Arthropodisierung ais biomechanischer Prozeß und die Entstehung der Trilobiten-Konstruktion

The conditions are pointed out under which the body construction of annelids could have been transformed into that of arthropods. As an adaptation to a vagile life near or in the bottom and to an uptaking of food by filtering of particles the parapodia of annelid-like organisms were shifted into a more ventral position. This process required certain bracings by connective tissue and muscles in the body, controlling the body shape. Immobilisation of body parts, initially in the dorsal region, allowed stiff skeletal structures to arise. The sclerotisation caused an increase of efficiency of the motoric system, since the body form was reliably controlled no more by the action of muscles, as in the hydrostatic skeleton systems of worms, but by rigid skeletal plates, to which muscles can be inserted. The result of this transformation were broad and flat arthropod-constructions with ventral food groove, through which the row of endites of the limbs transported a stream of food along the median line to the mouth. On this constructional level the trilobites are the first group with many species. Their structures can be explained as a result of the constructional preconditions of their ancestors and of the adaptations during the transformation, leading from annelid-like hydrostatic skeleton systems to typical arthropods with an exoskeleton-muscle apparatus.     

放牧后自然恢复沙质草地土壤节肢动物群落结构与多样性

以中国科学院奈曼沙漠化研究站为依托,对不同放牧强度后自然恢复沙质草地土壤节肢动物群落进行了调查,分析了土壤节肢动物群落结构及其多样性变化,探讨了植被和土壤环境对土壤节肢动物群落的影响.结果表明: 无牧草地土壤动物种类丰富,个体数量较多,多样性最高;中牧后恢复草地土壤动物个体数量少,但主要类群较多,分布较均匀,多样性较高;重牧后恢复草地土壤动物主要类群少,但个体数量多,多样性较高;而轻牧后恢复草地土壤动物分布均匀性最差,多样性最低.植物个体数、高度及盖度和土壤酸碱度是影响不同放牧强度后恢复草地土壤动物种类和个体数量分布的主要因素.说明沙质草地经过12年的围封可以一定程度上恢复土壤动物群落,而放牧干扰对土壤动物群落的负面影响是长期的.     

荒漠草原地面节肢动物功能群对草地封育的响应

以宁夏盐池国家级草原资源生态监测站为依托,选择荒漠草原典型植被类型的封育与未封育样地调查了地面节肢动物、植被及土壤特征,同时根据动物食性对节肢动物功能群进行了划分.结果表明:荒漠草原地面节肢动物可划分为捕食性、植食性、腐食性和杂食性4种营养功能群.其中,植食性和捕食性节肢动物在数量上占优势,植食性和腐食性节肢动物生物量所占比例较大,表明荒漠草原地面节肢动物区系以植食性动物分布为其主要特征.围栏封育增加了捕食性、植食性和杂食性节肢动物个体数量和类群数,增加了捕食性和杂食性节肢动物的生物量,提高了捕食性和植食性节肢动物的物种多样性,这与植被恢复和土壤环境改善密切相关,说明荒漠草原围栏封育增加了地面节肢动物功能群的多样性和复杂性.但是围栏封育后,腐食性节肢动物个体数量减少,生物量降低,反映了腐食性节肢动物对放牧草地生境的依赖性.     

Expression of pair rule gene orthologs in the blastoderm of a myriapod: evidence for pair rule-like mechanisms?

