Lepidotrachelophyllum fornicis,n. g., n. sp., a Ciliate with an External Layer of Organic Scales (Ciliophora,Litostomatea, Haptoria)1

Lepidotrachelophyllum fornicis n. g., n. sp. was discovered in White Lake, Ontario, Canada, under winter ice. The genus is Trachelophyllum-like, being highly flattened, elongate, and very extensible. The major feature that separates it from other genera in the family Trachelophyllidae is the presence of a dense layer of organic scales which covers the exterior of the cell and through which the cilia emerge. The scales are composed of filamentous material which is organized as an ovoid structure. The “rim” of the baseplate is formed of interwoven filaments. The baseplate is broken by circular or polygonal apertures. The same filaments form an arched superstructure broken by even larger, less regular apertures.     

Insights into the Evolution of Nuclear Dualism in the Ciliates Revealed by Phylogenetic Analysis of rRNA Sequences

The small subunit rRNA gene sequences of the karyorelictean ciliates, Loxodes striatus and Protocruzia sp., and the heterotrichian ciliates, Climacostomum virens and Eufolliculina uhligi , were used to test the evolution of nuclear dualism in the Phylum Ciliophora. Phylogenies derived using a least squares distance method, neighbour joining, and maximum parsimony demonstrate that the karyorelictean ciliates sensu Small and Lynn, 1985 do not form a monophyletic group. However, Loxodes and the heterotrich ciliates form the first branch in the ciliate lineage, and Protocruzia branches, in distance methods, basal to the spirotrich lineage. It is proposed that Protocruzia be removed from the Class Karyorelictea, and placed in closer taxonomic association with the spirotrich lineage. The distribution of nuclear division types along the phylogenetic tree is consistent with the notion that macronuclei incapable of division represent a derived rather than a primitive or "karyorelictid" character trait.     

Inbreeding effects on pair fecundity and population persistence

Despite strong empirical evidence of the harmful effects of inbreeding on fecundity, spontaneous recessive deleterious mutations are generally considered as acting on survival only in evolutionary models and population viability analyses. In this study, we modelled a species with separate sexes to assess the effect of selection on fecundity in small populations on the risk of extinction. We showed that the impact of inbreeding on short-term fitness changes and that population dynamics are strongly influenced by phenotypic interactions among males and females during reproduction. In particular, population persistence was found to be highly sensitive to the level at which selection acts (i.e. individual vs. pair) and to asymmetry among sexes (in terms of mutation rates and mutational effects).  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 86 , 467–476.     

Red anemone guild flowers as focal places for mating and feeding by Levant glaphyrid beetles

Several species of glaphyrid (Scarabaeoidea: Glaphyridae) beetles forage and mate on Mediterranean red bowl‐shaped flowers. In red anemones and poppies in Israel, female beetles occupy only a subset of the flowers, do not aggregate, and are hidden below the petals. This raises the question of how males find their mates. In the present study, we investigated the hypothesis that males and females orient to similar plant‐generated cues, thereby increasing their mate encounter prospects. Previous studies have demonstrated that beetle attraction to red models increases with display area. Choice tests with flowers and with models indicate that both male and female beetles prefer large displays. In anemones, beetles rest, feed, and mate mainly on male‐phase flowers, which are larger than female‐phase flowers. Poppies that contain beetles are larger than the population average. These findings support the hypothesis that males and females meet by orienting to large red displays. Corolla size correlates with pollen reward in both plant species, suggesting that visits to large flowers also yield foraging benefits. Male beetles often jump rapidly among adjacent flowers. By contrast to the preference for large flowers by stationary individuals, these jump sequences are random with respect to flower sex‐phase (in anemone) and size (in poppy). They may enable males to detect females at close range. We hypothesize that males employ a mixed mate‐searching strategy, combining orientation to floral signals and to female‐produced cues. The glaphyrids' preference for large flowers may have selected for extraordinarily large displays within the ‘red anemone’ pollination guild of the Levant. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99 , 808–817.     

Climate envelope, life history traits and the resilience of birds facing global change

Few studies have examined how life history traits and the climate envelope influence the ability of species to respond to climate change and habitat degradation. In this study, we test whether 18 species-specific variables, related to the climate envelope, ecological envelope and life history, could predict recent population trends (over 17 years) of 71 common breeding bird species in France. Habitat specialists were declining at a much higher rate than generalists, a sign that habitat quality is decreasing globally. The lower the thermal maximum (temperature at the hot edge of the climate envelope), the more negative are the population trends and the less tolerant these species are climate warming, regardless of the thermal range over which these species occur. The life history trait 'the number of broods per year' was positively related to recent trends, suggesting that single-brooded species might be more sensitive to advances in food peak due to climate change, as it increases the risk of mistiming their single-breeding event. Annual fecundity explained long-term declines, as it is a good proxy for most other demographic rates, with shorter-lived species being more sensitive to global change: individuals of species with higher fecundity might have too short a life to learn to adapt to directional changes in their environment. Finally, there was evidence that natal dispersal was a predictor of recent trends, with species with high natal dispersal experiencing smaller population declines than species with low natal dispersal. This is expected if the higher the natal dispersal, the larger the ability to shift spatially when facing changes in local habitat or climate, in order to track optimal conditions and adapt to global change. Identifying decline-promoting factors allow us to infer mechanisms responsible for observed declines in wild bird populations facing global change, and by doing so allow for a more pre-emptive approach to conservation planning.     

