Physiological Aspects of Time of Application of Copper to Wheat Plants

Time of application of Cu as soil dressing or foliar spray hadlarge effects on grain yield of wheat plants grown in Cu-deficientsoil in the glasshouse. Times of application of Cu (4 mg perpot in one dose) ranged from sowing to maturity in weekly intervals.The soil dressing of Cu produced excellent grain yield if appliedany time from sowing to early boot stage. Little or no grainformed on any tillers which had passed this critical early bootstage at the time of application; the pollen produced by thesetillers was non-viable, anthers were not exserted, and maturationwas delayed. These results suggest that microsporogenesis wasinterrupted by Cu deficiency at or near meiosis. Tillering wasthe optimum time for foliar application of Cu (CuSO₄ + Ca(0H)₂in suspension); early or late applications failed to producegrain. However, this form of Cu proved unsatisfactory for foliarapplication under glasshouse conditions, possibly owing to theabsence of rain or dew.     

Was the Oligo‐Miocene Australian metatherian Yalkaparidon a ‘mammalian woodpecker’?

One of the most striking examples of convergent evolution within mammals is the suite of anatomical specializations shared by the primate Daubentonia of Madagascar and the marsupial Dactylopsila of Australia and New Guinea. Having last shared a common ancestor over 125 million years ago, these two genera have independently evolved extremely similar adaptations for feeding on xylophagous (wood-boring) insect larvae. These include enlarged incisors to gouge holes in wood, cranial modifications to strengthen the skull against the stresses generated by wood gouging and elongate manual digits that are used as probes to extract the larvae. Elsewhere in the world, the same ecological niche is filled by birds (woodpeckers or morphologically convergent forms) that use their beaks for wood gouging. An extinct group of eutherian mammals, the apatemyids, exhibit very similar craniodental and postcranial adaptations to Daubentonia and Dactylopsila and presumably also occupied the woodpecker niche. A qualitative analysis of characters of the skull and dentition of the enigmatic Oligo-Miocene Australian metatherian Yalkaparidon – specifically its combination of very large, open-rooted incisors, zalambdodont molars and features to strengthen the skull against rostral bending – supports the hypothesis that it is probably a fourth 'mammalian woodpecker'. Discovery of the (as yet unknown) manus of Yalkaparidon will test this hypothesis by revealing whether any of its digits are elongate.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 97 , 1–17.     

The first British record and a new species of the superfamily Terrestricytheroidea (Crustacea, Ostracoda): morphology, ontogeny, lifestyle and phylogeny

Terrestricythere elisabethae sp. nov. is described from a semiterrestrial coastal habitat at two sites in Hampshire, southern England. It is the first record of a living population of the genus outside the Far East (north-west Pacific). Based on extensive collections and from observations of cultures, its morphology is described (including a formal definition of the unique 'visordont' hinge), as well as its ontogeny and lifestyle (encompassing habitat, life cycle, mode of life and locomotion). A further new species from Somerset, south-west England is also recorded on the basis of a single specimen but left in open nomenclature. The affinities of the Terrestricytheroidea are discussed in the context of a tentative phylogeny of podocopan Ostracoda. Both carapace and appendage characters are such as to warrant maintaining it as a separate superfamily, which is more closely related to the Cytheroidea and Darwinuloidea than to the Cypridoidea.  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 142 , 253–288.     

Using geophysical information to define benthic habitats in a large river

1. Most attempts to describe the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in large rivers have used local (grab‐scale) assessments of environmental conditions, and have had limited ability to account for spatial variation in macroinvertebrate populations. 2. We tested the ability of a habitat classification system based on multibeam bathymetry, side‐scan sonar, and chirp sub‐bottom seismics to identify large‐scale habitat units (‘facies’) and account for macroinvertebrate distribution in the Hudson River, a large tidal river in eastern New York. 3. Partial linear regression analysis showed that sediment facies were generally more effective than local or positional variables in explaining various aspects of the macroinvertebrate community (community structure, density of all invertebrates, density of fish forage, density of a pest species –Dreissena polymorpha). 4. Large‐scale habitats may be effective at explaining macroinvertebrate distributions in large rivers because they are integrative and describe habitat at the spatial scales of dominant controlling processes.     

Function, homology and terminology in insect wings

Abstract. The history of current systems of wing nomenclature is summarized, and the underlying principles reviewed. The homologies of wing areas are clarified, with particular reference to the functions and positions of longitudinal lines of bending in the wings. Distinction is drawn between flexion-lines, primarily aerodynamic in function, and fold-lines, which are primarily concerned with wing-folding. Of these the claval furrow - a flexion-line - and the jugal fold-line are, when recognizable, nearly constant in position, and are hence valid area boundaries and useful landmarks in vein identification. The vannal fold-line and the median flexion-line are variable in position, and hence unsatisfactory area boundaries. The nature and functioning of fold- and flexion-lines in the axilla of Locusta are described and illustrated, and names are proposed. Conflicting aspects of commonly-used systems of wing terminology are evaluated; and illustrated recommendations are put forward for consistent naming of veins, branches and wing areas.