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: A hallmark of Drosophila segmentation is the stepwise subdivision of the body into smaller and smaller units, and finally into the segments. This is achieved by the function of the well-understood segmentation gene cascade. The first molecular sign of a segmented body appears with the action of the pair rule genes, which are expressed as transversal stripes in alternating segments. Drosophila development, however, is derived, and in most other arthropods only the anterior body is patterned (almost) simultaneously from a pre-existing field of cells; posterior segments are added sequentially from a posterior segment addition zone. A long-standing question is to what extent segmentation mechanisms known from Drosophila may be conserved in short-germ arthropods. Despite the derived developmental modes, it appears more likely that conserved mechanisms can be found in anterior patterning. RESULTS: Expression analysis of pair rule gene orthologs in the blastoderm of the pill millipede Glomeris marginata (Myriapoda: Diplopoda) suggests that these genes are generally involved in segmenting the anterior embryo. We find that the Glomeris pairberry-1 (pby-1) gene is expressed in a pair rule pattern that is also found in insects and a chelicerate, the mite Tetraynchus urticae. Other Glomeris pair rule gene orthologs are expressed in double segment wide domains in the blastoderm, which at subsequent stages split into two stripes in adjacent segments. CONCLUSIONS: The expression patterns of the millipede pair rule gene orthologs resemble pair rule patterning in Drosophila and other insects, and thus represent evidence for the presence of an ancestral pair rule-like mechanism in myriapods. We discuss the possibilities that blastoderm patterning may be conserved in long-germ and short-germ arthropods, and that a posterior double segmental mechanism may be present in short-germ arthropods.     

A rare predator exploits prey escape behavior: the role of tail-fanning and plumage contrast in foraging of the painted redstart (Myioborus pictus)

Escape response, triggered by an approaching predator, is acommon antipredatory adaptation of arthropods against insectivores.The painted redstart, Myioborus pictus, represents insectivorousbirds that exploit such antipredatory behaviors by flushing,chasing, and preying upon flushed arthropods. In field experimentsI showed that redstarts evoke jump and flight in prey by spreadingwings and tail: this display increased frequency of aerial chasesby redstarts. Artificial models with spread tails also elicitedescape responses more often than models with closed tails and wings.The white patches on black wings and tails additionally help:the frequency of chases decreased when the white patches werecovered with black dye. Black models also tended to elicit escaperesponse less often than black-and-white models did, at leastin some situations. Hence, the prey's ability to detect birdsand to flee could cause the evolution of predators specializedat using conspicuous behavior and contrast in body colorationto elicit and exploit such antipredatory responses. Redstartsconstitute only a small proportion of the predatory guild, andtheir adaptations to exploit the prey's behavior illustratethe theoretically modeled "rare enemy" effect present in multispeciespredator-prey systems. This is the first experimental studyof morphological and behavioral adaptations of a rare predatorthat both elicits and exploits antipredator escape behaviorof its prey against more common predators. Hence, the studydocuments a behavior that could be evolutionarily explainedonly if indirect interactions in predator-prey communities aretaken into account.     

Seasonal and taxonomic aspects of the size of arthropods in the tropics and its possible influence on size-selectivity in the prey of a tropical spider community

Summary During one year in Panama the size (=body length) of arthropods (representing the potential prey of a spider community) was determined by sampling with pitfall traps, bowl traps and sweep-netting. Most arthropods found were small and the distribution of their size is considerably skewed to the left (Figs. 1, 2). Pitfall traps and bowl traps yielded similar results but sweep-netting collected larger arthropods and may be size-selective. Although the variation of arthropod size is high, no seasonal influence on body size could be detected in the main prey groups of spiders (Figs. 3, 4). Differences in the size spectra of the actual prey of a tropical spider community are therefore not caused by seasonal variations in the availability of particular prey size classes. Species-specific prey size spectra, however, may be dependent on properties of the webs concerned, microhabitat selection or other, e.g. physiological or ethological differences between the spider species.     

Shrubs and species identity effects on the distribution and diversity of ground-dwelling arthropods in a Gobi desert

