Avian nest predation by a semi-captive collared lemur (Lemur fulvus collaris)

A lemur (Lemur fulvus collaris) in a semi-captive group of six animals at the Duke University Primate Center (DUPC) was observed eating an egg from the nest of a mourning dove (Zenaida macroura). The manner in which the animal had been foraging prior to this incident, and the fact that wild birds at the DUPC frequently direct antipredator behaviors, such as mobbing toward thisL. f. collaris group, suggest that nest predation is part of normal foraging behavior in these animals.     

Sexual selection and the mating system of Argusianus argus (Aves: Phasianidae)

A study of the Great Argus pheasant Argusianus argus is described. Cleared display sites are owned each by a single male which calls to attract females, while other adult and subadult males maintain no such sites. Evidence is presented to show that vocal differences between males at display sites are slight and unstable, and are therefore unlikely to be used by females in mate choice. No evidence was obtained to suggest that females wander from display site to site and mate with the best male chosen by visual comparison of subtle plumage variation, although the classical assumption has been that such choice accounts for the evolution of the males' extravagant plumage. Females may by chance meet males without display sites at random in the forest, but the displays of such males are probably insufficiently stimulating to induce the female to copulate. Choice between males with or without display sites, on gross plumage and display differences, provides an alternative explanation for the evolution of the males' plumage.     

Interactions between the stem-mining weevils Ceutorhynchus napi Gyll. and Ceutorhynchus pallidactylus (Marsh.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in oilseed rape

Abstract 1 The rape stem weevil Ceutorhynchus napi Gyll. and the cabbage stem weevil Ceutorhynchus pallidactylus (Marsh.) share the same habitat and food resource within the stems of oilseed rape, Brassica napus L. var. oleifera. Interactions occurring between these two sympatric species on this host were studied under both field and laboratory conditions. 2 The oviposition preference of C. pallidactylus and the within‐plant distribution of eggs and larvae were examined in field plots of oilseed rape. Female C. pallidactylus tended to lay their eggs in plants already infested by eggs and larvae of C. napi rather than in uninfested plants. The within‐plant distribution of the egg batches of C. pallidactylus did not differ significantly between uninfested plants and those preinfested by C. napi. Ovipositing females of C. napi and C. pallidactylus generally showed a significant preference for plants with larger stem diameter. 3 Laboratory choice tests provided further evidence for the oviposition preference of C. pallidactylus. Females laid significantly more eggs in leaves of plants that had been previously infested by C. napi than in leaves of previously uninfested plants. 4 Larvae of C. pallidactylus showed a significant shift of their feeding niche towards the stem base when feeding in individual plants attacked by both species. This possibly indicates ressource partitioning between C. pallidactylus and C. napi. The within‐plant distribution of C. napi larvae was not affected by the simultaneous attack of C. pallidactylus. 5 The size of the head capsule of full‐grown larvae of C. napi and C. pallidactylus was not significantly correlated with the diameter of the stem of their host plant or with the number of conspecific larvae within individual plants.     

Correlated Evolution of Synonymous and Nonsynonymous Sites in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila</Emphasis>

Recent work has shown that Drosophila melanogaster genes with fast-evolving nonsynonymous sites have lower codon usage bias. This pattern has been attributed to interference between positive selection at nonsynonymous sites and weak selection on codon usage. Here we have looked for this correlation in a much larger and less biased dataset, comprising 630 gene pairs from D. melanogaster and D. yakuba. We confirmed that there is a negative correlation between the rate of nonsynonymous substitutions (d_N) and codon bias in D. melanogaster. We then tested the interference hypothesis and other alternative explanations, including one involving gene expression. We found that d_N indeed correlates with the level of gene expression. Given that gene expression is a strong determinant of codon bias, the relationship between d_N and codon bias might be a by-product of gene expression. However, our tests show that none of the hypotheses we consider seem to explain the data fully.This article contains online supplementary material.Reviewing Editor: Dr. John Huelsenbeck     

Are codon usage patterns in unicellular organisms determined by selection-mutation balance?

Strongly biased codon usage is common in unicellular organisms, particularly in highly expressed genes. The bias is most simply explained as a balance between selection and mutation, with selection favouring those codons which are more efficiently translated. In a review Ikemura (1985) has proposed four rules for predicting which codons will be preferred, based on the properties of the transfer RNAs responsible for translating messenger RNA into protein. In this paper codon usage in E. coli and yeast is re-examined using the recent compilation of Maruyama et al. (1986). The codon adaptation index of Sharp and Li (1986a) is used as a measure of gene expression to investigate the importance of this factor. It is found that Ikemura's rules successfully predict preferred codons for yeast, but that two of them work less well for E. coli, and it is suggested that some of the apparent bias in weakly expressed genes of E. coli may be due to contextual effects on mutation rates.     

