Seed beetle survivorship,growth and egg size plasticity in a paloverde hybrid zone

1. Although numerous studies have examined the ecology of plant resistance to herbivores and the distribution of herbivores within plant hybrid zones, few have examined how plant hybridization influences herbivore growth, development, or life history. The experiment reported here examines variation in survivorship, development time, and final adult body size of Stator limbatus reared on seeds of parental and hybrid Cercidium floridum-×-C. microphyllum trees from a paloverde hybrid zone in eastern California. Because S. limbatus exhibits egg size plasticity in response to host species, the size of eggs that females lay on hybrid and parental plants is also examined. 2. The hypotheses (a) that seeds of hybrid trees are intermediate between those of the two parental species in their resistance to penetration by S. limbatus larvae; (b) that seeds of hybrid trees are intermediate in their suitability for the growth of larvae that successfully penetrate the seed-coat; (c) that female S. limbatus can distinguish between hybrid trees and pure-bred trees, as quantified by the size of eggs they lay on seeds of each taxon, and (d) that female S. limbatus can distinguish among individual hybrid trees, are tested. 3. On average, S. limbatus survivorship was lower, development time longer, and emergence body mass lower on seeds of C. floridum than on seeds of C. microphyllum. Seeds of hybrid trees were, on average (across trees), intermediate between seeds of the parental species in the resistance of their seed-coats to penetration by S. limbatus larvae and in their suitability for larval growth. Individual hybrid trees also varied in the resistance of their seeds to, and the suitability of their seeds for, S. limbatus larvae. 4. Female S. limbatus laid significantly larger eggs on seeds of C. floridum than on seeds of C. microphyllum, and, on average, intermediate size eggs on hybrid trees. The size of eggs laid by females also varied among hybrid trees, with females laying C. floridum-sized eggs on some trees, and C. microphyllum-sized eggs on other trees. These results suggest that females have at least some ability to distinguish among hybrid trees, but there was no evidence that females laid larger eggs on poorer quality hybrid trees.     

Heterochrony in the Silurian radiation of encrinurine trilobites

Divergence of Silurian encrinurine trilobite clades from common ancestry may be modelled as hetero-chronic pattern. Comparing ontogenies of ancestral late Ordovician Encrinuroides and the descendant punctarus and uariolaris plexi of Silurian Encrinurus provides a test of this hypothesis. Heterochrony in the punctarus plexus is dissociated with respect to entire organisms, but regionally global throughout cranidia (paedomorphic states) and pygidia (peramorphic states). Regulatory dissociation may explain the apomorphous enrollment strategy of this group. The uariolaris plexus, for which a growth series of Balizoma dimitroui (Perry & Chatterton) provides ontogenetic data, shows a complex of peramorphic cephalic character states. Changes in developmental timing thus provide a mechanism by which morphologic and ecologic divergence of closely-related clades was catalyzed in the Llandovery encrinurine radiation. Paedomorphic and dissociated Lineages of the odontopleurid Leonaspis provide a comparable example of divergent heterochronic pattern associated with coexisting (in the same biofacies) species of comparatively recent common ancestry.     

Post-release survival of oiled, cleaned seabirds in North America

The number of days between ringing and recovery of oiled, cleaned and released seabirds was extremely low, usually a matter of a few days or weeks, and for three species was 5–100 times lower than for non-oiled birds. For oiled, cleaned Guillemots Una aalge , postrelease life expectancy was 9.6 days and long-term recovery rates were 10–20% of those of non-oiled birds. Measures of survival were not greater for oiled birds treated in recent years with modern methods. The cost and effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts for oiled seabirds need to be reexamined in the light of results showing low post-release survival.     

The interaction between the coastal brown ant,Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius), and other invertebrate fauna of Mt Coot-tha (Brisbane,Australia)

Abstract Sampling of invertebrate fauna was carried out on Mt Coot-tha, between 25 February and 11 March 1992, to determine whether the presence of the coastal brown ant, Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius), affected die abundance and diversity of other invertebrates. Four plots were sampled; in two the coastal brown ant was present and in two it was absent. The overall abundance of invertebrates did not differ significantly between plots. The abundance of Collembola did vary significantly, but intraplot variability was large. Mite numbers did not differ significantly between plots, except for the family Laelapidae. Abundance of other ant species did not differ significantly between plots, but there was a difference in species composition; Dolichoderinae and Ponerinae were absent or poorly represented in plots where the coastal brown ant was present.     

Melanosomal Tyrosine Transport in Normal and Pink-eyed Dilution Murine Melanocytes

Tyrosine is the endogenous substrate for melanin production within melanosomes, but the method of tyrosine transport into the melanosome has not been investigated. In the mouse, melanogenesis is disrupted by mutations in the p gene resulting in the pink-eyed dilution phenotype; it has been suggested that the p gene codes for a tyrosine transport protein. We determined that normal (melan-a) melanosome-rich granular fractions take up 10 μm [³H]tyrosine at 21.1 ± 6.1 (SEM, standard error of the mean) pmol/min/mg protein (N=7) compared with 21.3 ± 5.8 SEM pmol/min/mg protein (N=5) for pink-eyed dilution, whose plasma membrane tyrosine transport was also normal (K_m 89 μM; V_max 302 pmol/min/mg cell protein). We also demonstrated that pink-eyed dilution melanosomes are immature by virtue of their low density, high hexosaminidase activity, and lack of pigment. These data indicate that a tyrosine transport system exists in the melanosomal membrane and that the p gene does not encode a tyrosine transporter of critical importance.