Disentangling the relationship between shrub vegetation and ground-dwelling arthropods at multiple levels of taxonomic resolution is essential to developing a suitable management strategy for the conservation of shrub-associated arthropod biodiversity in shrubland ecosystems. Using Gobi desert (dominated by shrub species Nitraria sphaerocarpa and Reaumuria soongorica) occurring widely in inland arid areas of northwest China as a model system, we sampled ground-dwelling arthropods by pitfall trapping method under canopies of both shrubs and in intershrub bare areas during spring, summer and autumn. Our aim was to determine whether the presence and species identity of shrubs influence the distribution of ground-dwelling arthropods and whether the influence of shrub presence and species identity differs among trophic and taxonomic groups. At the community level, total arthropod abundance and species richness were significantly greater under shrubs than in intershrub bare habitats, whereas more arthropods were captured under N. sphaerocarpa than under R. soongorica. At the trophic group level, the abundance of predator and decomposer arthropods was significantly greater under shrubs than in intershrub bare habitats, whereas herbivore and decomposer arthropods were more abundant under N. sphaerocarpa than under R. soongorica. At the family level, the abundance of Carabidae, Gnaphosidae, Karschiidae, Tenebrionidae and Thomisidae was consistently much greater under shrubs than in intershrub bare habitats, whereas that of Formicidae, Philodromidae and Tettigoniidae did not differ between the shrub microhabitats and the intershrub bare habitats. However, the abundance of Curculionidae under R. soongorica and the abundance of Geotrupidae under N. sphaerocarpa were significantly lower than that in intershrub bare habitats. N. sphaerocarpa was commonly preferred by arthropods in the families of Curculionidae and Tenebrionidae, whereas R. soongorica was commonly preferred by arthropods in the family Geotrupidae, but shrub species identity did not affect the abundance of the remaining families. Our results suggest that shrubs and species identity play important roles in structuring ground-dwelling arthropod communities, but the response of arthropods differed among trophic or taxonomic groups. This study may have important implications for the conservation of invertebrate biodiversity in Gobi desert ecosystems.     

干旱风沙区灌丛林地地面节肢动物群落对放牧管理的响应

在干旱风沙区宁夏盐池县,选择典型放牧柠条锦鸡儿灌丛林地为研究样地,以邻近长期围栏封育灌丛林地为对照,调查了春季、夏季和秋季放牧和封育2种类型样地的地表植被、土壤性状和地面节肢动物分布特征,分析了灌丛林地地面节肢动物群落组成及多样性对放牧管理的响应规律.结果表明:1)放牧导致植被高度、土壤细砂粒含量和土壤电导率显著降低,而土壤容重和粗砂粒含量显著升高.2)调查共获得地面节肢动物13目40科,其中优势类群为蚁科和拟步甲科,其个体数占总个体数的68.75%;常见类群4类,其个体数占总个体数的20.82%;其余34类为稀有类群,其个体数占总个体数的10.44%.在春季、夏季和秋季,放牧和封育样地间地面节肢动物群落组成均差别较大,反映了地面节肢动物对包括放牧管理和季节变化双重作用下环境变化的敏感性和适应性.3)放牧导致地面节肢动物多度显著升高.但放牧样地和封育样地间地面节肢动物类群数、Shannon指数、均匀度指数和优势度指数在3个季节中均无显著差异.4)相关分析表明,地面节肢动物多度、均匀度指数、优势度指数均与植被高度、植物多度、土壤水分、土壤pH值和电导率存在相关性,而地面节肢动物Shannon指数与植被高度、土壤水分和土壤细砂粒存在相关性.偏冗余分析(RDA)表明,土壤pH值、植物多度、土壤含水量和温度是影响地面节肢动物群落个体数分布的关键驱动因子.研究表明,放牧管理条件下植被高度、土壤pH、土壤水分和土壤温度差异导致不同地面节肢动物类群表现出了不同的响应模式.灌丛对地面节肢动物多样性的保育效应能够削弱放牧干扰的负向影响.但放牧干扰下春季灌丛林地植食性地面节肢动物多度增加,需注重放牧易导致灌丛林病虫害发生和进行防控.     

松树皮下节肢动物种群动态研究初报

报道用环剥和砍伐模拟松树树势减弱和失水干枯的受害情况,同时观察松树皮下害虫侵入动态。环剥和砍伐对马尾松树皮下昆虫的入侵有完全不同的影响。松树失水,渐趋干枯是蛀干害虫得以入侵的主要原因。马尾松树皮下有多种蛀干害虫先后侵入、同时发生,其中松墨天牛为先锋虫种,依入侵先后顺序为松墨天牛、纵坑切梢小蠹、马尾松角胫象、小松角胫象、家白蚁。有多种捕食性和寄生性天敌跟随进入树干,虫种包括长线阎甲、根露尾甲、管氏肿腿蜂、黄隐翅虫、花绒穴甲、茧蜂、囊螨。     

