Molecular cytogenetic analysis of DNA from pericentric heterochromatin of chromosome 2L of malaria mosquito <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anopheles beklemishevi</Emphasis> (culicidae,Diptera)

Using the method of microdissection of polytene chromosomes, followed by in situ hybridization, chromosomal localization of region-specific DNA probe from pericentic heterochromatin of chromosome 2L of Anopheles beklemishevi Stegnii et Kabanova was examined on polytene chromosomes of Anopheles atroparvus van Thiel, An. messeae Fall, and An. beklemishevi. DNA sequences homologous to the probe used were found in all species examined on chromosomes 2 and 3 in pericentric regions and in attachment regions. The exclusion were the attachment regions of chromosome XL in An. beklemishevi and An. messeae, and pericentric region of arm 2R in An. messeae. Pericentric α -heterochromatin of arm 2L in An. messeae and arm 3R in An. atroparvus also contained no sequences homologous to the DNA probe. The data obtained were compared with the earlier obtained data on localization of species-specific probe from the segment of chromosome 2R of An. atroparvus on chromosomes of An. artoparvus, An. messeae, and An. beklemishevi. The differences between the species in the sites of probes localization and fluorescence intensity revealed pointed to the existence of individual sequence associations in the regions of chromosomes attachment.     

Chromosome polymorphism and regularities of the subpopulation organization of malaria mosquitoes <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anopheles</Emphasis> (Diptera,Culicidae) in biotopes of the Tomsk oblast

A biotopic subdivision was observed for the two closely related species Anopheles messeae and A. beklemishevi in larval biotopes of the Tomsk oblast. The regularities of the spatial distribution of A. messeae with various chromosomal inversions were determined. The A. messeae karyotypic structure proved to vary depending on the ecological conditions of wintering and reproduction sites. The frequencies of chromosome variants XL₀, 2R₀, 3R₀, and 3L₀ were maximal in villages, while forest biotopes were characterized by elevated frequencies of alternative inversions. A comparison of the chromosomal structure for larvae and adults confirmed the subdivision of spatial niches for adults with different karyotypes. The difference in spatial niches was assumed to reflect the ecological specialization of mosquitoes. At the interspecific level, such specialization allows closely related species to occur in sympatry regions. At the intraspecific level, a subdivision of spatial niches reduces the intraspecific competition, increases the population size, and improves the survival during unfavorable periods associated with changes in abiotic factors.     

Cytogenetic Analysis of Malarial Mosquitoes of Kaliningrad Oblast

Cytogenetic analysis of malarial mosquitoes is performed in Kaliningrad and its vicinity. Two species of Anopheles with biotopic specialization are identified: An. messeae and An. maculipennis. А relatively low level of inversion polymorphism at the sex chromosome and the right arm of the third autosome is established for An. messeae. This is quite natural for the northwestern peripheral populations of the species range.     

New species of stenolaemate bryozoans from the Jurassic of the Moscow and Saratov Regions (Russia)

Three new species of the Middle Jurassic stenolaemate bryozoans of the genera Reptomultisparsa d’Orbigny and Microeciella Taylor et Sequeiros are described: R. saratovensis sp. nov. and M. seltseri sp. nov. from the Lower Bathonian and the Upper Callovian of the Saratov Region, respectively, and R. stupachenkoi sp. nov. from the Middle Callovian of the Moscow Region. Some specific features of their astogeny and colonial morphology are discussed.     

On the distribution of riffle minnow <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alburnoides bipunctatus</Emphasis> (Cyprinidae) in the Volga Basin

On the basis of analysis of our own and published data on the distribution of the riffle minnow Alburnoides bipunctatus rossicus in rivers of the Volga Basin, the eastern boundary of the range of this subspecies included in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation is specified. It is shown that A. bipunctatus is widely distributed in the entire basin of the Middle Volga and Kama, except the extreme northeast (mountain tributaries of the Upper Kama upstream the Chusovaya River), and rarely occurs in the Upper Volga Basin. The Tereshka River (Ulyanov oblast) and Chapaevka (Saratov oblast) should be considered the southern boundary of the distribution of the subspecies in the Volga Basin. Since the mid-1990s, a drastic and uniform increase in the number of findings and the abundance of A. bipunctatus is recorded. This species has become a common fish in many rivers and, in some cases, a dominant species in river ichthyocenoses. Possible causes of these changes are discussed, and a conclusion is made concerning the need of the revision of the status of the subspecies A. bipunctatus rossicus.     

