Arthropoda of the subantarctic islands of New Zealand

Ischyroplectron isolatum (Hutton) is redescribed from the Bounty Islands, south‐east of New Zealand. The relationships of the subantarctic Orthoptera are discussed. A key is given to the four genera of Rhaphidophoridae.     

New Zealand phylogeography: evolution on a small continent

New Zealand has long been a conundrum to biogeographers, possessing as it does geophysical and biotic features characteristic of both an island and a continent. This schism is reflected in provocative debate among dispersalist, vicariance biogeographic and panbiogeographic schools. A strong history in biogeography has spawned many hypotheses, which have begun to be addressed by a flood of molecular analyses. The time is now ripe to synthesize these findings on a background of geological and ecological knowledge. It has become increasingly apparent that most of the biota of New Zealand has links with other southern lands (particularly Australia) that are much more recent than the breakup of Gondwana. A compilation of molecular phylogenetic analyses of ca 100 plant and animal groups reveals that only 10% of these are even plausibly of archaic origin dating to the vicariant splitting of Zealandia from Gondwana. Effects of lineage extinction and lack of good calibrations in many cases strongly suggest that the actual proportion is even lower, in keeping with extensive Oligocene inundation of Zealandia. A wide compilation of papers covering phylogeographic structuring of terrestrial, freshwater and marine species shows some patterns emerging. These include: east–west splits across the Southern Alps, east–west splits across North Island, north–south splits across South Island, star phylogenies of southern mountain isolates, spread from northern, central and southern areas of high endemism, and recent recolonization (postvolcanic and anthropogenic). Excepting the last of these, most of these patterns seem to date to late Pliocene, coinciding with the rapid uplift of the Southern Alps. The diversity of New Zealand geological processes (sinking, uplift, tilting, sea level change, erosion, volcanism, glaciation) has produced numerous patterns, making generalizations difficult. Many species maintain pre‐Pleistocene lineages, with phylogeographic structuring more similar to the Mediterranean region than northern Europe. This structure reflects the fact that glaciation was far from ubiquitous, despite the topography. Intriguingly, then, origins of the flora and fauna are island‐like, whereas phylogeographic structure often reflects continental geological processes.     

New Zealand Lepidoptera: Basic biogeography

Abstract

The composition of the New Zealand Lepidoptera fauna is briefly described, and affinities within Tortricidae analysed. Sixty-five genera are used to indicate four possible sets of relationships, but shortcomings of taxonomic interpretations are outlined. Except for species with a wide dispersal range (some 6% of the fauna) most show affinities consonant with terrane biogeography. The panbiogeographic methodology is a potent tool in systematics, giving direction to the research effort.     

Palaeomorphology: fossils and the inference of cladistic relationships

Edgecombe, G.D. 2010. Palaeomorphology: fossils and the inference of cladistic relationships. —Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 91 : 72–80 Twenty years have passed since it was empirically demonstrated that inclusion of extinct taxa could overturn a phylogenetic hypothesis formulated upon extant taxa alone, challenging Colin Patterson’s bold conjecture that this phenomenon ‘may be non‐existent’. Suppositions and misconceptions about missing data, often couched in terms of ‘wildcard taxa’ and ‘the missing data problem’, continue to cloud the literature on the topic of fossils and phylogenetics. Comparisons of real data sets show that no a priori (or indeed a posteriori) decisions can be made about amounts of missing data and most properties of cladograms, and both simulated and real data sets demonstrate that even highly incomplete taxa can impact on relationships. The exclusion of fossils from phylogenetic analyses is neither theoretically nor empirically defensible.     