Time‐lapse camera trapping as an alternative to pitfall trapping for estimating activity of leaf litter arthropods

Pitfall trapping is the standard technique to estimate activity and relative abundance of leaf litter arthropods. Pitfall trapping is not ideal for long‐term sampling because it is lethal, labor‐intensive, and may have taxonomic sampling biases. We test an alternative sampling method that can be left in place for several months at a time: verticallyplaced time‐lapse camera traps that have a short focal distance, enabling identification of small arthropods. We tested the effectiveness of these time‐lapse cameras, and quantified escape and avoidance behavior of arthropod orders encountering pitfall traps by placing cameras programed with a range of sampling intervals above pitfalls, to assess numerical, taxonomic, and body size differences in samples collected by the two methods. Cameras programed with 1‐ or 15‐min intervals recorded around twice as many arthropod taxa per day and a third more individuals per day than pitfall traps. Hymenoptera (ants), Embioptera (webspinners), and Blattodea (cockroaches) frequently escaped from pitfalls so were particularly under‐sampled by them. The time‐lapse camera method effectively samples litter arthropods to collect long‐term data. It is standardized, non‐lethal, and does not alter the substrate or require frequent visits.     

Exclusive Male Egg Care and Determinants of Brooding Success in a Millipede

The evolution of exclusive male parental care is a major and controversial issue in behavioural ecology. Although arthropods practicing paternal care are thought to be key taxa for investigating this issue, few studies have attempted to clarify the selection factors associated with male behaviour and fitness consequences in arthropods. In the millipede Brachycybe nodulosa, males curl their bodies around egg masses on the undersides of decaying logs. Male‐removal experiments in the laboratory strongly suggest that males defend the eggs against fungal infection. Orphaned eggs were soon covered by hyphae and no eggs hatched, whereas almost all eggs brooded by males successfully hatched. The egg‐brooding males showed no aggressive responses when disturbed. Only some mature males bred in the field. Furthermore, the number of eggs brooded varied greatly among the males. Selected generalized linear models revealed that males with a wide seventh body segment, which possesses gonopods (genital legs), tended to succeed in brooding; and males with a wider body also obtained more eggs. Colony attributes had no significant effects on male brooding. We discuss the possible sexual selection mechanisms that could accomplish this pattern of brooding success among male B. nodulosa.     

The origins of the arthropod nervous system: insights from the Onychophora

A revision of evolutionary relationships of the Arthropoda has provided fresh impetus to tracing the origins of the nervous system of this group of animals: other members of the Ecdysozoa possess a markedly different type of nervous system from both the arthropods and the annelid worms, with which they were previously grouped. Given their status as favoured sister taxon of the arthropods, Onychophora (velvet worms) are a key group for understanding the evolutionary changes that have taken place in the panarthropod (Arthropoda + Onychophora + Tardigrada) lineage. This article reviews our current knowledge of the structure and development of the onychophoran nervous system. The picture that emerges from these studies is that the nervous system of the panarthropod ancestor was substantially different from that of modern arthropods: this animal probably possessed a bipartite, rather than a tripartite brain; its nerve cord displayed only a limited degree of segmentation; and neurons were more numerous but more uniform in morphology than in living arthropods. These observations suggest an evolutionary scenario, by which the arthropod nervous system evolved from a system of orthogonally crossing nerve tracts present in both a presumed protostome ancestor and many extant worm-like invertebrates, including the onychophorans.     

