When an epithelium ceases to exist – an ultrastructural study on the fate of the embryonic coelom in Epiperipatus biolleyi (Onychophora, Peripatidae)

It is an accepted fact that fusion between the coelomic cavities and the primary body cavity occurs during development in the Arthropoda. However, such a fusion is much disputed in the Onychophora. In order to clarify this subject, the fate of embryonic coelomic cavities has been studied in an onychophoran. Ultrastructural investigations in this paper provide evidence that embryonic coelomic cavities fuse with spaces of the primary body cavity in Epiperipatus biolleyi. During embryogenesis, the somatic and splanchnic portions of the mesoderm separate and the former coelomic linings are transformed into mesenchymatic tissue. The resulting body cavity therefore represents a mixture of primary and secondary (coelomic) body cavities, i.e. the ‘mixocoel’. The nephridial anlage is already present, when the ‘mixocoel’ is formed, although there is no trace of a sacculus yet. The lumen of the nephridial anlage, thus, communicates with the newly formed ‘mixocoel’. Accordingly, the lumen of the nephridial sacculus cannot be regarded as a kind of ‘persisting coelomic cavity’ in E. biolleyi. Our findings support the hypothesis that the ‘mixocoel’ was already present in the common stem species of the Onychophora and Euarthropoda.     

Der Feinbau der sog. Kugelhaare der Fadenkanker (Opiliones,Nemastomatidae)

Zusammenfassung Der Hohlraum des Kugelhaares von Nemastoma bildet im basalen Teil Ausbuchtungen mit tubulären Strukturen, die mit 40–50 von proximal nach distal ziehenden Kanälen in Verbindung stehen.Nahe der Haarspitze befindet sich ein hohler Schirm mit zahlreichen Chaetoiden. Dicht unter ihm öffnen sich die Kanäle nach außen, und zwar derartig, daß ihr zentrad gelegener Teil der Wand den Schirmstiel bildet, während sich ihr peripherwärts gelegener Wandteil in einzelne Streben aufgliedert. Diese bilden nach Erreichen des Schirmbodens zwischen sich und dem Schirmstiel einen großen Hohlraum, der von einem klebrigen Sekret angefüllt und, zusammen mit dem Schirm, auch umhüllt wird.

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The fine structure of spezialized setae on the pedipalpi of nemastoma (Opiliones, Nemastomatidae)

Summary The cavity of the seta on the pedipalpi of Nemastoma shows protrusions with tubular structures, which are connected with 40–50 channels proceeding from proximal towards distal.Close by the tip of the seta there is a hollow umbrella with numerous secondary chetae. Bight underneath, each channel is widened in a way that the central part of the wall builds the stalk of the umbrella, whereas the more peripheral part of the wall is split in single struts. Both struts fused with the umbrella and its stalk form a large cavity. This cavity is filled with a viscid droplet and enveloped as well together with the umbrella. — The possible meaning of these structures is discussed.

Frl. A. Hennig bin ich für ihre gewissenhafte technische Mitarbeit sehr zu Dank verpflichtet.     

蚕豆田节肢类群落特征的初步研究

经调查,蚕豆田的昆虫和蜘蛛,计有68种,其中属农作物害虫的有18种,天敌有50种。本文还对蚕豆田节肢类的优势种群、种群动态及其群落特征进行了分析,阐明了保护蚕豆田中的天敌对控制后茬作物害虫的重要意义。     

Redescription of the Chengjiang arthropod Squamacula clypeata Hou and Bergström, from the Lower Cambrian, south-west China

The anatomy of the arthropod Squamacula clypeata Hou and Bergström, 1997 from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagersta¨tte is redescribed based on four newly excavated specimens. The new material was collected from localities recently discovered in the Kunming area, Yunnan Province, south-west China, and preserves remarkable details of the ventral morphology, revealed by preparation. Squamacula clypeata is dorsoventrally flattened and rounded in outline. The cephalon was covered by a wide, short shield, with a large doublure and a pair of uniramous antennae on the ventral side. The thorax consists of nine somites, each protected by a tergite and carrying at least one pair of biramous limbs. The pygidium is covered with a small rounded tergum. The endopod is segmented, equipped with short spines on the inner margin of the coxa and a claw-like structure distally, and the exopod flap-like, fringed with setae. The limbs in the pygidium are like those in the thorax in shape. Squamacula was most probably a nektobenthic predator. The spinose endopod could walk, grasp and grind. The large flap-like exopod was adapted for swimming and respiration. Its affinities lie with the Arachnomorpha, but the relationships with other known taxa remain ambiguous.     

Spatial connectedness imposes local‐ and metapopulation‐level selection on life history through feedbacks on demography

Dispersal evolution impacts the fluxes of individuals and hence, connectivity in metapopulations. Connectivity is therefore decoupled from the structural connectedness of the patches within the spatial network. Because of demographic feedbacks, local selection also drives the evolution of other life history traits. We investigated how different levels of connectedness affect trait evolution in experimental metapopulations of the two‐spotted spider mite. We separated local‐ and metapopulation‐level selection and linked trait divergence to population dynamics. With lower connectedness, an increased starvation resistance and delayed dispersal evolved. Reproductive performance evolved locally by transgenerational plasticity or epigenetic processes. Costs of dispersal, but also changes in local densities and temporal fluctuations herein are found to be putative drivers. In addition to dispersal, demographic traits are able to evolve in response to metapopulation connectedness at both the local and metapopulation level by genetic and/or non‐genetic inheritance. These trait changes impact the persistence of spatially structured populations.     