Dynamics of Malaria Mosquito Species Composition in Siberian Populations Detected by Restriction Analysis

The peculiarities of the dynamics of malaria mosquito species proportions were studied in natural populations. Twenty-one collections from five larval habitats of the Anopheles maculipennis complex malaria mosquitoes were taken in the vicinity of Novosibirsk (Russia). It was detected that the Anopheles messeae and An. daciae are dominant species in the collected samples. Three An. beklemishevi individuals were also detected. The dynamics of the species proportions within the reproduction seasons for a number of years and also the differences between localities in the species composition were studied. It was revealed that the An. daciae proportion is maximal in July and falls in August. The species proportions can change sharply from year to year. For example, the An. messeae species prevailed in localities on the left bank of Novosibirsk Reservoir in 2013 and 2014 with the frequency of 54–68%, while An. daciae began to prevail on this territory in 2016 with the frequency of 73–85%. Our data on the proportions of species in different reservoirs were compared with data of other authors for the collections of malaria mosquitoes of the Anopheles maculipennis complex in Russia (Tomsk oblast) and in Germany. A high correspondence of models provided by these authors for the territory that we studied was demonstrated. Thus, the ecological peculiarities of the An. messeae and An. daciae species are highly stable even in geographically and climatically distant localities. An increase in the portion of relatively anthropophilic An. daciae in the middle of summer can be a risk factor relative to malaria transmission in this period of time.     

Contributions to the knowledge of tetrastichine wasps (Hymenoptera,Eulophidae, Tetrastichinae) of the Middle Volga Region

The Tetrastichinae fauna of the Middle Volga Region comprises 115 species of 16 genera. Quadrastichus rosarum sp. n. is described as an endoparasitoid of Torymus bedequaris L. (Hymenoptera, Torymidae); the latter develops in galls of Dasineura rosarum (Hardy) (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) on Rosa canina L. Aprostocetus populi (Kurdjumov) is redescribed and transferred from Tetrastichus to Aprostocetus. Thirty-three species are recorded for the Middle Volga Region for the first time. The genus Puklina Graham is new to the Russian fauna. New hosts are reported for five species of Tetrastichinae.     

Spatial and temporal variations of the chromosomal inversion frequencies across the range of malaria mosquito <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anopheles messeae</Emphasis> Fall. (Culicidae) during the 40-year monitoring period

The analysis of personal and published data on the frequency dynamics of chromosomal inversions within the range of Anopheles messeae obtained during the period from 1974 through 2014 is presented. The results showed that, in general, across the species range, during the 40 years of genetic monitoring, there was a steady (stationary) clinal distribution of inversions in the first decade (1974–1985). Then, over the period of five years (1986–1990), there was a considerable change in the inversion frequencies in favor of southwestern chromosomal variants (particularly strongly fixed in the Tomsk population), and from 1992 to the present time, these changes remained and were relatively stably reproduced in most parts of the range. It was noted that the jump in warming during the winter of 1981–1982 led to a correlated jump of the southwestern chromosomes in the Tomsk population. In connection with the general tendency toward the increase in average winter temperatures, a sharp decrease in the 2R₁ chromosome frequency in the Siberian region and Syktyvkar in the period from 1992 to the present time was observed. There is reason to assume that, over the past decade, the northern boundary of the An. messeae range moved northward to the tundra zone.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Scalaspira</Emphasis> (Gastropoda) from the Paleogene of the Transcaspian Region

The composition and distribution of the species of the genus Scalaspira Conrad, 1862 in the Eocene-Oligocene of western Kazakhstan are revised. Following Tembrock we assign this genus to Buccinidae and synonymize Aquilofusus Kautsky, 1925 with it. The stratigraphic interval studied contains at least eight species. Three species are new: S. alexeevi (Middle? and Upper Eocene, Chegan Formation), S. korobkovi, and S. kumsuatensis (Upper Oligocene, Karatomak Beds).     

Opisthobranch gastropods from the Lower Cretaceous of the Ulyanovsk Volga Region: 1. Genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tornatellaea</Emphasis> Conrad

Five new species of the genus Tornatellaea from the Lower Cretaceous of the Volga Region near Ulyanovsk, T. kabanovi sp. nov. (Hauterivian), T. densistriata sp. nov., T. gracilis sp. nov., T. volgensis sp. nov. (Barremian), and T. sinzovi sp. nov. (Aptian), are described. The data on geographical and stratigraphical distribution of new taxa are provided.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Weitschataster intermedius</Emphasis> gen. et sp. nov., a goniasterid starfish (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Upper Cretaceous of Germany

Weitschataster intermedius gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Upper Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Hannover (Lower Saxony, N Germany). The new species is characterized by its conspicuous rimmed pedicellariae scars covering almost the complete actinal surface and by small body size. W. intermedius represents a transitional state between W. decipiens comb. nov. from the Lower Campanian and the well-known W. undulatus comb. nov. from the Lower Maastrichtian of NW Europe. Among Spencer’s types of W. undulatus, one paratype is recognized as belonging to the genus Parametopaster.     

