Phytophagous British insects and mites and their food-plant families: total numbers and polyphagy

The Phytophagous Insects Data Base (PIDB) was used to summarize information about 6933 species of British insects/mites and their food-plant families. Total species in 183 insect families on 127 vascular plant families were correlated with numbers of plant species in each family in Britain and Europe, accounting for 41.8% of the variation. Families with trees had more insects, while ferns and aquatic, uncommon and ephemeral plants, particularly orchids, had fewer. Seven individual insect families were analysed separately: Aphididae were more closely correlated with plant species numbers than were the more polyphagous Geometridae. Agromyzidae were uncommon on families with trees. Of insect species 75.8% fed on only one plant family and 10.1% were recorded on two families. Species feeding on three families or more were considered to be polyphagous. In the 30 largest insect families, eight had species feeding on only one plant family, while 12 had more than 20% of their species polyphagous. Proportions of family-restricted insects were high on Pinaceae, Gramineae and Compositae, but low on Corylaceae, Primulaceae and Tiliaceae. More pest species were polyphagous. Polyphagy was related to large larvae, larvae overwintering, wood-feeding, ephemeral food sources, poor dispersal abilities and omnivory. Some polyphagous species might be actively evolving in exploitation of vacant niches, leading to later progressive specialization to food-plants.     

A systematic survey of leaf and stem anatomical characters in the genus Gaultheria and related genera (Ericaceae)

MIDDLETON, D. J., A systematic survey of leaf and stem anatomical characters in the genus Gaultheria and related genera (Ericaceae). Leaf and stem anatomical characters of 123 species within the Gaultheria group of genera of the tribe Andromedeae are surveyed. A number of characters show considerable variation within a species which limits their taxonomic use. Other characters such as marginal sclerenchyma and, to a lesser extent, the hypodermis, the presence of adaxial stomata, the presence of free fibres and the pith type were of more taxonomic interest. These characters are discussed in relation to the generic and infrageneric classification of the group.     

Femoral ontogeny and locomotor biomechanics of Dryosaurus lettowvorbecki (Dinosauria, Iguanodontia)

Ontogenetic changes in femoral morphology and locomotion were analysed in the iguanodontian dinosaur Dryosaurus lettowvorbecki using cross-sectional data and applying principles of beam theory. The results presented here suggest that locomotor ontogeny in D. lettowvorbecki was more complicated than has generally been recognized. The percentage cortical area (a measure of the relative amount of bone) increases abruptly over a relatively short period during early ontogeny and then remains uniform during subsequent increases in body size. Modifications in cross-sectional shape also occur with increasing size, as demonstrated by differences in second moment of area ratios. The patterns of change in these properties indicate that the orientation of mechanical loadings acting on the femur of D. lettowvorbecki differed at various stages of growth and development. It is suggested that the alterations in femoral architecture described here reflect a shift from quadrupedality to bipedality early in the ontogeny of this animal.     

Cephalic anatomy of the rare Indonesian snake Anomochilus weberi

The head of Anomochilus weberi combines features seen in living uropeltines and scolecophidians, two clades of fossorial snakes that appear to have the most specialized and, at the same time, the most divergent modifications of the head. However, the weakly supported premaxilla of Anomochilus departs from both scolecophidian and uropeltine modes of reinforcing the anterior tip of the snout, suggesting that Anomochilus is a less specialized burrower. Its skull also has a number of features unusual among snakes, including a unique buttress on the anterior ends of the septomaxillae, an ectopterygoid reduced to a splint that touches neither maxilla nor pterygoid, a short maxillary tooth row oriented at 45° to the long axis of the skull, and a braincase and snout complex that are uniformly wide. The features of the upper jaw are predicted to confer behavioural and mechanical attributes intermediate between those of typhlopid scolecophidians and uropeltines.     

Tuberculation in spatangoid fascioles: Delineating plausible homologies

The existing definition of spatangoid fascioles as a narrow band of minute tubercles (miliaries) is inadequate. One reason is that many intermediates between the presence of indisputable fascioles and their total absence are known. Although fascioles are widely used in the classification of spatangoids, diversity of fasciole tuberculation has largely been ignored. We examine fascioles in about 100 spatangoid species, focusing on the earliest manifestations of fascioles (both developmentally and phylogenetically) and on their variable tuberculation. Qualitative observations are complemented by quantitative analyses (ANOVA and PCA) of 21 species. Three types of fascioles are defined according to tubercle pattern: protofascioles for localized concentrations of miliaries; parafascioles for bands of miliaries with a progressive transition to the surrounding tuberculation; orthofascioles for strongly differentiated, well-circumscribed bands of miliaries. Ontogenetic, architectural, ecological, and taxonomic variations of these three patterns are qualitatively and quantitatively investigated. We attempt to delineate plausible homologies, origins, and subsequent evolution of the different kinds of fascioles.     

