SOME NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY OF THE CLICK BEETLES AGRIOTES OBSCURUS L. AND A. SPUTATOR L.

Wire-worms rarely occur in permanent arable land in sufficient numbers to cause serious damage to crops. Various workers (e.g. Roebuck, 1924; Hawkins, 1936; Miles & Cohen, 1941) have noted the reduction in numbers of wireworms in successive years on ploughed-out grassland. At Rothamsted reductions of 62 % in one year and 85 % in two years were recorded on plots on Highfield. This reduction is certainly due in part to the exposure of wireworms to their natural enemies and to the direct effect of disturbance by implements of cultivation. It has also frequently been suggested that the beetles prefer to oviposit on grassland or clover leys and to a lesser extent on cereal crops (Bryson, 1930; Rawlins, 1934; Balachowsky & Mesnil, 1935; Miles & Cohen, 1938). A laboratory experiment to test this point was accordingly carried out in June 1940.     

中国丽叩甲属的新种新纪录（鞘翅目：叩甲科）

丽叩甲属Campsosternus是叩甲科中较大形而且十分美丽的一个类群,全身具有明亮的金属光泽,很易识别。该属由法国Latreille 1834年建立,属模种为C.auratus(Drury);在此之前,所发表的丽叩甲种类大多归属在当时的叩甲属Elater中。十九世纪下半叶法国学者Candeze在他的叩甲专著中将这个类群归属在绒鳞叩甲族Chalcolepidiides中,大多数学者沿用了这一系统,并进行了适当的调整,将绒鳞叩甲族上升为绒鳞叩甲亚科Chalcolepidiinae。Fleutiaux 1927年将丽叩甲属从绒鳞叩甲亚     

橐吾属的分类系统

橐吾属是菊科(Compositae)中的一个大属,全世界约有130种,主产亚洲温带地区,仅少数几个种分布至欧洲。我国有111种,大部分种类产西南地区。本属依据形态特征分为6个组。     

THE GENETICS AND EVOLUTION OF CANNIBALISM IN FLOUR BEETLES (GENUS TRIBOLIUM)

Cannibalism plays a major role in population regulation in Tribolium confusum, accounting for up to tenfold differences in population size between different genetic strains. I characterized the within- and between-strain genetic variation for cannibalism using standard quantitative-genetic methods. The four laboratory strains studied have similar birth and death rates but differ in their strain-specific cannibalistic tendencies. The cannibalism rates of the strains were stable for more than 60 generations of laboratory husbandry. I found considerable genetic variation for cannibalism within each strain. A genetic analysis of the between-strain differences in each of three types of cannibalism (larvae eating eggs, adults eating eggs, and adults eating pupae) showed that all three cannibalism pathways are autosomally inherited and exhibit minor degrees of dominance. Adult cannibalism of eggs and larval cannibalism of eggs appear to be genetically correlated. The differences between the “high” and “low” cannibalism strains appear to be polygenic for two kinds of cannibalism, larvae eating eggs and adults eating pupae. However, strain differences in adult cannibalism of eggs may be due to only two loci. The stability of the between-strain differences for more than 60 generations, the additive nature of inheritance, and the demonstration of considerable within-strain genetic variation suggest that cannibalism may be selectively neutral or under stabilizing selection with many adaptive peaks.     

INTERGENIC EXCHANGE, GEOGRAPHIC ISOLATION, AND THE EVOLUTION OF BIOLUMINESCENT COLOR FOR PYROPHORUS CLICK BEETLES

Gene duplication is an evolutionary process in which the emergent property of the whole can become greater and different than the sum of its parts. One potential outcome for gene duplication is for loci to evolve different, yet related functions. In this case, intergenic exchange can shuffle blocks of differentiated nucleotides between paralogues to create new alleles and phenotypes rather than simply homogenize loci. Bioluminescent click beetles in the genus Pyrophorus (Coleoptera: Elateridae) provide an opportunity to explore the creative potential of intergenic exchange for gene family evolution. Pyrophorus beetles bioluminesce different light colors from a pair of dorsal light organs and a ventral light organ. The light organs are under the separate genetic control of dorsal and ventral luciferase loci. Here, we report that intergenic exchange is common between dorsal and ventral loci for beetles from Jamaica ( P. plagiophthalamus ), the Dominican Republic ( P. mellifluous ), Belize ( P. luscus ), and Trinidad ( P. noctilucus ). We also present evidence that periods of past geographic isolation for beetles on Jamaica, probably acting in concert with selection, built differentiated blocks of substitutions within dorsal and ventral P. plagiophthalamus luciferase loci. Gene flow and intergenic exchange subsequently shuffled these substitutions between dorsal and ventral loci to produce new color phenotypes on Jamaica, including a yellow–green polymorphism. We discuss the possibility of a previously unrecognized emergent evolutionary property of intergenic exchange for luciferase involving cycles of bioluminescent color change related to differences in selective constrains acting on dorsal versus ventral loci. We also explore whether intergenic exchange may commonly create novel variation and the potential for cyclic evolution in other multigene family systems.     