Phylogenetic relationships of Lecythidaceae: a cladistic analysis using rbcL sequence and morphological data

This study examined in detail the rbcL sequence and morphological support for subfamilial relationships and monophyly of Lecythidaceae. Initially we needed to establish relationships of Lecythidaceae among other dicot families. To complete this we examined 47 rbcL sequences of 25 families along with molecular observations from several large analyses of rbcL data. All analyses strongly support the monophyly of the asterid III grouping. This analysis revealed Lecythidaceae to be paraphyletic and indicated potential outgroup relationships with Sapotaceae. Once relationships had been evaluated using molecular data we then concentrated on analyzing separate and combined morphological and molecular databases. The topology of the morphological data set was similar to the rbcL sequence and combined data sets except for the positioning of Napoleonaeoideae, Grias, Gustavia, and Oubanguia. According to the combined results, Planchonioideae, Lecythidoideae. and Foetidioideae are monophyletic, whereas the subfamily Napoleonaeoideae are paraphyletic. Nested within Napolconaeoideae, we found Asteronthos forms a strongly supported clade with Oubanguia (Scytopetalaceae). Foetidia, the only genus of Foetidioideae, is sister to Planchonioideae, and this clade is sister to Lecythidoideae. The [(Planchonioideae, Foetidioideae) Lecythidoideae are sister to Asteranthos/Oubanguia. Napoleonaeoideae are sister to the rest of Lecythidaceae.     

Phylogenetic relationships of New Zealand Asteraceae inferred from ITS sequences

Forty-five sequences from members of all genera of Asteraceae indigenous to New Zealand and 50 published sequences representing the tribal diversity in the family were analyzed to assess the utility of ITS sequences to resolve phylogenetic relationships. Previous studies using chloroplast DNA sequences and morphology provided support for several clades in the Asteraceae, yet the relationships among some of these were uncertain. The results from ITS analysis were largely consistent with these earlier studies. The New Zealand species are included in at least six clades, most of these corresponding to recognized tribes. Our results have also clarified the tribal affinities of a few anomalous genera. Haastia, previously aligned with the Gnaphalieae or the Astereae, is nested in the Senecioneae. Centipeda, previously included in the Astereae or Anthemideae, emerges near the Heliantheae. The relationships of Abrotanella remain unresolved. Received August 8, 2001 Accepted November 6, 2001     

Diversification of New Zealand weta (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Anostostomatidae) and their relationships in Australasia

New Zealand taxa from the Orthopteran family Anostostomatidae have been shown to consist of three broad groups, Hemiandrus (ground weta), Anisoura/Motuweta (tusked weta) and Hemideina-Deinacrida (tree-giant weta). The family is also present in Australia and New Caledonia, the nearest large land masses to New Zealand. All genera are endemic to their respective countries except Hemiandrus that occurs in New Zealand and Australia. We used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data to study within genera and among species-level genetic diversity within New Zealand and to examine phylogenetic relationships of taxa in Australasia. We found the Anostostomatidae to be monophyletic within Ensifera, and justifiably distinguished from the Stenopelmatidae among which they were formerly placed. However, the New Zealand Anostostomatidae are not monophyletic with respect to Australian and New Caledonian species in our analyses. Two of the New Zealand groups have closer allies in Australia and one in New Caledonia. We carried out maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analyses to reveal several well supported subgroupings. Our analysis included the most extensive sampling to date of Hemiandrus species and indicate that Australian and New Zealand Hemiandrus are not monophyletic. We used molecular dating approaches to test the plausibility of alternative biogeographic hypotheses for the origin of the New Zealand anostostomatid fauna and found support for divergence of the main clades at, or shortly after, Gondwanan break-up, and dispersal across the Tasman much more recently.     

Location of a contact zone between Mus musculus domesticus and M. m. domesticus with M. m. castaneus mtDNA in southern New Zealand

The house mouse, Mus musculus, was first introduced into New Zealand in significant numbers in the early to mid nineteenth century, with genomic components from different sources of the three subspecies M. m. domesticus, M. m. musculus and M. m. castaneus. M. m. domesticus is now widely distributed in New Zealand, with genomic and morphological evidence of M. m. musculus in a few scattered locations. M. m. domesticus/M. m. castaneus hybrids are dominant in the southern third of the South Island. We anticipated that there should be a definable southern contact zone between pure M. m. domesticus and M. m. domesticus/M. m. castaneus hybrids. We tested this hypothesis by screening 170 DNA samples from mice collected in the southern South Island, using a PCR technique which rapidly distinguishes the mitochondrial genomes of the three subspecies.All mice sampled from in or north of Lincoln (43.63° S) had only M. m. domesticus mtDNA, whereas all those from or further south than Hook (44.68° S) had M. m. castaneus mtDNA. Between the two sites, mice carrying mtDNA of both subspecies were found, sometimes in the same building. On present data, this contact zone extends approximately 50 km north to south and some 30 km inland. Classical tests with three nuclear DNA markers confirmed earlier work showing that the nuclear genomes of all mice appeared to be predominantly domesticus-like.We conclude that if purebred M. m. castaneus mice did originally reach New Zealand, extensive backcrossing with M. m. domesticus has made the castaneus nuclear genome virtually undetectable with the tests that we employ.     

