Revision of Dennyus (Collodennyus) lice (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae) from swiftlets, with descriptions of new taxa and a comparison of host–parasite relationships

Lice of the subgenus Dennyus ( Collodennyus ) are host specific, permanent parasites of swiftlets (Aves: Apodidae). As a prelude to a test of the hypothesis that these lice have cospeciated with their hosts, we revise the taxonomy of the subgenus, redescribing the seven previously recognized species, and adding thirteen new species and three new subspecies. All twenty-three of these louse taxa are found on swiftlets (Apodiformes: Apodidae), with four from hosts of the genus Collocalia , eighteen from Aerodramus , and one from Hydrochous . Successful identification is associated in most cases with females; males are only tenuously separable. A complete host–parasite list for the subgenus Collodennyus is provided, as well as a key for the identification of these taxa. Limited morphological variation within the subgenus has prevented ready extraction of discrete characters for cladistic analysis. In the absence of such characters, a cluster analysis of female and male lice is presented. Comparison of a dendrogram for Dennyus ( Collodennyus ) with a molecular phylogeny for the swiftlet hosts suggests that the history of the swiftlet–louse association has been complex, including episodes of host switching and independent speciation by the lice.     

Intraspecific Strategic Responses of African Elephants to Temporal Variation in Forage Quality

ABSTRACT Mammalian herbivores adopt foraging strategies to optimize nutritional trade-offs against restrictions imposed by body size, nutritional requirements, digestive anatomy, physiology, and the forage resource they exploit. Selective or generalist feeding strategies scale with body size across species. However, within species, where constraints should be most similar, responses to limitation have rarely been examined. We used African elephants (Loxodonta Africana) to test for changes in seasonal diet quality of individuals of differing body size and sex through measurement of fecal nitrogen and phosphorus. We measured physiological stress response of these age and sex classes to seasonal change by fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels (i.e., stress hormones). Large body size increased tolerance to lower-quality forage. Adult males and females exhibited divergent trends; females had higher diet quality than males, irrespective of body size. When limited by forage availability or quality during the dry season, diet quality declined across all body sizes, but weaned calves ingested a higher-quality diet than larger-bodied adults. On release from restriction during the wet season, weaned calf nitrogen concentrations were consistently high and stress hormone levels decreased, whereas adult female phosphorus levels were highest and less variable and stress hormone levels were unchanged. The ability to adjust forage quality is an important strategy used to ensure adequate nutritional intake according to body size limitations. Although body size is a key determining factor of dietary differences between adult elephants, foraging strategies are also driven by specific nutritional requirements, which may override the body size effects driving foraging decisions in some cases. The diversity of intraspecific response highlights ecologically segregated entities within a species and should be a concern for population management planning, particularly for threatened species. Fecal diet quality and stress hormone analysis could provide an early and sensitive indicator for monitoring age and sex class responses to resource restriction in high-density elephant populations.     

Regulation of Crustacean Molting: A Multi-Hormonal System

SYNOPSIS. In order to increase in size, arthropods must firstmolt (shed) their confining exoskeleton. This molting processis under the immediate control of the steroid molting hormone20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE). Both the initial rise in circulatinghormone concentration and a coordinated decline are necessaryfor successful molting. Synthesis and/or release of ecdysone,the precursor to 20-HE, is regulated by the neuropeptide molt-inhibitinghormone (MIH). We have determined the primary amino acid sequenceof MIH in the lobster, Homarus americanus. This peptide hasa high degree of identity with the lobster hyperglycemic hormone.Another endocrine factor that appears to be involved in moltingis the juvenile hormone-like terpenoid methyl farnesoate (MF).We have characterized hemolymph MF binding proteins during themolt cycle. In addition, recent data indicate that MF may stimulatethe secretion of 20-HE in vivo and in vitro.     

A new family of lithophoran Proseriata (Platyhelminthes), with the description of seven new species from the Indo‐Pacific and South America,and the proposal of three new genera

In this contribution a new representative of the taxon Meidiama Marcus, 1946, Meidiama uruguayensis sp. nov. , from Uruguay, is described, as are six more new species, for which three new genera are proposed: Dreuxiola philippi gen. nov. sp. nov. , from the French subantarctic archipelago Kerguelen; Yorknia aprostatica gen. nov. sp. nov. ; Serrula byronensis gen. nov. sp. nov. ; Serrula maxillaria sp. nov. ; Serrula concharum sp. nov. ; and Serrula acuta sp. nov. , from eastern Australia and Tasmania. Arguments are presented to propose a new taxon to contain these new species, rather than include them in the Archimonocelididae Meixner, 1938 (of which Meidiama has been considered a member so far), as well as to remove the Calviriinae Martens & Curini‐Galletti from the Archimonocelididae to become a separate taxon Calviriidae. Possible autapomorphies for the three families are discussed. It is also concluded that, with the present state of our knowledge, no sound indications can be given about close relationships. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 155 , 759–773.