Historical biogeography of Androcymbium Willd. (Colchicaceae) in Africa: evidence from cpDNA RFLPs

The cpDNA restriction variation in 39 populations representing a geographical sampling of 18 species of Androcymbium in southwestern and northern Africa was examined to assess the historical biogeography of the genus. The cpDNA phylogeny indicates that the disjunction between South and North Africa is best explained by the dispersal of southern African ancestors into North Africa. Divergence time estimates suggest that the geographic range of the genus may have extended considerably north (perhaps to Tanzania and Kenya) prior to the global desiccation of Africa in the Miocene. Further expansion of the genus northward was probably stalled until climatic changes in the late Miocene brought about the gradual replacement of a subtropical woodland savanna with the arid landscape that gave rise to the Sahara. Aridification of the northern quarter of the continent provided the ecological conditions for fostering the expansion of Androcymbium along the Mediterranean fringe (probably east to west) and its introduction into the Canary Islands. Unlike their South African congeners, the northern species have experienced expansions, fragmentations, and local extinctions in response to the severe climatic shifts in this area during the Pliocene-Pleistocene. According to our divergence time estimates, the arid track may have already existed as a continuous area connecting southern and northern Africa in the late Miocene.     

Redescription of Acanthaegilips Ashmead, 1897, with characterization of the Anacharitinae and Aspiceratinae (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea: Figitidae)

We redescribe the South American genus Acanthaegilips Ashmead, 1897 and discuss its phylogenetic position within the Figitidae (sensu lata). The genus was originally placed in the Anacharitinae but shows affinities with both the Anacharitinae and the Aspiceratinae in the characters used currendy to separate figitid subfamilies. In a recent revision of the higher‐level classification of cynipoids, Acanthaegilips was separated from the remainder of the Anacharitinae and placed in a monotypic higher‐level taxon. We analyse the morphological differences between die Anacharitinae and Aspiceratinae and their bearing on the monophyly of the two subfamilies and the placement of Acanthaegilips. We conclude that, after removal of Seitneria and Paraegilips from the Anacharitinae, both subfamilies are well defined monophyletic groups and that Acanthaegilips belongs to the Anacharitinae, within which it forms a monophyletic group together with the South American genera Calofigites Kieffer, 1909 and Solenofigites Diaz, 1979.     

Gall wasps and their parasitoids in cork oak fragmented forests

Abstract.  1. This paper explores the potential effects of host-plant fragmentation on cork oak gall wasp populations (Cynipidae, Hymenoptera) and on their predators, lethal inquilines, and parasitoids. To address this objective, galls were collected across a gradient of cork oak ( Quercus suber ) forest fragmentation in the East Pyrenees (Albera, Spain), and they were incubated to obtain the parasitism rates.
2. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) Host-plant fragmentation may induce a decline in gall wasp populations because of area and isolation effects on local extinction and dispersal; as a consequence of that, parasitoids may decline even more strongly in fragmented habitats than their prey. (2) Host-plant fragmentation may cause a decline in gall wasp parasitoid populations that, in turn, can lead to an ecological release in their prey populations.
3. Among the eight cork oak gall wasps sampled in the study area of Albera, the gall abundances of three species ( Callirhytis glandium , Callirhytis rufescens , and Andricus hispanicus ) were significantly related to forest fragmentation. The overall abundance of gall wasps was affected by a radius of ≈ 890 m surrounding landscape, presenting constant abundances with forest loss until forest cover is reduced at ≈ 40%; below that value the abundance increased rapidly. Three inquilines and 23 parasitoids species were recorded after gall incubation. In 25 cases, species of inquilines and parasitoids were newly recorded for the corresponding host in the Iberian peninsula.
4. Although the overall parasitism rate was high (1.1), it was uncorrelated with fragmentation and with overall cynipid abundance. These results indicate that host-plant fragmentation was correlated with higher abundance of gall wasps, whereas the parasitism rate could not explain this hyper-abundance in small forest fragments.     

Geochemistry of Persististrombus latus Gmelin from the Pleistocene Iberian Mediterranean realm

De Torres, T., Ortiz, J.E., Arribas, I., Delgado, A., Julià, R. & Martín‐Rubí, J.A. 2009: Geochemistry of Persististrombus latus Gmelin from the Pleistocene Iberian Mediterranean realm. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 149–163. In this paper the organic and inorganic geochemistry of fossil and extant Persististrombus latus are compared, together with other strombid species (Lentigo lentiginosus, Lobatus gigas, Strombus alatus, Lobatus raninus, Laevistrombus canarium and Tricornis latissimus). Using a large sample of well‐preserved fossil P. latus shells from the Mediterranean realm, we examined the warming period of sea water in the Middle Pleistocene. A mineralogical study of the shells demonstrates the continuous presence of calcite and a complex organic matter distribution, which was well preserved in many cases, thereby making the U/Th dating of strombid shells unreliable. U/Th analysis of coral samples and amino acid racemization dating of pelecypod shells confirmed that P. latus entered the Mediterranean realm in MIS 7 and 5. The oscillations of the δ¹⁸O values reflect annual growth periods and provide a mixing of the first signal record (primary growth) and successive overgrowths. □Amino acid racemization, Mediterranean Sea, Persististrombus latus, shell mineralogy, U/Th, δ¹⁸O.     

