Agra, arboreal beetles of Neotropical forests: mixta group, virgata group, and ohausi group systematics (Carabidae)

Abstract. This paper is the fifth in a series designed to cover taxono-mically all species-groups of the lebiine genus Agra , whose cumulative ranges extend from southernmost Texas to northernmost Argentina. The mixta, virgata, feisthameli and ohausi groups constitute Section Feisthameli of the genus, and a key to these groups is provided. The mixta group consists of two species which have a composite range extending from southeastern Brazil to middle Mexico; the virgata group consists of nine species which have a composite range extending from southeastern Brazil to Guatemala; and the ohausi group consists of four species which have a composite range restricted to southeastern Brazil. The speciose feisthameli group is covered in a separate paper.
Among the three groups in the present paper, eleven new species are described from the following type localities: perkinsorum (MEXICO, Nayarit, 17.6 km southwest of Compostela), vate (MEXICO, Veracruz, Los Tuxtlas, La Playa Escondida), nola (REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, Panama, Cerro Campana), cadabra (EQUADOR, Pichincha, 47 km south of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Rio Palenque Station), chocha (WEST INDIES, Trinidad, Arima Valley), phainops (FRENCH GUIANA, Pariacabo), imaginis (BRAZIL, Goias, Jatahy), inca (PERU, Madre de Dios, Rio Tambopata Reserve, 30 km (air) southwest of Puerto Maldonado), itatiaya (BRAZIL, Rio de Janeiro, Parque Nacional Itatiaya), calamitas (BRAZIL, Bahia, Itamaraju), anthrax (BRAZIL, Espirito Santo, Parque Socretama). A dot map illustrates the range of each taxon.
Distribution and relationships are discussed in general, but detailed cladistic and biogeographic analysis is deferred until taxonomy of the four groups of Section Feisthameli is completed. Species distribution correspond to Pleistocene refuges suggested by other authors based on other groups and classes of organisms.     

Mirrors,monkeys, and group dynamics

When presented with his/her own reflection in a mirror (within an environment that is natural for that particular group of primates) the position that animal holds within the group affects his/her interpretation of that image. Each individual perceives the animal in the mirror to be another animal of equal circumstances as him/herself. An alpha animal sees a potential alpha animal attempting to take over the troop. A beta or lesser animal sees another non-alpha animal attempting to enter the troop through affiliation. In this study a group of zoo raised Japanese macaques were challenged with their own reflection in a mirror. Incidents of aggressive behavior rose in the alpha animals while all affiliative behavior ceased between members of the group. The lesser animals vied for time with the mirror, each attempting to be near the perceived con-specific.     

Patch exploitation, group foraging, and unequal competitors

Charnov's (1976) marginal value theorem, MVT, addresses howlong a forager should stay in a patch of prey to maximize itsgain. Information-sharing models of group foraging suggest thatindividuals should join groups to improve their patch-findingrate. This is achievable if group members share informationabout the location of food patches. The determinants of theMVT are searching time and cumulative gain against time in apatch, those of the group foraging models are searching time,group size, and individual differences in ability to monopolizethe prey found. After combining the MVT and information-sharingmodels we explore the consequences of unequal competitors (good,G, and poor, P) foraging in groups. Under this domain G andP differ in their accumulated harvest against time in a patch.When the gain function of P is obtained by mere scaling of thatof G, optimal patch residence times for individuals of the twophenotypes do not differ. However, if the gain functions ofG and P cannot be derived from each other by a constant scalingmultiplier, the optimal patch times for G and P are not necessarilythe same. Under these conditions the model suggests that foraginggroups should become assorted by foraging ability.     

Seroepidemiology of spotted fever group and typhus group rickettsioses in humans, South Korea

The prevalence of spotted fever group (SFG) and typhus group (TG) rickettsioses was investigated in 3,362 sera by immunofluorescence assay. The serum samples were obtained from patients with acute febrile episodes in South Korea from December 1992 to November 1993. The number of polyvalent positive sera against SFG rickettsial agents at the level of 1: 40 dilution was 269 (8%) in Rickettsia sibirica, 482 (14.34%) in R. conorii, and 546 (16.24%) in R. akari. Many of the positive sera contained immunoglobulin (Ig) M antibodies rather than IgG antibodies. These results strongly suggest that SFG rickettsioses are prevalent in Korea. For TG rickettsial agents, the number of positive sera was 1,096 (32.60%) in R. typhi and 951 (28.29%) in R. prowazekii. Only a few epidemic typhus positive sera contained IgM antibodies. The result suggests that recent and/or primary infections of epidemic typhus were very rare in Korea during the said period. Among seven patients who had high titers (1:5,120) of IgG antibody to R. prowazekii, six were over 50 years old. The result suggests that Brill-Zinsser disease was prevalent in Korea.     

