The mating speed in Oligonychus gossypii (Zacher) (Tetranychidae: Acarina)

The number of mated pairs in laboratory populations of the spider mite, O. gossypii increases with time, but levels off by 30–35th min of a 60 min observation period. This levelling off results from a progressive decline in the numbers of sexually active adults available in the population. Non-maters constitute about one-fourth of the laboratory populations at all density levels. Irrespective of the density and reversal of sex ratio, the shape of the mating curve remains the same.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila bipectinata</Emphasis> species complex: phylogenetic relationship among different members based on chromosomal variations

Making interspecific hybridizations, where possible remains an unparalleled option for studying the intricacies of speciation. In the Drosophila bipectinata species complex comprising of four species, namely D. bipectinata, D. parabipectinata, D. malerkotliana and D. pseudoananassae, interspecific hybrids can be obtained in the laboratory, thus bequeathing an ideal opportunity for studying speciation and phylogeny. With the view of investigating the degree of divergence between each species pair, we planned to study the polytene chromosomes of the F ₁ hybrids, as it would mirror the level of compatibility between the genomes of the parental species. Two sets of crosses were made, one involving homozygous strains of all four species from India and the other including homozygous strains from different places across the globe. Polytene chromosomes of F ₁ larvae from both sets of crosses had similar configurations. In F ₁ larvae from crosses involving D. bipectinata, D. parabipectinata and D. malerkotliana, complex configurations (depicting overlapping inversions) could be detected in different arms. However, they were fairly synapsed, indicating that the differences are only at the level of gene arrangements. The polytene chromosomes of larvae obtained by crossing D. pseudoananassae with the other three species were very thin with gross asynapsis in all the arms, demonstrating that the genome of D. pseudoananassae is widely diverged from rest of the species. The overlapping inversions (reflected in complex configuration), are inferred in the light of earlier chromosomal studies performed in this complex.     

A High Arctic soil ecosystem resists long‐term environmental manipulations

We evaluated above‐ and belowground ecosystem changes in a 16 year, combined fertilization and warming experiment in a High Arctic tundra deciduous shrub heath (Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, NU, Canada). Soil emissions of the three key greenhouse gases (GHGs) (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) were measured in mid‐July 2009 using soil respiration chambers attached to a FTIR system. Soil chemical and biochemical properties including Q₁₀ values for CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O, Bacteria and Archaea assemblage composition, and the diversity and prevalence of key nitrogen cycling genes including bacterial amoA, crenarchaeal amoA, and nosZ were measured. Warming and fertilization caused strong increases in plant community cover and height but had limited effects on GHG fluxes and no substantial effect on soil chemistry or biochemistry. Similarly, there was a surprising lack of directional shifts in the soil microbial community as a whole or any change at all in microbial functional groups associated with CH₄ consumption or N₂O cycling in any treatment. Thus, it appears that while warming and increased nutrient availability have strongly affected the plant community over the last 16 years, the belowground ecosystem has not yet responded. This resistance of the soil ecosystem has resulted in limited changes in GHG fluxes in response to the experimental treatments.