Onychophoran‐like myoanatomy of the Cambrian gilled lobopodian Pambdelurion whittingtoni

Arthropods are characterized by a rigid, articulating, exoskeleton operated by a lever‐like system of segmentally arranged, antagonistic muscles. This skeletomuscular system evolved from an unsegmented body wall musculature acting on a hydrostatic skeleton, similar to that of the arthropods’ close relatives, the soft‐bodied onychophorans. Unfortunately, fossil evidence documenting this transition is scarce. Exceptionally‐preserved panarthropods from the Cambrian Lagerstätte of Sirius Passet, Greenland, including the soft‐bodied stem‐arthropod Pambdelurion whittingtoni and the hard‐bodied arthropods Kiisortoqia soperi and Campanamuta mantonae, are unique in preserving extensive musculature. Here we show that Pambdelurion's myoanatomy conforms closely to that of extant onychophorans, with unsegmented dorsal, ventral and longitudinal muscle groups in the trunk, and extrinsic and intrinsic muscles controlling the legs. Pambdelurion also possesses oblique musculature, which has previously been interpreted as an arthropodan characteristic. However, this oblique musculature appears to be confined to the cephalic region and first few body segments, and does not represent a shift towards arthropodan myoanatomy. The Sirius Passet arthropods, Kiisortoqia and Campanamuta, also possess large longitudinal muscles in the trunk, although, unlike Pambdelurion, they are segmentally divided at the tergal boundaries. Thus, the transition towards an arthropodan myoanatomy from a lobopodian ancestor probably involved the division of the peripheral longitudinal muscle into segmented units.     

Variation in the species composition and mean body size of an avian foliage-gleaning guild along an elevational gradient: correlation with arthropod body size

The composition of an avian foliage-gleaning guild was analyzed with respect to body size at nine sites along an elevational gradient in the Oregon Cascades. Mean body size decreased from 20.5 g near the lower forest boundary where it meets the grassland at about 775 m to 9.3 g near timberline at about 1720 m. Both the loss of larger species and the gain of smaller species contributed to the change. Mean volume of the foliage-dwelling arthropods also decreased with increasing elevation by two orders of magnitude along the same gradient. A significant decrease in body size occurred in three arthropod groups, larval Lepidoptera, Homoptera, and spiders, and of these, larval Lepidoptera dominated the overall size trend among arthropods. Both developmental differences (higher elevation sites are delayed seasonally on the same calendar date) and taxonomic differences contributed to the change in mean arthropod size. Mean bird size was positively correlated (r=0.93) with the body size of foliage-dwelling arthropods. A similar pattern was suggested for other avian guilds dependent directly or indirectly upon foliage-dwelling arthropods, but not for guilds independent of foliage-dwelling arthropods.     

Near infra-red sensitivity of the eye of the crustacean Mysis relicta?

When individuals of the crustacean Mysis relicta are fully dark-adapted and preparations for electroretinogramme recordings are performed in infra-red light of wavelength greater than 730 nm, responses to 300 ms flashes of light can be recorded. Though this is the first time that responses to such long wavelengths have ever been reported for any invertebrate photoreceptor, the authors suggest that near infra-red sensitivity in arthropods could be more widespread, and that because of very long adaptation and sensitivity regeneration times preparations should not be carried out in red light, hitherto deemed invisible to most arthropods, but with the aid of an infra-red image converter and a filter at wavelengths greater than 800 nm.     

Abundance, diversity and body size: patterns from a grassland arthropod community

1. The empirical relationships among body size, species richness and number of individuals may give insight into the factors controlling species diversity and the relative abundances of species. To determine these relationships, we sampled the arthropods of grasslands and savannahs at Cedar Creek, MN using sweep nets (90 525 individuals of 1225 species) and pitfall traps (12 721 individuals of 92 species). Specimens were identified, enumerated and measured to determine body size.
2. Both overall and within abundant taxonomic orders, species richness and numbers of individuals peaked at body sizes intermediate for each group. Evolution could create unimodal diversity patterns by random diversification around an ancestral body size or from size-dependent fitness differences. Local processes such as competition or predation could also create unimodal diversity distributions.
3. The average body size of a species depended significantly on its taxonomic order, but on contemporary trophic role only within the context of taxonomic order.
4. Species richness ( S _i) within size classes was related to the number of individuals ( I _i) as S _i =  I i^0·5. This relationship held across a 100 000-fold range of body sizes. Within size classes, abundance distributions of size classes were all similar power functions. A general rule of resource division, together with similar minimum population sizes, is sufficient to generate the relationship between species richness and number of individuals.
5. Smaller bodied species had slightly shallower abundance distributions and may, in general, persist at lower densities than larger species.
6. Our results suggest there may be fewer undescribed small arthropod species than previously thought and that most undescribed species will be smaller than arthropods.     

