CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IN INSECT COMMUNITIES: A GUIDE TO INSECT PHEROMONES WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON SOCIAL INSECTS

• 1 Chemical communication plays an important part in the lives of insects, and particularly in lives of those that live in groups or social organizations.
• 2 Chemicals which are used in communication in the general sense are called semiochemicals, and there are a number of subdivisions recognized under this title.
• 3 Pheromones are a category of semiochemicals which are used for communication between individuals of the same species.
• 4 Pheromones are in turn subdivided into primer and releaser pheromones. The former produce a relatively long-lasting physiological change in the receiver, and the latter stimulate the receiver to some immediate behavioural response.
• 5 Far more is known about releaser pheromones at present because they are easier to study.
• 6 Nine categories of releaser pheromone are recognized here, used by both social and non-social insects.
• 7 Sex pheromones are widely used to bring the sexes together for mating, and they have been extensively studied in Lepidoptera.
• 8 Invitation pheromones, encouraging the species to feed or oviposit at an explored site, are not extensively known.
• 9 Aggregation pheromones are designed to bring individuals together into groups which may be temporary in sub-social insects, or permanent in social insects.
• 10 Dispersal or spacing pheromones are used by other species to reduce intraspecific competition for scarce resources.
• 11 Alarm pheromones are a broad and sometimes unclearly defined group which communicate alarm or attack, chiefly in colonial species.
• 12 Trail pheromones, applied to a surface by an individual, to be followed by another, are confined to Hymenoptera, Isoptera and a few Lepidoptera as far as is known.
• 13 Territorial and home range pheromones may be widely distributed, but as yet few of them have been recognized.
• 14 Surface and funeral pheromones are even less well known. Surface pheromones may play a large part in species or colony recognition.
• 15 We can expect the number and complexity of pheromones to be much greater in social insects, a part of the subject which until now has received relatively less attention.
• 16 As our understanding of the subject grows we may expect other categories to be added to this list.

     

Effects of cyanogenesis in bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) on associated insects

Abstract. 1. The relationship between cyanogenesis in bracken fern and the insect fauna feeding on the plant was investigated over a 3 year period. The most common insects between May and July, while cyanide levels were high, were the sawflies Strongylogaster impressata Provancher, S.multicincta Norton, Aneug-menus fzavipes (Norton), the aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Thomas) and a microlepidopteran species of Monochroa .
2. Collections of insects from cyanogenic and acyanogenic fronds showed significantly fewer sawflies on the cyanogenic fronds. The aphid and the microlepidopteran were randomly distributed with respect to cyanogenicity.
3. Feeding tests for two of the sawfly species ( Simpressata and Smulticincta ) showed that larvae grew more slowly and had a higher mortality when raised on cyanogenic fronds than on acyanogenic ones.
4. Field collected cyanogenic bracken fronds were found to have sustained less damage from chewing herbivores compared with acyanogenic fronds.     

Preservation of in situ reef framework in regions of low hurricane frequency: Pleistocene of Curaçao and Bonaire, southern Caribbean

Luxuriant fringing reefs along the southwestern shores of the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire (12°N), located outside the most frequent hurricane tracks, are rarely affected by major storms. Consequently, reef growth and long-term preservation are potentially optimal and distinct from reefs experiencing greater hurricane frequency. Hurricane Lenny (November 1999) took an unusual west-to-east track, bisecting the Caribbean Basin north of these islands, but generated heavy waves (3-6  m) that severely damaged reefs along the normally leeward shores. Massive coral colonies >100 years old were toppled, but even at the most severely damaged sites, 82–85% of colonies remained in growth position. Late Pleistocene (125  ka) elevated reefs in the Lower Terrace of Curaçao record even higher proportions of corals in growth position (93%), possibly reflecting a low hurricane frequency during the Pleistocene highstand. In comparison, coeval Pleistocene reefs in regions that today experience a high hurricane frequency (Great Inagua Island and San Salvador, Bahamas) have lower proportions of corals preserved in growth position (79% and 38%, respectively). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that reefs in regions experiencing very low hurricane frequency, like the southern Caribbean, are more likely to be preserved with corals in primary growth position in comparison to regions with higher hurricane frequency.     

SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND MASS MORTALITY IN THE BASAL CERATOPSIAN DINOSAUR PSITTACOSAURUS (EARLY CRETACEOUS, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA)

Abstract:  An exceptionally preserved herd of the ceratopsian dinosaur Psittacosaurus was recovered from the Lujiatun Beds of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, north-east China. This specimen provides the earliest direct evidence of post-nestling gregarious behaviour in this important dinosaur clade. The sediment in which the skeletons occur represents a lahar (volcanic mudflow), indicating that the six individuals present were entombed simultaneously during a catastrophic mass mortality event. Reconstruction of the herd age profile shows it was composed of offspring from at least two clutches, revealing that group fidelity in these dinosaurs extended beyond time spent together in the nest. This demonstrates that sociality appeared much earlier in ceratopsian evolution than is generally acknowledged and that such behaviour preceded the evolution of the elaborate horns and frills seen in derived ceratopsids.     