Phylogeny of New Zealand hepialid moths (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae) inferred from a cladistic analysis of morphological data

The phylogeny of the New Zealand hepialid moths was estimated from a cladistic analysis of sixty‐three morphological characters, from all life cycle stages. One hundred and sixteen maximum parsimony trees were produced. The phylogenetic reconstruction indicated that the currently recognized generic concepts, and the four informal lineages hypothesized in a previous morphological taxonomic revision, were monophyletic. The relationships of species within genus Wiseana were not fully resolved. Analysis of a data set of thirty‐nine adult male characters from the New Zealand taxa and the Australian genera Jeana, Oxycanus and Trictena supported the monophyly of the New Zealand ‘Oxycanus’ s.s lineage.     

Mobile organisms in a geologically complex area: Lepidoptera in the Indo-Australian tropics

The Indo-Australian tropical archipelagos have increased in extent and proximity through the Tertiary whilst also changing their configuration. The development of new land areas between old cratonic ones involves extensive dispersals of plants and animals from the latter to the former. The vicariance approach, though suited to the study of the fragmentation of old, cratonic land areas, is of uncertain value in this situation; the representation of emergence or convergence and fusion of land areas in cladogram form presents immense problems and to attempt it may be pointless.
Distribution of Lepidoptera species largely reflects the present day geography of the area for both lowland and montane habitats. Significant discordances at a higher taxonomic level can be examined in the light of hypotheses of past geography such as those concerning the evolution of the Melanesian Arcs.
There are many advantages and some disadvantages in using Lepidoptera for such studies, involving their taxonomy, completeness of geographical coverage, range of dispersal ability and specificity to environmental conditions. Both cladistic and phenetic methods can provide basic data for biogeographic studies. The importance of an understanding of habitat preferences is stressed.
Patterns of probable recent development involving well-defined groups of very similar species are examined in the hope they will provide a yardstick whereby potentially older patterns can be assessed, and lead in time to methodology that will satisfy the stringent requirements of current thinking in the philosophy of science.     

甜菜树属--我国云南产山柚子科一原始新属及其植物地理学意义

报道了我国云南红河流域山柚子科的一个原始新属－－甜菜树属,该属具大型圆锥花序,两性,是Ｌｅｐｉｏｎｕｒｕｓ,Ｍｅｌｉｅｎｔｈａ和Ｃｈａｍｐｅｕｅｉａ３个单型属的祖型,远远无疑起源于康滇古陆即今之云南高原,其发现对山柚子科的起源分化具重要意义。     

Calanoid copepod biogeography in New Zealand

The distribution of four calanoid copepod species of Boeckella in New Zealand are mapped and described. An explanation of their distribution patterns based on panbiogeographic methods is compared to an explanation based on dispersalist concepts. The panbiogeographic explanation is simpler, and is consistent with explanation of distribution patterns among other genera of plants, invertebrates, amphibians and birds. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Restructuring of Lepidoptera communities by introduced Vespula wasps in a New Zealand beech forest