New data on acoustic communication and ecology of grasshoppers of the genera <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eremippus</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dociostaurus</Emphasis> (Orthoptera,Acrididae) and notes on the use of bioacoustic data in supraspecific taxonomy of the subfamily Gomphocerinae

The calling songs of Dociostaurus hauensteini, Eremippus simplex, E. miramae, and E. sobolevi are described for the first time. The species composition and ecology of grasshoppers of the genus Eremippus from the Lower Volga basin were studied. Reproductive isolation between Eremippus species in this region was shown to be determined principally by the differences in the acoustic behavior. The calling songs were compared in five Eremippus species, and divided into three groups according to their amplitude-temporal patterns. The importance of bioacoustic data for supraspecific taxonomy of the subfamily Gomphocerinae is discussed.     

American rotifer <Emphasis Type="Italic">Kellicottia bostoniensis</Emphasis> (Rousselet, 1908) (Rotifera: Brachionidae) in the Kama Reservoir (Kama River,Russia)

The American rotifer Kellicottia bostoniensis (Rousselet, 1908) was first recorded in the Kama Reservoir (Kama River, Middle Volga basin) in 2012. The species was found in over 70% of the samples; its maximum abundance was 2000 ind./m³. This alien species co-existed with closely related native species K. longispina (Kellicott). This is the easternmost location (56°–57° E) for K. bostoniensis in the Volga River basin and in Europe.     

Molecular genetic analysis of five extant reserves of black honeybee <Emphasis Type="Italic">Apis melifera melifera</Emphasis> in the Urals and the Volga region

Local populations of the black honeybee Apis mellifera mellifera from the Urals and the Volga region were examined in comparison with local populations of southern honeybee subspecies A. m. caucasica and A. m. carpatica from the Caucasus and the Carpathians. Genetic analysis was performed on the basis of the polymorphism of nine microsatellite loci of nuclear DNA and the mtDNA COI–COII locus. On the territory of the Urals and the Volga region, five extant populations (reserves) of the black honeybee A. m. mellifera were identified, including the Burzyanskaya, Tatyshlinskaya, Yuzhno-Prikamskaya, Visherskaya, and Kambarskaya populations. These five populations are the basis of the modern gene pool of the black honeybee A. m. mellifera from the Urals and the Volga region. The greatest proportion of the remaining indigenous gene pool of A. m. mellifera (the core of the gene pool of the population of A. m. mellifera) is distributed over the entire territory of Perm krai and the north of the Republic of Bashkortostan. For the population of A. m. mellifera from the Urals and the Volga region, the genetic standards were calculated, which will be useful for future population studies of honeybees.     

The genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Keppleritiana</Emphasis> gen. nov. (Stephanoceratidae,Ammonoidea) from the Upper Bajocian of the Northern Caucasus

A new ammonite genus of the subfamily Garantianinae, family Stephanoceratidae, from the Upper Bajocian Strenoceras niortense Zone in the Bolshoi Zelenchuk River basin (Karachay-Cherkessia), with two new species from two different localities, is established. The type species Keppleritiana rostovtsevi gen. et sp. nov. is homeomorphic to some species of the Upper Bathonian–Lower Callovian genus Kepplerites (Fam. Kosmoceratidae) but is distinguished by the presence of a ventral furrow in adults. An isolated valve of an aptychus possibly belonging to this species is illustrated. Keppleritiana graebensteini sp. nov. has a more archaic morphology and is apparently ancestral to the type species. The macroconchs and microconchs of both species are described.     

The ammonoid genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spiroceras</Emphasis> (Spiroceratidae,Ammonoidea) from the Upper Bajocian of the Northern Caucasus

Ammonites of the genus Spiroceras are described from the Upper Bajocian of the Kyafar River Basin (Karachay-Cherkessia), including macroconchs with preserved apertures and (for the first time in the entire history of the study of Middle Jurassic heteromorphs) microconchs with lateral lappets. The microconchs of S. bispinatum (Baugier et Sauzé), mainly represented by cyrtocones with one ventral row of nodes, correspond to microconchs with a gyroconic shell and a single row of nodes. Macroconchs and microconchs of S. annulatum (Deshayes), the ribs of which lack prominent nodes or spines, are found together. The assemblage also contains small-sized slightly uncoiled shells of Spiroceras aff. S. fourneti Roman et Pétouraud with widely spaced ribs and two prominent rows of large nodes, presumably macro- and microconchs. The ornamentation of this species resembles that of the monomorph Bajocia rarinoda Sturani from the upper part of the Lower Bajocian; perhaps the latter was ancestral to the Middle Jurassic heteromorph. The above species of Spiroceras, as well as S. obliquecostatum (Quenstedt), are figured.     