干旱区不同年龄灌丛斑块地面节肢动物的聚集效

以荒漠草原区6、15、24、36年生柠条灌丛为研究对象,调查了不同林龄灌丛内外土壤性质和地面节肢动物群落特征,分析了干旱区灌丛斑块生境中地面节肢动物群落随灌木林发育的变化特征.结果表明： 1)6年生林地只对土壤物理性质(土壤质地、含水量、pH和电导率)产生显著影响,从15年开始林地土壤有机质和养分(N、P)显著增加.2)在研究样地共捕获27个节肢动物类群,步甲科、拟步甲科和蚁科是优势类群.从6到15年生林地,地面节肢动物优势类群数减少,常见类群数增加.从15年生经24年生到36年生林地,灌丛内外类群组成差异先缩小后变大.36年生林地某些特殊的动物类群开始大量出现,如蜣螂在36年生林地灌丛中成为优势类群.3)6和24年生林地灌丛内外地面节肢动物群落结构差别较小,15和36年生林地灌丛内外地面节肢动物群落结构差异显著.4)林龄对灌丛内地面节肢动物的分布影响较大,而对灌丛外地面节肢动物的分布影响较小.灌丛发育过程通过对灌丛下微生境的改变如土壤质地、电导率、pH等来显著影响地面节肢动物的分布,并对灌丛外样地产生一定的辐射作用.干旱区灌丛发育过程对地面节肢动物聚集效应产生显著影响,在不同林龄阶段这种聚集效应表现不一,直接影响沙化草地生态系统的恢复过程.     

Complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of the Japanese spiny lobster,Panulirus japonicus (Crustacea: Decapoda)

We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial genome for a Japanese spiny lobster, Panulirus japonicus (Crustacea: Decapoda). The entire genome was amplified using long polymerase chain reaction, and the products were subsequently used as templates for direct sequencing using a primer-walking strategy. The genome (15,717 base pairs) contained the same 37 genes (two ribosomal RNA, 22 transfer RNA, and 13 protein-coding genes) plus the putative control region as found in other arthropods, with the gene order identical to that of typical arthropods. Preliminary phylogenetic analyses of selected arthropods using concatenated amino acid sequences of the 13 protein-coding genes strongly supported monophyly of Decapoda species and confidently rejected "Macroura", a conventional taxon that shares an elongated abdominal body.     

Early post-mortem changes and stages of decomposition in exposed cadavers

Decomposition of an exposed cadaver is a continuous process, beginning at the moment of death and ending when the body is reduced to a dried skeleton. Traditional estimates of the period of time since death or post-mortem interval have been based on a series of grossly observable changes to the body, including livor mortis, algor mortis, rigor mortis and similar phenomena. These changes will be described briefly and their relative significance discussed. More recently, insects, mites and other arthropods have been increasingly used by law enforcement to provide an estimate of the post-mortem interval. Although the process of decomposition is continuous, it is useful to divide this into a series of five stages: Fresh, Bloated, Decay, Postdecay and Skeletal. Here these stages are characterized by physical parameters and related assemblages of arthropods, to provide a framework for consideration of the decomposition process and acarine relationships to the body.     

The evolution of the Ecdysozoa

Ecdysozoa is a clade composed of eight phyla: the arthropods, tardigrades and onychophorans that share segmentation and appendages and the nematodes, nematomorphs, priapulids, kinorhynchs and loriciferans, which are worms with an anterior proboscis or introvert. Ecdysozoa contains the vast majority of animal species and there is a great diversity of body plans among both living and fossil members. The monophyly of the clade has been called into question by some workers based on analyses of whole genome datasets. We review the evidence that now conclusively supports the unique origin of these phyla. Relationships within Ecdysozoa are also controversial and we discuss the molecular and morphological evidence for a number of monophyletic groups within this superphylum.