TERTIARY NEOTROPICAL HERSILIIDAE (ARTHROPODA, ARANEAE) WITH NEW COMBINATIONS FOR THE EXTANT FAUNA AND COMMENTS ON HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY OF THE FAMILY

Abstract:  The Neotropical fossil amber Hersiliidae are revised. Prototama Petrunkevitch is a senior synonym of both Priscotama Petrunkevitch and Neotama Baehr and Baehr. Fictotama Petrunkevitch and Perturbator Petrunkevitch are removed from synonymy and are considered nomina dubia because the fossils are poorly preserved. The following new combinations are established for the fossil fauna: Prototama antiqua (Petrunkevitch), P. maior (Wunderlich), P. media (Wunderlich), and P. minor (Wunderlich), and for the extant fauna: P. cunhabebe (Rheims and Brescovit), P. forcipata (F. O. P.-Cambridge), P. longimana (Baehr and Baehr), P. mexicana (O. P.-Cambridge), P. obatala (Rheims and Brescovit), P. punctigera (Baehr and Baehr), P. rothorum (Baehr and Baehr) and P. variata (Pocock) (all ex Neotama ). It is predicted that at least one undiscovered, extant Prototama species exists on Hispaniola. Hersiliidae have a diverse fossil record. The presence of Oecobiidae, the sister taxon of the Hersiliidae, in New Jersey and Lebanese ambers predicts a minimum geological age of Early Cretaceous for the family. Fossils are of paramount importance in studies of historical biogeography but were not considered in earlier hypotheses regarding the palaeogeographical origins of the family. Previous conclusions that Hersiliidae originated in Africa are here considered to be speculative and unsupported.     

Delimitation of the maritime boundary in the gulf of Maine area

The compulsory dispute settlement regime included in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention is recognized as one of the most comprehensive in a modern international convention. Yet, in the recent application of this regime, the question has arisen as to whether the procedural prerequisites associated with the LOS Convention's compulsory dispute settlement mechanism are so arduous as to avoid binding and compulsory jurisdiction in most instances. This article addresses that question by examining, in particular, the reasoning of the Southern Bluefin Tuna arbitration tribunal, which found Article 281 of Section 1 of the LOS Convention to bar jurisdiction to the compulsory dispute settlement mechanism prescribed by the Convention, and offers suggestions as to how states might distinguish or overcome the barriers imposed by the Southern Bluefin Tuna tribunal in future cases.     

New Axonemal Dynein Heavy Chains from Tetrahymena thermophila

Two dyneins can be extracted from Tetrahymena ciliary axonemes. The 22S dynein contains three heavy chains (HC), sediments at 22S in a sucrose gradient, and makes up the outer arms. The 14S dynein contains two to six HCs, sediments at 14S, and is thought to contribute to formation of the inner arms. We have identified two large proteins that are extracted from Tetrahymena axonemes with high salt and that sediment together at approximately 18S. The two large proteins cleave when subjected to UV light in the presence of ATP and vanadate, suggesting both proteins are dynein HC. Antibodies against one of the 18S HCs do not recognize 22S dynein HCs. Antibodies to 22S dynein HC do not bind appreciably to 18S dynein photocleavage fragments. Taken together, these results indicate that the large proteins that sediment at 18S are axonemal dynein heavy chains.     

Soluble nitrogen and phosphorus excretion of exotic freshwater mussels (Dreissena spp.): potential impacts for nutrient remineralisation in western Lake Erie

1. Recent increases in phytoplankton biomass and the recurrence of cyanobacterial blooms in western Lake Erie, concomitant with a shift from a community dominated by zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) to one dominated by quagga mussels (D. bugensis), led us to test for differences in ammonia‐nitrogen and phosphate‐phosphorus excretion rates of these two species of invasive molluscs. 2. We found significant differences in excretion rate both between size classes within a taxon and between taxa, with zebra mussels generally having greater nutrient excretion rates than quagga mussels. Combining measured excretion rates with measurements of mussel soft‐tissue dry weight and shell length, we developed nutrient excretion equations allowing estimation of nutrient excretion by dreissenids. 3. Comparing dreissenid ammonia and phosphate excretion with that of the crustacean zooplankton, we demonstrated that the mussels add to nitrogen and phosphorus remineralisation, shortening nitrogen and phosphorus turnover times, and, importantly, modify the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in Lake Erie. The increased nutrient flux from dreissenids may facilitate phytoplankton growth and cyanobacterial blooms in well‐mixed and/or shallow areas of western Lake Erie.     

Description and Biology of A New Species of Cybocephalus Erichson (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), A Predator of Australian Citrus Whitefly

Cybocephalus aleyrodiphagus sp.n., a predator of Australian citrus whitefly, Orchamoplatus citri (Takahashi), is described from adults and larvae collected from southern New South Wales (where it appears to be the major natural enemy of O. citri ) and South Australia. Eggs of C. aleyrodiphagus are laid singly near egg circles of O. citri and larvae feed on eggs, crawlers and nymphs. Adults feed on all immature stages of O. citri. Reproductive, but not non-reproductive, females contain greater quantities of stearic, oleic and linoleic acid than males indicating the possible presence of a sex pheromone. In southern New South Wales, C. aleyrodiphagus sp.n. overwinters as non-reproductive adults and produces two adult generations during December-January and March-May. the sex ratio is close to 1:1 during October-December (overwintered adults) but male biased (2.2:1) during January-July (new generation adults). Trends of abundance for C. aleyrodiphagus correspond well with those for O. citri nymphs/pupae indicating a functional response of the predator to prey, despite disruption by foraging ants.