Effect of entomopathogenic fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Metarhizium robertsii</Emphasis> on non-target organisms,water bugs (Heteroptera: Corixidae,Naucoridae, Notonectidae)

The influence of the fungus Metarhizium robertsii Bischoff, Rehner and Humber on the mortality of four water bug species, Cymatia coleoptrata (Fabricius), Sigara assimilis (Fieber), Ilyocoris cimicoides cimicoides (Linnaeus), and Notonecta reuteri Hungerford, and bloodsucking mosquito Anopheles messeae Falleroni, was investigated under various concentrations of conidia and different treatment types. We found that the mortality of adults of the water bug species was similar or higher than that of A. messeae, with C. coleoptrata and S. assimilis being more susceptible to M. robertsii than N. reuteri, I. c. cimicoides, and the mosquito A. messeae. Treatment with dry conidia at concentrations of 5 × 10⁴ and 5 × 10⁵ conidia/ml caused higher mortality of the water bug species than did treatment at the same concentrations with conidia in an aqueous suspension. In contrast, higher concentrations (5 × 10⁶ conidia/ml) led to higher mortality after treatment with the aqueous suspension, relative to treatment with dry conidia. Our studies showed that water bugs exhibited the classical development of a mycosis with hemocoel colonization, mummification, and conidia formation on cadavers directly on the surface of the water. Possible changes in invertebrate communities in aquatic ecosystems after treatment with Metarhizium are discussed.     

On some <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rarecostites</Emphasis> (Parkinsoniidae,Ammonoidea) from the Upper Bajocian <Emphasis Type="Italic">Parkinsoni</Emphasis> zone of the Northern Caucasus

The ammonites of the genus Rarecostites (subfamily Parkinsoniinae) are studied from the lower part of the Upper Bajocian Parkinsonia parkinsoni Zone of the Kyafar River (Bolshoi Zelenchuk River Basin, Karachai-Cherkessia, Russia). The locality contains numerous microconch shells of R. subarietis (Wetzel). We follow de Grossouvre (1919) in considering the names R. acris (Wetzel) and R. arietis (Wetzel) to be subjective synonyms of R. subarietis and, thus, the standard Acris should be replaced by the Subarietis Subzone. The lower part of the section also contains numerous microconchs of R. sherstyukovi sp. nov. and, less commonly, macroconchs of R. kyafarensis sp. nov. The phylogeny of Rarecostites species is reconstructed; the above species are described and figured and the sherstyukovi and subarietis faunal horizons are established.     

The endosymbiont <Emphasis Type="Italic">Wolbachia</Emphasis> in Eurasian populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila melanogaster</Emphasis>

The endosymbiotic α-proteobacteria Wolbachia is widely spread among arthropods and Filariidae nematodes. This bacterium is transmitted vertically via a transovarian route. Wolbachia is a cause of several reproductive abnormalities in the host species. We analyzed the isofemale lines created using flies collected from Drosophila melanogaster natural populations for infection with the endosymbiont Wolbachia. Wolbachia were genotyped according to five variable markers: the presence of insertion sequence IS5 in two loci, the copy number of two minisatellite repeats, and an inversion. Overall, 665 isofemale lines isolated from the populations of D. melanogaster from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Caucasus, Central Asia, Ural, Udmurtia, Altai, West and East Siberia, and Far East in 1974 through 2005 were used in the work. The samples from Ukrainian, Altaian, and Middle Asian populations were largest. The infection rate of D. melanogaster populations from Middle Asia, Altaian, and Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Moldavia, and Belarus) with Wolbachia amounted to 64, 56, and 39%, respectively. The D. melanogaster population from the Caucasus displayed heterogeneity in the genotypes of this cytoplasmic infection. The Wolbachia genotype wMel, detected in all the populations studied, was the most abundant. The genotype wMelCS2 was always present in the populations from Middle Asia and Altai and was among the rare variants in the D. melanogaster populations from the Eastern Europe. Single instances of the Wolbachia genotype wMelCS occurred in a few flies from the Central Asian and Altai populations, but was not found this genotype in the other regions.     

Fossil wood of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Betula erkovetskiensis</Emphasis> sp. nov. (Betulaceae) from the Miocene of the Erkovetskii Brown Coal Field,Amur Region,Russia

A new species, Betula erkovetskiensis Blokhina et O.V. Bondarenko (Betulaceae), from the deposits of the Sazanka Formation (upper Middle?Upper Miocene) of the Erkovetskii Brown Coal Field (Amur Region, Russia) is described based on anatomical features of fossil wood. The new species shows some wood anatomical characters of the extant birch subgenus Betula, B. davurica, B. nigra (section Dahuricae), and B. papyrifera (section Betula). Fossil wood of Betula is found in the Amur Region for the first time.