Cold-hardiness: a component of the diapause syndrome in pupae of the flesh flies, Sarcophaga crassipalpis and S. bullata

ABSTRACT. Diapausing pupae of Sarcophaga crassipalpis Macquart and S. bullata Parker reared at 20 or 25C readily survive exposure to - 10C for at least 25 days. In contrast, non-diapausing pupae produced by a variety of means are consistently intolerant of the low temperature. Non-diapausing pupae are not immediately killed by exposure to -10C: pupae exposed to the low temperature for up to 3 days proceed with pharate adult development but ultimately die before adult eclosion. Unlike many temperate zone insects, diapausing flesh fly pupae do not require a period of chilling for induction of cold-hardiness, and the attribute of cold-hardiness cannot be separated from other features of the diapause syndrome. Some cold-hardiness is already acquired during the third larval instar: diapause-destined larvae exposed to -10C are more successful in pupariating than non-diapause-destined larvae of the same age.     

Nucleotide Levels and Loss of Vigour and Viability in Germinating Wheat Embryos

At an optimal germination temperature loss of viability in wheatseed is reflected in reduced levels of nucleoside triphosphatesand nucleotide sugars in the embryo compared to the levels foundin high viability embryos during the early hours of imbibition.These differences are magnified on germination at 10° Cand are accompanied by a greatly reduced rate of protein synthesisin embryos of low viability compared with the correspondingrate in embryos of high viability. Loss of vigour precedes lossof viability in seed but differences in biochemical parametersbetween high and medium vigour seed do not become apparent unlessgermination under stress conditions, e. g. low temperature,occurs. Under these stress conditions, wheat seed of reducedvigour can be distinguished from high vigour seed lots of similarviability by the decreased levels of nucleotides and nucleotidesugars found in embryos from reduced vigour seed lots duringthe early hours of imbibition and by reduced rates of proteinsynthesis in these embryos during this same period. Nucleotideanalysis is a potentially useful method for rapid assessmentof the viability or vigour of a seed lot. Key words: Nucleotides, Vigour, Viability, Wheat     

Regulation of Sulphate Transport in a Tropical Legume, Macroptilium atropurpureum, cv. Siratro

When young plants of Macroptilium atropurpureum, cv. Siratrowere deprived of external sulphate (-S plants) growth of shootsand roots continued at rates comparable to those in plants wellsupplied with sulphate (control) for 3 d and 5 d respectively.Dilution of internal sulphur therefore took place and redistributionof sulphur occurred between inorganic and organic forms andbetween roots and younger leaves. Even when S-deficiency limitedgrowth, plants contained 16% of their total sulphur as sulphate,but most of this was retained in old leaves and redistributedslowly to growing zones. The capacity for sulphate uptake increased in roots of –Splants very soon after they were deprived of external sulphate;within 24 h the absorption from 0.25 mol m^–3 SO₄^2–was more than five times that of control roots. Maximum increasedcapacity was reached after 2–3 d stress when the V_maxof system 1 was 1948 nmol h^–1g^–1root fr. wt. in–S plants and 337 nmol h^–1g^–1root fr. wt.in controls. The K^mfor system 1 did not change significantlywith S-stress being between 5–8 µM in both setsof plants. Absorption of L-cysteine was not stimulated by S-stress. There was a close, positive relationship between plant growthrate and the rate at which sulphate uptake capacity was enhancedby withholding sulphate from culture solutions. When –S plants were replaced in sulphate-containing solutiontheir capacity for SO₄^2– declined to the control levelwithin 24 h. Very marked repression of capacity was also foundwhen –S plants were treated with L-cysteine, but therewas no immediate effect with methionine. Roots of this species appear to have a very active system fordegrading L-cysteine to sulphate, 30% of the label in ³⁵S-cysteineabsorbed by roots was recovered in ³⁵SO₄^2– after 20 minor 2 h incubation. By contrast, roots had a very weak abilityto reduce sulphate. When part of the root system was in solution lacking sulphatethere was enhanced uptake of sulphate by other parts which themselveswere amply supplied with sulphate. This is seen as an exampleof compensatory absorption. The response to S-stress is specific and there were no positiveinteractions between S-stress and the absorption of phosphate,or P-stress and the uptake of sulphate. The results are discussed in relation to the close control ofsulphate uptake by internal sulphate concentration, redistributionof forms of sulphur during stress and mobility of sulphate inthe phloem. Key words: Kinetics, Amino-S, Sulpholipid, Repression;, Deficiency