THE RHYTHMIC SPAWNING BEHAVIOUR OF LITTORINA LITTOREA (L.)

Daily intertidal plankton samples have established a semi-lunarperiodicity of spawning in Littorina littorea (L.). Within thegeneral pattern of seasonal spawning, the density of egg capsulesin the surface waters and the state of development of the embryosshow that oviposition takes place on both full and new moonspring tides (Received 25 August 1978;     

甘草属分类系统与新分类群的研究

作者根据化学成分与比较形态学相结合的原则,提出甘草属(Glycyrrhiza L.)的新分类系统。通过研究本属种质资源,本文命名6个新种:阿拉尔甘草(G.alalensis X.Y.Li,sp.nov。),无腺毛甘草(G.eglandulosa X.Y.Li,sp.nov.),紫花甘草(G.purpureiflora X.Y.Li,sp.nov.),垂花甘草(G.nutantiflora X.Y.Li,sp.nov.),平卧甘草(G.prostraca X.Y.Li et D.C.F.sp.nov.),疏花甘草(G.laxiflora X.Y.Li et D.C.F.sp.nov。),归并了Meristotropis Fisch.et Mey.和Glycyrrhizapsis Boiss.。并将以上两属的3个种作了重新组合:对粗毛甘草(G.aspera Pall.)作了重新描述,对圆果甘草(G.squamulosa Franch.)作了补充描述。     

A STUDY OF A FIELD POPULATION OF THE BLOWFLIES LU CILIA CAESAR (L.) AND L. SERICATA (MG.)

Attempts to measure the dispersion, population density and longevity of blowflies are described. The experiments were made at Aber, Caernarvonshire, in 1943 on a narrow strip of coastal farm land (if x f ml.). Two liberations of laboratory-bred Lucilia sericata (Mg.) were made. On the second occasion 286 flies of each sex were marked, and nine males and nineteen females were captured, the last capture occurring 15 days after liberation. The population density of this species was estimated to be approximately seven males and sixteen females per acre for the 840-acre strip on the day of the second liberation.
On 24 days during the period 20 August–20 September 1943, field-caught L. caesar (L.) females were marked, and trapping both by meat and chemical baits was continued for a further 3 weeks. 3600 females were marked, 847 being recaptured at least once, and sixteen on at least four occasions. In the later part of the blowfly season, a life of 5–6 weeks is apparently not unusual for L. caesar females. The population drawn upon by the traps at the liberation centre fluctuated between 700 and 30,000 during the 4-week period. This may have represented a very localized concentration equivalent to 6–238 females per acre. Dispersion of marked L. caesar was low. On the assumption of a maximum spread of 5 miles, some 63 % of the marked flies remained within 4 mile of the liberation centre.     

EVOLUTION OF ADULT MORPHOLOGY AND LIFE-HISTORY CHARACTERS IN CAVERNICOLOUS PTOMAPHAGUS BEETLES

Morphological and life-history characters were determined for a series of six increasingly cavernicolous species of eastern United States Ptomaphagus beetles. Contrary to expectations, dimensions of only some adult structural characters uniformly covary as an overall measure of evolutionary adaptation for cave life. Adult reproductive characters that show adaptation for cave life are loss of reproductive seasonality and production of fewer and larger eggs. Significant change in pre-imaginal life-cycle stages was not found. This is in contrast to cavernicolous bathysciine beetles of Europe which show remarkable adaptive trends in pre-imaginal stages, but larval adaptations are not strongly coevolved with adult cave-adaptive characters. This suggests that evolution of cave adaptation in adult endopterygote insects occurs before and independently from that in larvae.     

亚洲玉米螟蛾趋光行为及复眼结构节律性研究

用行为实验和光学显微镜观察比较了夜间暗适应处理和日间暗适应处理的亚洲玉米螟蛾Ostrinia furnacalis(Guenee)趋光反应及小眼的显微结构。(1)夜间暗适应处理组的趋光反应率明显高于日间暗适应处理组。5个照度行为实验中,前者最高反应率达80%,最低23%,总反应率近48%,而后者分别只有35%、10%和21%。(2)夜间暗适应与日间暗适应的复眼其屏蔽色素分布大体相同,但小网膜细胞核的分布区域有明显差异,表明亚洲玉米螟蛾小眼结构变化存在一定的节律性。这种结构节律变化可能是导致趋光反应昼夜差异的原因之一。