Changes in the Classification of Several Major Taxa of Ciliophora on the Basis of a Numerical Phenetic Analysis*,†

SYNOPSIS. Several taxonomic problems arising from recent revisions of the phylum Ciliophora. Initially, electro- and light-microscopic features of 7 species from 4 genera of colpodid ciliates were analyzed by several numerical phenetic procedures. The phenogram derived by using Jaccard's coefficient as the measure of similarity and the unweighted pair-group arithmetic clustering method (UPGMA) yielded a classification with the highest cophenetic correlation coefficient. Subsequently, relationships among 22 oligohymenophoran and related genera were determined by analyzing 57 ultrastructural and light-microscopic features with Jaccard's coefficient and UPGMA. On the basis of these results, the suborder Peniculina is elevated to ordinal rank and the family Turaniellidae is transferred from the Peniculida to the Tetrahymenina. The phenogram also indicated that the nassuline ciliates may be allied with the OLIGOHYMENOPHORA rather than the KINETOFRAGMINOPHORA.     

Establishment and development of patch reefs in the intracratonic Ordovician sequence near Chicoutimi, Quebec

Patch reefs occur near the top of the transgressive sequence of Ordovician Trenton Group limestones in the Chicoutimi area of Quebec, eastern Canada. Despite their small sue, these reefs comprise diverse assemblages dominated by bryozoans, corals, stromatoporoids and receptaculitid algae. Pelmatozoans and gastropods are also conspicuous. The reefs were initiated and grew in a fully marine, open shelf setting. Available substrates varied from loose skeletal lenses to soft, firm or hardened bioturbated wackestones, and the earliest stages of reef growth reflect this heterogeneity. Loose or less firm substrates were colonised by bryozoans and pelmatozoans and/or by receptaculitids, which, together with accessory organisms, stabilised the sediments and provided the basis for further reef development. The resultant firmer, slightly elevated substrates provided sites for attachment of stromatoporoids and colonial corals which spread over earlier reef organisms and sediments and dominated the later stages of reef growth. On hardened areas of sediment, stromatoporoids and corals colonised the surface directly and the early stabilising stage of reef growth is absent. The compositions and developmental stages of these Trenton Group reefs are comparable with those seen in broadly contemporaneous and often larger reefs elsewhere, and are among the earliest in which corals played an important role.     

Phylogeny of the bee family Melittidae (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) based on combined molecular and morphological data

The bee family Melittidae comprises a small, but biologically fascinating, group of mostly oligolectic bees, some of which are oil collecting. Phylogenetic relationships within this family are poorly understood and some genera cannot be placed with confidence at the subfamily level. We analysed melittid phylogeny using a combined dataset of five nuclear genes [28S, elongation factor‐1α (EF‐1α, F2 copy), long‐wavelength rhodopsin, Na‐K ATPase and RNA polymerase II] spanning 4842 bp plus 68 adult morphological characters. Our study included 25% of the species‐level diversity and 81% of the generic‐level diversity and included all previously recognized tribes and subfamilies. We analysed the dataset using parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. All methods yielded congruent results. All topologies recovered the three previously recognized subfamilies (Dasypodainae, Melittinae, Meganomiinae), but two genera (Afrodasypoda and Promelitta) are transferred from Dasypodainae to Melittinae. On the basis of our tree topologies we identify four tribes (Dasypodaini comb.n. , Hesperapini stat.n. , Macropidini comb.n. and Melittini), only one of which (Melittini) matches a widely used classification. Lastly, we discuss the evolution of host‐plant association in the light of our new phylogenetic hypothesis. Our results strongly support multiple independent origins of oil‐collecting behaviour in the Melittinae.     

Transpuparial transmission of Kashmir bee virus and sacbrood virus in the honey bee (Apis mellifera)

When particles of Kashmir bee virus (KBV) and sacbrood virus (SBV) were fed to larvae of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, in Australian colonies, the resulting pupae became in apparently infected. There was no statistically significant difference in the susceptibility of 1, 2, 3 or 4-day-old larvae for either virus, but 5-day-old larvae were significantly less susceptible to SBV than younger larvae. There was no significant difference in the proportions of pupae that became in apparently infected when, as larvae, they were fed various concentrations of each virus, but significantly more larvae were removed from their cells when fed concentrated preparations of each virus than when fed diluted preparations. Susceptible larvae that became in apparently infected with KBV and SBV developed normally into in apparently infected pupae and later, emerged as in apparently infected worker bees.