External Features of the First Instar Larva of Damaster (Coptolabrus) jankowskii jankowskii (Coleoptera; Carabidae)

ABSTRACT Larval features of the carabid beetle, Damaster (Coptolabrus) jankowskii jankowskii (Oberthür) were investigated for the first time. For accomplishing the purpose, the adult beetles were collected by pitfall traps in the deciduous forest of Mt. Palgongsan, southern Korea. They have been reared under the laboratory condition of 16L: 8D at 20°C. The first instar larvae were obtained by isolating eggs after oviposition and were kept at the same condition. In the present study, external morphology of the first instar larva of this subspecies are described and its important character states and comparisons with the kin species are also discussed.     

Characterization of High Density Lipophorin (HDLP) Receptor from the Fat Body of Galleria mellonella by Ligand Blot Analysis

ABSTRACT To identify and characterize the HDLP (high density lipophorin) receptor from Galleria mellonella (LPR_Gm), we used techniques of ligand blotting. This method was, to our knowledge, firstly used to characterize the lipophorin receptor (LPR) in insect. LPR_gm had the approximate molecular weight of 100 kDa under non-reducing conditions and bound the HDLP very rapidly and specifically. The receptor had an absolute requirement of Ca²⁺ but exceeding concentration of Ca²⁺ has shown some inhibitory effect, and this result was supported by the effect of EDTA, here used for Ca²⁺ chelating reagent. LPR_Gm has the high binding affinity to HDLP and its binding with HDLP was rapid and specific. Suramin (polysulfated polycyclic hydrocarbon) effectively inhibited the LPR_Gm and HDLP binding. LPR_Gm showed the stage specific binding activity especially in day 1-3 last instar larval, prepupal, and adult stages.     

AROMA PROPERTIES AND THRESHOLDS OF SOME BRANCHED-CHAIN AND OTHER MINOR VOLATILE FATTY ACIDS OCCURRING IN MILKFAT AND MEAT LIPIDS1

Aroma properties of twenty-three branched-chain, odd-numbered, or unsaturated fatty acids which had each been dispersed in acidic aqueous media (pH 2.0) were evaluated. Aroma threshold values were determined using approximately 95 judges for assessing the presence of aromas over dilutions of each fatty acid. Qualitative aroma threshold values for individual fatty acids ranged from 0.006 to 82.4 ppm in the acidic solutions, and 4-ethyloctanoic acid exhibited the lowest threshold of the group tested. Qualitative aroma assessments of dilutions of each fatty acid showed a wide range of unique aroma properties. Fatty acids exhibiting branching at the 4-position had goaty/muttony/sheepy aroma notes as did other fatty acids containing 8-carbon chain structures. Cheese-like aromas were associated with the shorter branched-chain fatty acids.     

Records of palaeo‐seawater condition from oxygen‐isotope profiles of early Pleistocene fossil molluscs from the Seoguipo Formation (Korea)

Kim, J.K., Khim, B.‐K., Woo, K.S., & Yoon, S.H. 2009: Records of palaeo‐seawater condition from oxygen‐isotope profiles of early Pleistocene fossil molluscs from the Seoguipo Formation (Korea). Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 170–181. High‐resolution δ¹⁸O profiles of early Pleistocene fossil molluscs (Mizuhopecten tokyoensis hokurikuensis) from the shallow‐marine sedimentary Seoguipo Formation (Korea) were found to exhibit distinct annual cycles identified by their unique seasonality (δ¹⁸O amplitude). A direct comparison of fossil δ¹⁸O profiles with that of living shells (Amusium japonicum japonicumi) indicated that the palaeoseawater conditions differed from present‐day seawater. Specifically, the positive δ¹⁸O shift in the isotope profile of the fossil specimens relative to that of the living mollusc shell reflected that palaeotemperature was lower than that today. However, a comparison of the coldest palaeotemperatures (determined from the heaviest δ¹⁸O values of fossil shells), with the present‐day winter temperatures indicates that temperature variation alone cannot account for the entire positive δ¹⁸O offset. These findings indicate that variation in the seawater δ¹⁸O_w values plays a dominant role in the biogenic carbonate precipitation of fossils. Thus, the fossil shells obtained from stratigraphic units suggest different palaeoenvironmental conditions, including lower temperatures and ¹⁸O‐enriched glacial seawater, when compared with the present‐day conditions. The Seoguipo Formation records at least five cycles of relative sea‐level fluctuations, with changes in fossil δ¹⁸O amplitudes separated by sequence boundaries likely to reflect variations of unique palaeoseawater condition, although the oxygen‐isotope profile of fossil molluscs appears to provide a snap‐shot of the palaeoclimatic signature. □Early Pleistocene, mollusc fossils, oxygen isotope, palaeoenvironment, seawater temperature.     

