Italian Dermestidae: notes on some species and?an?updated checklist (Coleoptera)

An up-to-date checklist of the Italian Dermestidae is provided. The presence of 95 species in Italy is confirmed, while further 5 species (Dermestes (Dermestes) vorax Motschulsky, 1860, Thorictuspilosus Peyron, 1857, T. wasmanni Reitter, 1895, Attagenus (Attagenus) simonis Reitter, 1881 and Globicornis (G.) breviclavis (Reitter, 1878)) and 1 subspecies (A. (A.) tigrinus pulcher Faldermann, 1835) are excluded from the Italian fauna.Attagenus (Attagenus) calabricus Reitter, 1881 and A. (A.) lobatus Rosenhauer, 1856 are for the first time recorded from Abruzzi and Tuscany respectively; A. (A.) silvaticus Zhantiev, 1976 is recorded for the first time from mainland Italy (Apulia); Anthrenus (Anthrenus) angustefasciatus Ganglbauer, 1904 is new to northern Italy (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), central Italy (Tuscany), Apulia and Basilicata; A. (A.) munroi Hinton, 1943 is new to central Italy (Elba Island); A. (A.) delicatus Kiesenwetter, 1851 is for the first time recorded from Apulia; Globicornis (Globicornis) fasciata (Fairmaire & Brisout de Barneville, 1859) is new to southern Italy (Basilicata); G. (Hadrotoma) sulcata (C.N.F. Brisout de Barneville, 1866) is for the first time recorded from central Italy (Abruzzi), Campania and Sicily, whileTrogoderma inclusum LeConte, 1854 is new to Apulia.Seven species (Dermestes (Dermestes) peruvianus Laporte de Castelnau, 1840, D. (Dermestinus) carnivorus Fabricius, 1775, D. (Dermestinus) hankae Háva, 1999, D. (Dermestinus) intermedius intermedius Kalík, 1951, D. (Dermestinus) szekessyi Kalík, 1950, Anthrenus (Anthrenops) coloratus Reitter, 1881 and Trogodermaangustum (Solier, 1849)) recently recorded from Italy (without further details) are discussed.The lectotype and a paralectotype are designated forAttagenus (A.) calabricus Reitter, 1881 from Calabria.Attagenus pellio (Linnaeus, 1758) var. pilosissimus Roubal, 1932 is removed from synonymy with A. (A.) pellio and recognized as a valid species (stat. prom.); it is known from Lombardy, Apulia and Calabria.     

Metabolic compensation constrains the temperature dependence of gross primary production

Gross primary production (GPP) is the largest flux in the carbon cycle, yet its response to global warming is highly uncertain. The temperature dependence of GPP is directly linked to photosynthetic physiology, but the response of GPP to warming over longer timescales could also be shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes that drive variation in community structure and functional trait distributions. Here, we show that selection on photosynthetic traits within and across taxa dampens the effects of temperature on GPP across a catchment of geothermally heated streams. Autotrophs from cold streams had higher photosynthetic rates and after accounting for differences in biomass among sites, biomass‐specific GPP was independent of temperature in spite of a 20 °C thermal gradient. Our results suggest that temperature compensation of photosynthetic rates constrains the long‐term temperature dependence of GPP, and highlights the importance of considering physiological, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms when predicting how ecosystem‐level processes respond to warming.     

Integrative taxonomy and evolutionary history of a newly revealed spider Dysdera ninnii complex (Araneae: Dysderidae)

The spider genus Dysdera is a species‐rich clade of specialized woodlice predators, composed typically of complexes of sibling species. Here, we analyse the Dysdera ninnii complex, distinguishing three species that exhibit slight but constant differences in the morphology of their copulatory organs, and in their genetic background. We designate a neotype for D. ninnii and redescribe it. We consider Dysdera pavesii Thorell, 1873 to be a junior synonym of Dysdera ninnii Canestrini, 1868. In addition, we describe two new species ( D ysdera moravica sp. nov. and D ysdera microdonta sp. nov. ). All three species occur in the region of north‐eastern Italy, Slovenia, and north‐western Croatia. D ysdera moravica sp. nov. expanded to central Europe. The species occur allopatrically or parapatrically. All three species possess the same diploid number and X0 sex chromosome determination. In some individuals we found chromosome fusions, and such polymorphism is common in spiders with holokinetic chromosomes. The analysis of mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, COI) and nuclear ribosomal (internal transcribed spacer 2, ITS2) DNA markers revealed two clades, one formed by D. ninnii and D . microdonta sp. nov. , and a second by D . moravica sp. nov. Species of the first clade are not well defined by DNA markers. We noticed only weak separation of maternally inherited COI, and even overlap of autosomally inherited ITS2 sequences. We suggest that either short speciation time, unfinished lineage sorting, or rare hybridization events caused this pattern. In one sample of D . microdonta sp. nov. we detected the coxA gene of a Rickettsia species, which is the first record of this parasitic bacteria from the spider family Dysderidae. D ysdera microdonta sp. nov. occurs at higher altitudes than D. ninnii, and their distribution ranges form a long contact zone. Remarkably, we did not record any overlap of the two distribution ranges, suggesting that the lack of a precopulatory interspecific barrier causes a loss of reproduction potential. We hypothesize that because of the unsolved interspecific barrier together with only tiny differences in morphology and COI sequences, and no differences in karyotypes and ITS2 sequences, the D. ninnii species complex is evolutionarily young. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London     