Introduced social wasps (Vespula vulgaris) reach high densities in some New Zealand beech forests, because honeydew provides an abundant high-energy food source. We manipulated wasp density to estimate an “ecological damage threshold” for large, free-living Lepidoptera larvae. There will be a continuum of ecological damage thresholds for wasp density depending on the prey species or habitat. Experimentally placed small caterpillars had a significantly higher survival rate than large caterpillars, and the survival rate of both groups decreased with increasing wasp density. Spring-occurring caterpillars have a probability of surviving of 0.90–0.95, assuming wasps are the only source of mortality. However, at the peak of the wasp season we predict caterpillars would have virtually no chance (probability of 10⁻⁷⁸ to 10⁻⁴⁰) of surviving to adults. Wasp abundance must be reduced by at least 88% to conserve the more vulnerable species of free-living caterpillars at wasp densities similar to those observed in our study sites. This equates to a damage threshold of 2.7 wasps per Malaise trap per day. It was exceeded for about 5 months of the year in non-poisoned sites. There are currently no biological or chemical control techniques available in New Zealand that will reduce wasp abundance below this damage threshold throughout the year. Our models show that most Lepidoptera with spring caterpillars will be able to persist, but species with caterpillars occurring in the peak wasp season will be eliminated. Received: 5 January 1998 / Accepted: 10 February 1999     

New species of Euptyctima (Acari,Oribatida) from New Zealand

Abstract

Oribotritia contortula n. sp., O. contraria n. sp., O. teretis n. sp., Rhysotritia bifurcata n. sp., Microtritia contraria n. sp., M. glabrata n. sp., Hoplophthiracarus bisulcus n. sp., Austrophthiracarus pulchellus n. sp., and Notophthiracarus claviger n. sp. are described from New Zealand.

The genera of Oribotritia Jacot, Rhysotritia Märkel & Meyer, Hoplophthiracarus Jacot, and Austrophthiracarus Balogh & Mahunka are new records for New Zealand.     

Demography, competitive interactions and grazing effects of intertidal limpets in southern New Zealand

Population dynamics and the effects of intraspecific competition on limpet growth and maintenance of bare patches were investigated for the intertidal limpet Cellana ornata (Dillwyn) at a boulder-dominated site and on a rocky platform near Kaikoura (South Island), New Zealand. Distribution and abundance patterns of C. ornata were described in relation to other biota and tidal height. C. ornata occurred almost exclusively in patches devoid of macroalgae, particularly in the mid-tidal zone. Both adult and juvenile limpets were most abundant on the tops of boulders, where their numbers were positively correlated with barnacle cover, which averaged 77%. The size structure and growth patterns of C. ornata were different between populations. Mark-recapture studies showed that the slopes of annual growth increments regressed on initial sizes were similar at both sites but that the annual increments on the platform were about 6 mm greater than on boulders. Growth virtually ceased at 27 mm for limpets at the barnacle-dominated boulder site and at 40 mm at the platform site. Recruiting cohorts had 20% survival on boulders and 37% on the platform during their first year. The largest size classes at both sites had around 57% annual survival. To test the effects of varying limpet densities on the growth and mortality of limpets and the maintenance of bare patches, densities of C. ornata were experimentally increased at both sites. Beyond a density of 4 per 0.25 m², sizes and survival of limpets were reduced at both sites, but the effect was more pronounced at the boulder site. Limpets at the boulder site were more effective at maintaining bare space than those on the reef platform. Enclosing limpets in plots with and without barnacles showed that C. ornata and a co-occurring species (Cellana denticulata (Martyn)) grazed more effectively and had greater growth in cleared plots. Overall, there was considerable variation in the demographics of C. ornata between populations driven by site-specific characteristics.     

Microsatellite DNA analyses of a highly disjunct New Zealand tree reveal strong differentiation and imply a formerly more continuous distribution

Although New Zealand is a biodiversity hotspot, there has been little genetic investigation of why so many of its threatened and uncommon plants have naturally disjunct distributions. We investigated the small tree Pseudopanax ferox (Araliaceae), which has a widespread but highly disjunct lowland distribution within New Zealand. Genotyping of nuclear microsatellites and a chloroplast locus revealed pronounced genetic differentiation and four principal genetic clusters. Our results indicate that the disjunct distribution is a product of vicariance rather than long‐distance dispersal. This highlights the need to preserve multiple populations when disjunct distributions are the result of vicariance, rather than focusing conservation efforts on a core area, in order to retain as much as possible of a species’ evolutionary legacy and potential. Additionally, based on our genetic findings and the ecology of P. ferox, we hypothesize that it was more continuously distributed during the drier (but not maximally colder) interstadials of glacial periods and/or on the fertile soils available immediately postglacial. We further hypothesize that P. ferox belongs to a suite of species of drought‐prone and/or fertile habitats whose distributions are actually restricted during warmer and wetter interglacial periods, despite being principally of the lowlands. Our genetic data for P. ferox are also the first consistent with the survival during the Last Glacial Maxima of a lowland tree at high latitudes in the south‐eastern South Island.     