Dancing to the rhythms of geological time: the biorhythm capabilities of Polychaeta in a geological context

Summary

Errant polychaete worms in the Orders Eunicida (family Eunicidae) and Phyllodocida (families Nereidae and Polynoidae) exhibit a highly developed biorhythmic capability. The Pacific palolo worms are well known for a precisely timed annual breeding event in which mass spawning occurs at a particular time of day, on one day per year, that day having a fixed relationship to the lunar period. Nereidae and Polynoidae exhibit photoperiodic responses that determine the breeding season by regulation of oocyte growth. Nereis virens shows short-term cycles of foraging activity; automated recording of these patterns has revealed four distinct behaviour rhythm phenotypes: circadian, tidal, lunidian and arrhythmic, the last phenotype being expressed during the photoperiod induced growth diapause. The Eunicids and Phyllodocids are represented in the fossil record by scolecodonts, their fossilised jaws. There was a major radiation of these polychaetes during the Ordovician and the earliest suggested polychaete fossils are from the Cambrian. The simultaneous expression of tidal and circadian rhythmicity is characteristic of intertidal animals and it is likely that this complex behavioural repertoire was found in the ancestors of modern terrestrial forms, such as tetrapods and arthropods, prior to their emergence onto land during the Carboniferous and Silurian periods at least 400 Ma. The period of the earth's rotation, and hence day length and tidal period, has long been known to be increasing, and additionally the moon to be retreating from the earth, due to the phenomenon of tidal friction caused by the gravitational interactions between the moon and the earth. These changes are significant over a geological time scale. Consequently, the length of day was substantially less (and the number of days in a year more) than at present in the Cambrian and Ordovician periods. Recent theoretical analysis of the period of the earth's rotation suggests that the day length prior to a critical period (t _crit ) around 1800 Ma may have been stable, with a length of only 4 h. At that time a period of more rapid change in the dynamics of the rotation was initiated. The implications of this theory for the evolution of the biological clock are discussed.     

Linking landscape-level change to habitat quality: an evaluation of restoration actions on the freshwater habitat of spring-run Chinook salmon

1. Conservation planning is often hampered by the lack of causal quantitative links between landscape characteristics, restoration actions and habitat conditions that impact the status of imperilled species. Here we present a first step toward linking actions on the landscape to the population status of endangered stream‐type Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). 2. We developed relationships between land use, landscape characteristics and freshwater habitat of spring Chinook salmon in the Wenatchee River basin. Available data allowed us to find relationships that described water temperatures at several life stages (prespawning, egg incubation and summer rearing) and substratum characteristics, including fine sediments, cobble and embeddedness. Predictors included altitude, gradient, mean annual precipitation, total and riparian forest cover, road density, impervious surface and alluvium. We used a model averaging approach to account for parameter and model selection uncertainty. Key predictors were total forest cover and impervious surface area for prespawning and summer rearing temperatures; precipitation and stream gradients were important predictors of the percent of fine sediments in stream substrata. 3. We estimated habitat conditions using these relationships in three alternative landscape scenarios: historical, no restoration and one that included a set of restoration actions from local conservation planning. We found that prespawning and summer temperatures were estimated to be slightly higher historically relative to current conditions in dry sparsely forested areas, but lower in some important Chinook salmon spawning and rearing areas and lower in those locations under the restoration scenario. Fine sediments were lower in the historical scenario and were reduced as a consequence of restoration actions in two areas currently unoccupied by Chinook salmon that contain reaches with some potential for high quality spawning and rearing. Cobble and embeddedness in general were predicted to be higher historically and changed little as a result of restoration actions relative to current conditions. 4. This modelling framework converts suites of restoration actions into changes in habitat condition, thereby enabling restoration planners to evaluate alternative combinations of proposed actions. It also provides inputs to models linking habitat conditions to population status. This approach represents a first step in estimating impacts of restoration strategies, and can provide key information for conservation managers and planners.     

Taxonomic review of the genus Symmorphus Wesmael (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) from the Far East

Far Eastern species of the genus Symmorphus Wesmael are taxonomically reviewed. Fourteen species are recognized. Taxonomic information regarding this group that has been treated fragmentarily is summarized in this study. A revised key is presented, and recognition characteristics and images are supplied for each species.     

STRUCTURED AND UNSTRUCTURED 9-POINT HEDONIC SCALES: A CROSS CULTURAL STUDY WITH AMERICAN, JAPANESE AND KOREAN CONSUMERS

The range of scores elicited by a structured, an unstructured and a 'labels-only'version of the 9-point hedonic scale were compared using consumers from USA, Japan and Korea. It was found that the unstructured scale elicited a wider range of scores for American and Japanese consumers. After correction for hedonic ranges, it was found that Japanese had smaller ranges of scores on all three scales, although the effect was less pronounced for the unstructured scale. The Korean consumers were the exception. Their ranges were less than Americans but their ranges on the unstructured scale did not increase. The results were discussed in terms of the effects of inhibition of use of categories by the scale labels, effects of translation from the English, psychophysical style and order effects.