Systematic re‐appraisal of the gall‐usurping wasp genus Synophrus Hartig, 1843 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Synergini)

Several unanswered questions remain regarding the taxonomy and phylogeny of inquiline gallwasps (Cynipidae: Synergini), obligate inhabitants of plant galls induced primarily by other gallwasps (Cynipidae: Cynipini and Diplolepidini). Here we use morphological and molecular data to revise the inquiline genus Synophrus, members of which are notable for extensively modifying the structure of galls induced by oak gallwasp hosts on oaks in the section Cerris of Quercus subgenus Quercus in the Western Palaearctic. Previous taxonomic treatments have recognized three Western Palaearctic species of Synophrus: S. pilulae, S. politus and S. olivieri. Our results support the establishment of four additional Western Palaearctic species: Synophrus hungaricus sp.n. , S. libani sp.n. , S. syriacus sp.n. and S. hispanicus sp.n. We describe and diagnose these new taxa, analyse their phylogenetic relationships, and show that Synophrus inquilines are able to impose their own gall phenotypes on those of their hosts. We provide an updated key to Synophrus.     

The phylogenetic relationships between Dryocosmus, Chilaspis and allied genera of oak gallwasps (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae: Cynipini)

Abstract Oak gallwasps (Hymenoptera; Cynipidae, tribe Cynipini) are cyclically parthenogenetic insects that induce galls on specific plant hosts in the family Fagaceae. Understanding the processes underlying the evolution of specific oak associations requires knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships among oak gallwasp genera. Although three major lineages of oak gallwasps have been identified, the status and relationships of several species‐poor but biologically significant genera remain unresolved. Two such genera are Chilaspis and Dryocosmus, whose western palaearctic species all gall oaks in the section Cerris. Dryocosmus is particularly significant biologically because it includes: (a) the only palaearctic gallwasp to gall chestnuts, Castanea, and (b) nearctic species. The oak section Cerris is wholly absent from the nearctic, and the relationship between palaearctic and nearctic Dryocosmus is significant for patterns of host plant evolution in the tribe as a whole. We examined the relationships between Chilaspis, Dryocosmus and other oak cynipid genera using cladograms from sequence data for two mitochondrial loci (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b) and two nuclear loci (the 28S ribosomal gene regions D2 and D3–5). Our analyses support the following conclusions: (1) palaearctic Chilaspis and Dryocosmus species form an intermingled monophyletic group. (2) We propose that Chilaspis Mayr, 1881 is a syn.n. of Dryocosmus Giraud, 1859 and propose the name D. mayri as a comb.rev. for the species previously named C. mayri, and D. nitidus and D. israeli as comb.n. of C. nitida and C. israeli, respectively. (3) We reassess the utility of morphological characters previously regarded as diagnostic for these genera. (4) Two species previously known only from a single generation represent two halves of a single species lifecycle. Dryocosmus nervosus is here designated a syn.n. of D. cerriphilus. (5) The nearctic species D. favus lies outside the palaearctic Chilaspis/Dryocosmus clade, and Dryocosmus as currently recognized is not a monophyletic group. (6) Dryocosmus/Chilaspis is closely related to the other oak gallwasp taxa (Aphelonyx, Plagiotrochus, Pseudoneuroterus, Trichagalma, and some Neuroterus species) galling section Cerris oaks. This implies an early branching evolution of this oak association within this group, and supports previous work showing the rarity of oak gallwasp host shifts.     

Molecular detection of Wolbachia pipientis in natural populations of sandfly vectors of Leishmania infantum in endemic areas: first detection in Lutzomyia longipalpis

A polymerase chain reaction‐based method was used to screen sandflies for infection with Wolbachia (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae), an intracellular bacterial endosymbiont found in many arthropods and filarial hosts. Positive results were obtained in five of 200 field‐collected sandflies and were confirmed by sequencing. All sandflies were Lutzomyia longipalpis (Diptera: Psychodidae) captured in a region endemic for visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil. This is the first study to identify Wolbachia infection in this Lutzomyia species, which is the main vector of leishmaniasis in the study area. The low infection rate found in this study (2.5%), together with the lack of detection of Wolbachia in previous studies and the diversity found in the sequences analysed, suggests horizontal transmission to these sandflies.     

Modelling the response of eucalypts to fire,Brindabella Ranges,ACT

Abstract A new algorithm for the responses of Eucalyptus species to fire was developed to be used in BRIND, an existing forest gap simulation model. After a fire, trees may be: (i) killed outright; (ii) have their above-ground parts killed but resprout from basal lignotubers; or (iii) continue to grow from undamaged and epicormic above-ground buds. Data collected after a fire in the Gudgenby region, Brindabella Ranges, southern Australian Capital Territory, indicate that tree size and vigour can be used to predict the response of individual trees. There was not enough information about fire intensity to estimate its effect on the response of trees. The new algorithm was tested using data from a 1982 fire in Bushrangers Creek, Brindabella Ranges. The predicted probabilities of stem death were similar to the field data.