Species of the genus Crotonia (Acari: Cryptostigmata) from New Zealand

Five new species of Crotonia from New Zealand ( C. cervicorna, C. cupulata, C. longibulbula, C. tuberculata and C. reticulata ) are described as new, and two species ( C. cophinana (Michael 1908) and C. caudatis (Hammer 1966)) are redescribed. Five species groups of the genus are characterized and a key to the adequately described species of the world is presented.     

Conceiving Reproduction: New Reproductive Technologies and the Redefinition of the Kinship Narrative in New Zealand Society

This paper focuses on technologies for assisting conception and considers how normative notions of conception and family formation have informed the rejection, incorporation and adaptation of technologies and their regulation in New Zealand. Drawing on a textual analysis of primary written materials and secondary sources generated between 1965 and 2004, the paper reveals how these technologies help various groups in New Zealand society make explicit their understandings of relatedness, identity and social and cultural belonging. Whilst biological/genetic connection and social connections inform understandings of kinship, reproduction, parenthood and social structure for many New Zealanders, the boundaries between the biological and social are often blurred and precedence of one over the other is very much context dependent. The incorporation of the new reproductive technologies has been an inherently politicised process, with barriers to access to these technologies emerging in relation to ethnic identity and race, sexuality, socioeconomic status, gender, and marital status.     

When galaxiid and salmonid fishes meet–a family reunion in New Zealand

New Zealand's small freshwater fish fauna has been augmented by introductions of exotic species, primarily salmonids. Brown and rainbow trout have been successful and the chinook salmon has established anadromous populations. Although few explicit data are available, it appears that addition of large salmonids has had harmful impacts on some indigenous species, particularly several galaxiids; these appear to result from predation and competitive exclusion. Interactions may be chronic or catastrophic. It is difficult to determine causes of chronic interactions, many instances of which are likely to be occurring and escaping notice. Further, it is difficult to separate the effects of human-induced habitat deterioration from inter-specific interactions. Catastrophic interactions are much easier to observe but even here determining the nature of interactions and ascribing causes is fraught with difficulties.     

Molecular phylogeny of the scincid lizards of New Caledonia and adjacent areas: evidence for a single origin of the endemic skinks of Tasmantis

We use approximately 1900bp of mitochondrial (ND2) and nuclear (c-mos and Rag-1) DNA sequence data to recover phylogenetic relationships among 58 species and 26 genera of Eugongylus group scincid lizards from New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, Australia and New Guinea. Taxon sampling for New Caledonian forms was nearly complete. We find that the endemic skink genera occurring on New Caledonia, New Zealand and Lord Howe Island, which make up the Gondwanan continental block Tasmantis, form a monophyletic group. Within this group New Zealand and New Zealand+Lord Howe Island form monophyletic clades. These clades are nested within the radiation of skinks in New Caledonia. All of the New Caledonian genera are monophyletic, except Lioscincus. The Australian and New Guinean species form a largely unresolved polytomy with the Tasmantis clade. New Caledonian representatives of the more widespread genera Emoia and Cryptoblepharus are more closely related to the non-Tasmantis taxa than to the endemic New Caledonian genera. Using ND2 sequences and the calibration estimated for the agamid Laudakia, we estimate that the diversification of the Tasmantis lineage began at least 12.7 million years ago. However, using combined ND2 and c-mos data and the calibration estimated for pygopod lizards suggests the lineage is 35.4-40.74 million years old. Our results support the hypothesis that skinks colonized Tasmantis by over-water dispersal initially to New Caledonia, then to Lord Howe Island, and finally to New Zealand.