtica dioica) and grasses being the next most favoured plant species. Adalia bipunctata was the most commonly found coccinellid species on nettles and birch (Betula spp.) whereas C. septempunctata was the most commonly found species on grasses, Rubus spp. and oak (Quercus spp.). These results are discussed in light of current thinking on the importance of "island" habitats as pali of an integrated pest management programme.
Wolbachia is a widely distributed intracellular symbiont in the reproductive tissues of arthropods. The wheat aphid Sitobion miscanthi (Takahashi) is an important agricultural pest worldwide. Wolbachia was detected in different populations of S. miscanthi in China using 16s rDNA and wsp-specific primers. Of eighteen populations eleven were infected with Wolbachia. Several strains of Wolbachia infected these S. miscanthi populations. Of the eleven infected populations, four were infected with only one Wolbachia strain and seven with double infections. This is the most systematic survey of the distribution of Wolbachia in the wheat aphid.
In central Japan Ganaspis xanthopoda and Asobara japonica commonly parasitize the larvae of frugivorous drosophilids, mainly in montane forests, and urban environments and small groves, respectively. These two parasitoids start reproduction about one month later than their host drosophilids, probably to avoid searching for hosts when host density is low in early spring. It is likely that the local variation in the abundance of these parasitoids and a temporal refuge for their hosts contribute to the persistence of this parasitoid-host community. The forest species, G. xanthopoda, parasitized at least three Drosophila species that are abundant in forests, supporting the hypothesis that parasitoids are better adapted to attack frequently-encountered host species. This parasitoid did not parasitize drosophilid species that are phylogenetically distantly-related to the three host species or less frequent in forests. Benefits of using such species as host would not exceed the costs of evolving virulence to them. Another parasitoid, A. japonica, parasitized various indigenous and exotic drosophilid species including those that it rarely encountered in the field. It is not clear why this species has such a wide host range.