Expression of HLA-DR antigens on tumour cells does not contribute to skin reactivity to autologous cholesteryl hemisuccinate (CHS)-treated tumour cells in patients with metastatic melanoma

Summary Skin tests with autologous cholesteryl hemisuccinate (CHS)-treated and untreated cells were performed in ten metastatic melanoma patients. In the majority of cases evident reaction was noted with CHS-treated cells (9/10) while the reaction with untreated cells was mostly negative (7/10). Tumour cell suspensions used for skin tests were characterized for reactivity with monoclonal antibody TAL 1B5 detecting the HLA-DR alpha chain. There were no differences between CHS-treated and untreated cells with respect to HLA-DR expression and no correlation was found between grade of skin reaction to CHS-treated cells and the proportion of HLA-DR positive cells in the injected cell sample.     

Decomposing trends in bird populations: Climate,life histories and habitat affect different aspects of population change

Aim

Despite the complexity of population dynamics, most studies concerning current changes in bird populations reduce the trajectory of population change to a linear trend. This may hide more complex patterns reflecting responses of bird populations to changing anthropogenic pressures. Here, we address this complexity by means of multivariate analysis and attribute different components of bird population dynamics to different potential drivers.

Location

Czech Republic.

Methods

We used data on population trajectories (1982–2019) of 111 common breeding bird species, decomposed them into independent components by means of the principal component analysis (PCA), and related these components to multiple potential drivers comprising climate, land use change and species' life histories.

Results

The first two ordination axes explained substantial proportion of variability of population dynamics (42.0 and 12.5% of variation in PC1 and PC2 respectively). The first axis captured linear population trend. Species with increasing populations were characterized mostly by long lifespan and warmer climatic niches. The effect of habitat was less pronounced but still significant, with negative trends being typical for farmland birds, while positive trends characterized birds of deciduous forests. The second axis captured the contrast between hump-shaped and U-shaped population trajectories and was even more strongly associated with species traits. Species migrating longer distances and species with narrower temperature niches revealed hump-shaped population trends, so that their populations mostly increased before 2000 and then declined. These patterns are supported by the trends of total abundances of respective ecological groups.

Main Conclusion

Although habitat transformation apparently drives population trajectories in some species groups, climate change and associated species traits represent crucial drivers of complex population dynamics of central European birds. Decomposing population dynamics into separate components brings unique insights into non-trivial patterns of population change and their drivers, and may potentially indicate changes in the regime of anthropogenic effects on biodiversity.     

Microtriches of tetraphyllidean metacestodes from Western Mediterranean striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba)

The tegumental structures of two types of tetraphyllidean plerocercoids and two types of merocercoids (Phyllobothrium delphini and Monorygma grimaldii) from Mediterranean striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba, are described for the first time using scanning electron microscopy. The tegument of all of the specimens was fully covered with microtriches. Four basic types were found: filitriches, blade-like spinitriches of different sizes and shapes, cone-shaped spinitriches (with two parallel small projections of equal length at the apex), and crowned cylindrical spinitriches (with 6-7 small papillae forming a crown at the apex); the two latter types are newly described. The two types of plerocercoids had a similar morphology and distribution of microtriches; in addition, cilium-like projections appeared interspersed among the microtriches on the apical sucker, accessory suckers, and distal bothridial loculus. Merocercoids exhibited a greater variety of tegumental structures, especially on the distal bothridial loculus. Both merocercoid types had regularly spaced papillae or "buttons" on the accessory suckers and the distal bothridial loculus that were composed of a central cilium-like projection surrounded by numerous filitriches. However, crowned cylindrical spinitriches were specific to P. delphini and cone-shaped spinitriches were specific to M. grimaldii. Differences in the morphology and distribution of scolex microtriches of adult cestodes have been considered useful for species identification. A previous molecular study has suggested that P. delphini and M. grimaldii are actually different congeneric species. Our study has shown that significant differences in the morphology and distribution of microtriches occur between these species at the merocercoid stage.