Ant-hemipteran trophobioses in a Bornean rainforest – diversity, specificity and monopolisation

Trophobiotic interactions between ants, hemipterans and plants play an important role for all three partners. This study compared a broad spectrum of trophobiotic associations in a tropical rainforest in Sabah, Borneo. We studied partner specificity, ant recruitment, temporal continuity and monopolisation in 218 trophobioses, comprising 58 ant species, 62 hemipteran and over 31 plant species. The most common associations involved Dinochloa trichogona (Poaceae) with coreids and delphacids in the forest understorey, and the invasive weed Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) with Aphis gossypii and A. spiraeola in the open vegetation; both associations were attended by a broad spectrum of ant species. In general, associations between hemipterans and plants were highly and significantly specialised, while ants were more opportunistic in their choices of partners, although partitioning was also significant between ant versus hemipteran species and consequently between ant versus plant species. The number of ant workers increased significantly, but at a declining rate, with the number of hemipterans at a trophobiosis. Most trophobioses (96%) were only tended by a single ant species at a time and thus effectively monopolised. Occasionally these guards were replaced by another ant species after a few weeks (11%) or during the night (34%). In order to test whether other sugar-seeking ants as potential competitors occurred in the vicinity of trophobioses, sugar baits were placed next to the trophobioses, on a different branch of the same plant, and on a neighbouring plant. While the hemipteran-tending ant colony mostly monopolised the nearest sugar bait, the number of ant species on more distant baits was significantly higher. Our results show that ant associations with honeydew-producing hemipterans may be relatively opportunistic at the community level, but highly predictable on a smaller spatio-temporal scale in respect to recruitment to, and long term securing of this important resource. Received 23 August 2005; revised 22 November 2005; accepted 19 December 2005.     

中国GALEATUS属群记述(半翅目,网蝽科)

Galeatus属群(=Péricart(1983)的"Galeatus-Hyalochiton"属群)在中国有4个属,即南网蝽属AconchusHorváth、贝肩网蝽属Dulinius Distant、贝脊网蝽属Galeatus Curtis和明网蝽属Habrochila Horváth.描述贝脊网蝽属1新种:高冠贝脊网蝽,新种Galeatus trevius Li,sp.nov;系统记述Galeatus属群的中国种类4属10种,即:广南网蝽Aconchus urbanus(Horváth)、北贝肩网蝽Dulinius conchatus Distant、短贝脊网蝽Galeatus affinis(Herrich-Schaeffer)、长贝脊网蝽Galeatus spinifrons(Fallén)、膜贝脊网蝽Galeatusinermis(Jakovlev)、闽贝脊网蝽Galeatus scitulus Drake and Maa、瘤贝脊网蝽Galeatus clara Drake和华明网蝽Habrochila chinensis Drake;描述了4个属的属征、研究历史与分类概况,详细列举了检视标本、寄主和各个种的分布,同时提供了Galeatus属分种检索表和8幅形态图.     

中国柔突叶蝉属二新种记述(半翅目,叶蝉科)

记述柔突叶蝉属Abrus Dai et Zhang 2新种,即雷公山柔突叶蝉A.leigongshanensis sp.nov.和凹板柔突叶蝉Abrus concavelus sp.nov..新种模式标本保存于贵州大学昆虫研究所.     

管茎叶蝉属分类并记一新种(半翅目,缘脊叶蝉亚科,脊翅叶蝉族)

记述中国脊翅叶蝉管茎叶蝉属1新种Fistulatus rectilineus Shang＆Zhang,sp.nov.并给出本属所有种的检索表,新种模式标本分别保存在中国农业大学和南开大学.新种与Fistulatusluteolus Cen＆Cai,2002的区别为：1）尾节侧瓣具1个突起而不是2个;2）阳茎干不背向弯曲;3）阳茎干背缘两侧各具一凸缘,近端部有一窄三角形凸缘.     

中国真蝽属二新种(半翅目,蝽科)

记述了蝽科真蝽属2新种:苍山真蝽Pentatoma cangshanensis sp.nov.和绿角真蝽Pentatoma viridicornuta sp.nov.,新种分别与近似种做了比较,并附鉴别特种图.模式标本保存于陕西师范大学动物研究所昆虫标本室.     

中国小头叶蝉属三新种记述(半翅目,叶蝉科)

记述小头叶蝉属Placidus Distant 3新种,即叉茎小头叶蝉P.furcatus sp.nov.,白斑小头叶蝉P.feu;omaculatus sp.nov.和龙王山小头叶蝉P.longwangshanensis sp.nov..     

Developing and applying a macroinvertebrate‐based multimetric index for urban rivers in the Niger Delta,Nigeria

Urban pollution of riverine ecosystem is a serious concern in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. No biomonitoring tool exists for the routine monitoring of effects of urban pollution on riverine systems within the region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and apply a macroinvertebrate‐based multimetric index for assessing water quality condition of impacted urban river systems in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Macroinvertebrate and physicochemical samples were collected from 11 stations in eight river systems. Based on the physicochemical variables, the stations were categorized into three impact categories namely least impacted stations (LIS), moderately impacted stations (MIS) and heavily impacted stations (HIS). Seventy‐seven (77) candidate metrics were tested and only five: Hemiptera abundance, %Coleoptera + Hemiptera, %Chironomidae + Oligochaeta, Evenness index and Logarithm of relative abundance of very large body size (>40–80 mm) were retained and integrated into the final Niger Delta urban multimetric index (MINDU). The validation dataset showed a correspondence of 83.3% between the index result and the physicochemically‐based classification for the LIS and a 75% correspondence for the MIS. A performance of 22.2% was recorded for the HIS. The newly developed MINDU proved useful as a biomonitoring tool in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and can thus be used by environmental managers and government officials for routine monitoring of rivers and streams subjected to urban pollution.     

中国蛛缘蝽科物种DNA条形码研究(英文)

【目的】本研究旨在探讨DNA条形码对中国蛛缘蝽科(半翅目：缘蝽总科)物种界定的适用性。【方法】对中国蛛缘蝽科13属23种207个样本的线粒体COI基因DNA条形码序列进行扩增,并扩增稻缘蝽属Leptocorisa 3个物种的31条内转录间隔区1(ITS-1)序列作为辅助标记。使用MEGA 11软件计算种间和种内遗传距离(Kimura 2-parameter, K2P);采用邻接法(neighbor-joining, NJ)进行物种聚类分析;利用中介邻接网络算法构建单倍型网络图。【结果】基于线粒体COI DNA条形码序列得出测试的中国蛛缘蝽科所有23个种的种内平均K2P距离在2%以下,种间K2P距离在0.98%~23.98%之间(平均17.50%)。多数物种彼此能够被较好地分开,且支持率较高。其中,中稻缘蝽Leptocorisa chinensis和大稻缘蝽L. oratoria共享部分COI单倍型,造成COI条形码无法区分二者,可通过ITS-1序列在单倍型网络分析中将二者区分。【结论】本研究得出的中国蛛缘蝽科中绝大部分物种的DNA条形码数据分析结果与基于形态特征的分类单元一致。然而,对于其中亲缘关系极近的物种,单靠线粒体数据尤其是COI条形码序列无法进行准确界定,需引入其他DNA序列或其他类型数据进行区分。