Hairpin Formation of d(CGCG-TA-CGCG), d(CGCG-TG-CGCG) and Their Cytosine Methylated Analogs

Abstract

Hairpin formations of decamers d(CGCG-TA-CGCG), d(CGCG-TG-CGCG), and their m⁵dC analogs are evidenced by the existence of biphasic absorbance melting profiles in which the lower transition temperature increases with increasing oligomer concentration, whereas the higher melting temperature is concentration independent. The corresponding temperature dependent CD intensity at 285 nm exhibits a maximum around 55°C. These observations are consistent with the interpretation that the lower temperature transition corresponds to the duplex to hairpin transformation while the melting of hairpins into single strands constitutes the higher temperature transition. The CD spectrum of the hairpin conformation appears to be characterized by a couplet with nearly equal positive and negative intensities at 285 and 255 nm, respectively, while a significantly smaller intensity at 285 nm is apparent for the duplex form. The hairpin conformation is suspected to contain a two-nucleotide loop. Titrations with NaCl further suggest that, in contrast to the TA sequence, the TG sequence with wobble base pairing favors Z formation under high salt conditions.     

The evolution of arthropod limbs

Limb morphology across the arthropods is reviewed using external morphological and internal anatomical data from both recent and fossil arthropods. Evolutionary trends in limb structure are identified primarily by reference to the more rigorous of the many existing phylogenetic schemes, but no major new phylogenetic inferences are presented. Tagmosis patterns are not considered, although the origins and patterns of heteronomy within the postantennulary limb series are analysed. The phenomenon of annulation is examined and two basic types of annuli are recognised: terminal and intercalary. The annulation of the apical segment of a limb results in the formation of terminal flagella, and is typical of primarily sensory appendages such as insect and malacostracan antennules and maxillary palps of some hexapods. Intercalary annulation, arising by subdivision of existing subterminal segments, is common, particularly in the tarsal region of arthropodan walking limbs. Differentiating between segments and annuli is discussed and is recognised as a limiting factor in the interpretation of fossils, which usually lack information on intrinsic musculature, and in the construction of groundplans. Rare examples of secondary segmentation, where the criteria for distinguishing between segments and annuli fail, are also highlighted. The basic crown-group arthropodan limb is identified as tripartite, comprising protopodite, telopodite and exopodite, and the basic segmentation patterns of each of these parts are hypothesised. Possible criteria are discussed that can be used for establishing the boundary between protopodite and telopodite in limbs that are uniramous through loss of the exopodite. The subdivision of the protopodite, which is typical of the postantennulary limbs of mandibulates, is examined. The difficulties resulting from the partial or complete failure of expression of articulations within the mandibulate protopodite and subsequent incorporation of partial protopodal segments into the body wall, are also discussed. The development and homology between the various exites, including gills, on the postantennulary limbs of arthropods are considered in some detail, and the question of the possible homology between crustacean gills and insect wings is critically addressed. The hypothesis that there are only two basic limb types in arthropods, antennules and postantennulary limbs, is proposed and its apparent contradiction by the transformation of antennules into walking limbs by homeotic mutation is discussed with respect to the appropriate level of serial homology between these limbs.     

Muscular anatomy of the millipede Phyllogonostreptus nigrolabiatus (Diplopoda: Spirostreptida) and its bearing on the millipede "thorax"

The muscular anatomy of the millipede Phyllogonostreptus nigrolabiatus (Newport, 1844) (Diplopoda; Spirostreptida; Harpagophoridae) is comprehensively surveyed. The musculature of the first three postcollum pleurotergites, the "thorax," and their associated appendages was found to be more complex than that of the postthoracic rings. It is hypothesized that the musculature of the postthoracic segments is derived relative to that of the thoracic segments, which retain primitively free sternites and are not diplosegments. This hypothesis is discussed relative to previous hypotheses positing that the anteriormost three leg-bearing rings in millipedes are diplosegments. The musculature of spirostreptid gonopods is described in detail for the first time. Comparison of the cephalic musculature is made with previously described musculature in Julida showing that, while many aspects of the musculature are conserved, there exist interordinal differences, documenting the potential utility of comparative anatomical studies for resolving millipede phylogeny.     

Muscular anatomy of a whipspider, Phrynus longipes (Pocock) (Arachnida: Amblypygi), and its evolutionary significance

Skeletal muscles in the whipspider Phrynus longipes are surveyed and compared with those of other chelicerates to clarify the evolutionary morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the arachnids. Representatives of 115 muscle groups are described and illustrated, and their possible functions are proposed. Principal results of this analysis include new functional models for the operation of the pharyngeal and sternocoxal mechanisms in Amblypygi and a greatly expanded list of apparently unique synapomorphies supporting the monophyly of Pedipalpi (= Amblypygi, Schizomida, Thelyphonida).