The isolation and sequence of the chromosomal gene and regulatory regions of Ly-6A.2

The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to the GenBank nucleotide sequence database and have been assigned the accession number M73552.     

Phonotactic Behavior of Male Field Crickets (Gryllus texensis) in Response to Acoustic Calls From Conspecific Males

We studied male phonotactic behaviors elicited by acoustic cues that simulate conspecific male songs in the field cricket, Gryllus texensis. Males exhibited significant positive phonotaxis in response to the simulated song stimuli, but showed no such response to atypical song stimuli. We found no significant relationship between males’ own calling behavior and their phonotactic responses to the stimuli. Analyses indicated that larger males exhibited greater phonotactic responses, which may indicate a greater tendency to engage in aggressive interactions if size is an indicator of fighting ability. Male phonotactic responses were significantly weaker than those exhibited by females, and adult males did not exhibit stronger responses with increasing age as has been documented for females. Observed sex differences in the strengths of phonotactic responses may reflect differences in the fitness-payoffs of responding. That is, females are under strong selection pressure to respond to male songs and subsequently mate. In contrast, males responding to acoustic signals from other males need not precisely locate the signaler but would likely move to areas where females are likely to be found. Alternatively, males might benefit from avoiding areas with calling males and establishing their own calling stations away from competing males.     

Knowledge and use of fungi by a mycophilic society of the Venezuelan Amazon

This paper reports on the knowledge and useful applications of various fungi by the Hotï, a recently contacted Native American society inhabiting the Sierra Maigualida region of the Venezuelan Amazon. At least 31 folk taxa of fungi are esteemed as sources of nutrition, powerful media for hunting magic, protective charms against black magic, human medicinal agents, or body adornments. Even though the results presented here probably do not exhaust the total number of species known and used by them, they nevertheless suggest that the Hotï constitute one of the rare mycophilic societies in the Venezuelan Amazon. Further research is needed in order to obtain a more complete picture of the complexity of humanfungi relationships in this society.