Support for Kurdish language rights in Turkey: the roles of ethnic group,group identifications,contact, and intergroup perceptions

The question of Kurdish language rights has been a central issue in the Turkish–Kurdish conflict. The current study examined endorsement of Kurdish language rights in relation to intergroup factors (i.e. group identifications, cross-group friendships, perceived discrimination, and perceived out-group beliefs about state unity) among self-identified Turkish and Kurdish participants. The results indicate that Turks were much less in favour of these rights than the Kurds. In addition, for the Turks, higher national and ethnic identification were associated with lower support for Kurdish language rights, while cross-group friendship, perceived discrimination of Kurds and the belief that Kurds endorse national unity were associated with more support for rights. For the Kurdish participants, stronger national identification seems to undermine the mobilizing meaning that Kurdish group identification has for language rights support. Furthermore, friendship with Turks can undermine the support for rights because it strengthens national identification and reduces ethnic identification.     

Spiroplasmavirus group 1: Isolation,growth, and properties

A group S1 spiroplasmavirus, SV1/KC3·BC3, from spiroplasma strain KC3, was propagated on spiroplasma strain BC3 and purified by density gradients. Purified virus had a density of 1.21 g/cm³ in metrizamide and 1.39 g/cm³ in CsCl and contained DNA of undetermined size and conformation. The virus was stable to exposure to non-ionic detergents, pH's between 6 and 9, heating at 60°C, drying, and (partially) ether; but was sensitive to pH extremes, chloroform, and 100°C. One-step growth experiments showed, by plaque assay, virus release beginning at 60 min and continuing for at least 6 h with no decrease in host cell growth. Infection was thus nonlytic, but the occurrence of 2-mm turbid plaques on agar indicates either belated host cell death or decreased division rate. The virus differed in some of these respects from the morphologically similar group 1 acholeplasmaviruses.     

A new species group in Megaselia,the lucifrons group,with description of a new species (Diptera,Phoridae)

With 1,400 described species, Megaselia is one of the most species-rich genera in the animal kingdom, and at the same time one of the least studied. An important obstacle to taxonomic progress is the lack of knowledge concerning the phylogenetic structure within the genus. Classification of Megaselia at the level of subgenus is incomplete although Schmitz addressed several groups of species in a series of monographs published from 1956 to 1981. Another problem is the lack of molecular phylogenetic analyses to support morphology-based conclusions. As a contribution towards addressing these problems, we here circumscribe a previously unrecognized monophyletic lineage of Megaselia consisting of species similar to Megaselia lucifrons. We base this taxonomic decision on morphological study of an extensive phorid material from Sweden, complemented by molecular analyses of select exemplars using two markers (COI and 28S). We name the clade the lucifrons species group, and show that it contains three distinct species. Our results also demonstrate that Megaselia subnitida Lundbeck, 1920, previously treated as a synonym of Megaselia lucifrons Schmitz, 1918, is a separate species, and we remove it from synonymy. The third species in the group was previously unknown; we describe it here as Megaselia albalucifrons sp. n.     

Anaerobic alkalithermophiles, a novel group of extremophiles

Although some anaerobic and aerobic mesophiles have long been known to grow at alkaline pH (above 9.5), little was known until recently about thermophilic alkaliphiles, termed now alkalithermophiles. This minireview describes presently known and recently validly described anaerobic alkalithermophilic bacteria (pH_opt ^55C > 8.5; T_opt > 55°C) and alkalitolerant thermophiles (pH_opt ^55C < 8.5 but pH_max ^55C above 9.0). Some of these are widely distributed, but others have been isolated (thus far) only from one specific location. This novel group of anaerobic bacteria is comprised of physiologically different genera and species which, so far, all belong to the Gram-type positive Bacillus-Clostridium phylogenetic subbranch. An interesting feature of these anaerobic alkalithermophiles is that most of the isolates have short doubling times. The fastest growing among them are strains of Thermobrachium celere, with doubling times as short as 10 min while growing above pH 9.0 and above 55°C. Received: January 22, 1998 / Accepted: February 16, 1998     

Laboratory models,causal explanation and group selection

We develop an account of laboratory models, which have been central to the group selection controversy. We compare arguments for group selection in nature with Darwin's arguments for natural selection to argue that laboratory models provide important grounds for causal claims about selection. Biologists get information about causes and cause-effect relationships in the laboratory because of the special role their own causal agency plays there. They can also get information about patterns of effects and antecedent conditions in nature. But to argue that some cause is actually responsible in nature, they require an inference from knowledge of causes in the laboratory context and of effects in the natural context. This process, cause detection, forms the core of an analogical argument for group selection. We discuss the differing roles of mathematical and laboratory models in constructing selective explanations at the group level and apply our discussion to the units of selection controversy to distinguish between the related problems of cause determination and evaluation of evidence. Because laboratory models are at the intersection of the two problems, their study is crucial for framing a coherent theory of explanation for evolutionary biology.     

禾螟亚科昆虫——重要的农业害虫

禾螟亚科Schoenobiinae昆虫是世界性农业大害虫,全球已知46属172种,中国分布12属39种(亚种)。对禾螟亚科的分类地位、中国禾螟地理分布及已知寄主、生物学及其为害特征等作了介绍。提供了中国禾螟亚科昆虫名录,并就容易混淆的重要种类进行了讨论。     

Competition,prey, and mortalities influence gray wolf group size

Group living is found in only 10–15% of carnivorans and can shape demographic processes. Sociality is associated with benefits including increased ability to acquire resources, decreased risk of mortality, and increased reproductive success. We hypothesized that carnivore group size is influenced by conditions related to competition, prey, and mortality risk, which should affect benefits and costs of sociality and resulting demographic processes. We evaluated our hypotheses with gray wolves (Canis lupus) using a 14-year dataset from a large, heavily managed population in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. Annual mean group size ranged 4.86–7.03 and averaged 5.92 overall. Most groups were relatively small, with 80% containing ≤8 members. Groups were larger in areas with higher densities of conspecific groups, and smaller where prey availability was low. Group sizes remained largely stable while the population was unharvested or under low-intensity harvest but declined under high-intensity harvest. Results support the hypothesis that as habitat becomes saturated, inclusive fitness may become increasingly important such that subordinates delay dispersal. In addition to direct implications for birth and deaths, conditions related to prey and mortality risk may also influence dispersal decisions. Our work also provided a model to predict group size of wolves in our system, directly fulfilling a management need.     

脑膜炎球菌多糖疫苗培养基的优化研究

目的探索A群、C群脑膜炎球菌多糖疫苗培养基的适宜配方。方法通过筛选改良培养基(配方2)中酸水解酪蛋白替代培养基配方1中原50%盐酸酪蛋白水解液制备相应的培养基,培养A群、C群脑膜炎球菌一定时间后,以收获的细菌浓度和复合多糖量来确定培养基的配比,并比较该培养基在不同温度条件下培养细菌的结果。结果在A群、C群脑膜炎球菌多糖疫苗不同培养基的细菌培养过程中,用酸水解酪蛋白制备的改良培养基(配方2)培养的细菌浓度和多糖收获量均高于其他培养基(配方1和配方3),用酸水解酪蛋白培养基能提高脑膜炎球菌的产量。结论以酸水解酪蛋白为主要原料(配方2)的改良培养基能作为流脑A群、C群细菌的最适培养基,且细菌在(37±0.2)℃培养情况良好。     

Mapping of the linkage group GLO-Bf-HLA-B,C, A-PGM3

Summary This study confirms close linkage for the GLO-Bf-HLA-B,C,A complex, and proves linkage between the MHC loci and PGM₃. For GLO-PGM₃ and Bf-PGM₃, respectively, loose linkage seems to be likely, and close linkage can be excluded. Our mapping data on chromosomle 6 favor the hypothesis that the PGM₃ locus is situated on the HLA-A side of the MHC complex. Yet fine-structure mapping should be confirmed only by segregation analyses in crossover families by testing simultaneously all of the relevant marker loci within uniform family material.