Mammalian sperm and oviducts are sexually selected: evidence for co-evolution

Oviduct length was measured in 48 species representing 33 genera of mammals in order to examine possible relationships between female morphology and the occurrence of sperm competition due to matings with multiple males. Multiple regression analyses revealed that residuals of oviduct length were positively correlated both with residuals of testes weight and with sperm midpiece volume in the genera and species studied. These correlations remained significant after application of comparative analysis of independent contrasts to control for possible phylogenetic biases in the data set. These results indicate that sexual selection (relating to sperm competition and cryptic female choice) has influenced co-evolution of oviduct length, testes size and sperm morphology in mammals.     

克隆植物矮嵩草在刈割条件下的等级反应研究

对刈割处理下高寒矮嵩草草甸建群种矮嵩草（Kobresia humilis）构件等级中基株、分株和分蘖3个层次构件单元的数量、生物量及其变异系数的变化进行了研究。结果表明．矮嵩草株丛刈割部分和未刈割部分被测性状在处理间的差异显著性以及作构件等级间变异系数的大小均为分蘖层次〉分株层次〉基株层次。刈割后相同时期内,分蘖层次对相同处理的反应发叶生得最快,基株则最为迟缓。这说明在刈割后的相同时期内,构件等级中较外层次（分蘖层次）会发生更大的表型变异．对相同强度的刈割扰动发生反应也最快。由此证实矮嵩草在刈割条件下也同样会发生等级性反应。     

Review. When to leave the brood chamber? Routes of dispersal in mites associated with burying beetles

Most nests of brood-caring insects are colonized by a rich community of mite species. Since these nests are ephemeral and scattered in space, phoresy is the principal mode of dispersal in mites specializing on insect nests. Often the mites will arrive on the nest-founding insect, reproduce in the nest and their offspring will disperse on the insect's offspring. A literature review shows that mites reproducing in the underground brood chambers of burying beetles use alternative routes for dispersal. For example, the phoretic instars of Poecilochirus spp. (Mesostigmata: Parasitidae) disperse early by attaching to the parent beetles. Outside the brood chamber, the mites switch host at carcasses and pheromone-emitting male beetles, where juvenile and mature burying beetles of several species congregate. Because they preferably switch to beetles that are reproductively active and use all species of burying beetles within their ranges, they have a good chance of arriving in a new brood chamber. Other mite associates of burying beetles (Alliphis necrophilus and Uropodina) disperse from the brood chamber on the beetle offspring. We suggest that these mites forgo the possible time gain of dispersing early on the parent beetles because their mode of attachment precludes host switching. Their phoretic instars, once attached, have to stay on their host and so only dispersing on the beetle offspring guarantees that they are present on reproducing burying beetles of the next season. The mites associated with burying beetles providean example of multiple solutions to one life history problem – how to find a new brood chamber for reproduction. Mites that have mobile phoretic instars disperse on the parent beetles and try to arrive in the next brood chamber by host switching. They are independent of the generation cycle of a single host and several generations of mites per host generation are possible. Mites that are constrained by their mode of attachment disperse on the beetle offspring and wait until their host becomes mature and reproduces. By doing this they synchronize their generation time with the generation time of their host species. Exp Appl Acarol 22: 621–631 © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers     

12种杀虫剂对柑橘大实蝇选择行为的影响及击倒作用

柑橘大实蝇是柑橘上的重要害虫。本文分别利用Y型嗅觉仪和饲喂法测定了柑橘大实蝇成虫对12种杀虫剂的选择行为和击倒作用,以期筛选出田间防治柑橘大实蝇的高效农药,并为研发其诱杀剂提供理论依据。结果表明:12种杀虫剂中,吡虫啉、阿维菌素对雌成虫具有极显著的驱避作用;多杀霉素、丁硫克百威、阿维菌素、氟铃脲对雄成虫具有极显著的驱避作用;多杀霉素、毒死蜱、噻嗪酮对雌成虫具有显著的驱避作用;啶虫脒、噻虫嗪、乙酰甲胺磷、高效氯氟氰菊酯和高效氯氰菊酯对柑橘大实蝇雌雄成虫既无驱避作用也无引诱作用。同种药剂对柑橘大实蝇雌雄成虫的击倒时间无显著差异,不同药剂间对柑橘大实蝇成虫的击倒时间有显著差异,其中啶虫脒的击倒时间(KD₅₀<1 min)最短。综合考虑杀虫剂对柑橘大实蝇选择行为的影响及击倒作用,认为啶虫脒更适宜作为柑橘大实蝇诱杀剂中的杀虫剂。     

Female canaries produce eggs with greater amounts of testosterone when exposed to preferred male song

Male birdsong has a great influence in the stimulation of female reproduction. However, female physiological responsiveness to song may depend on the degree of complexity of male song. This is expected because females of iteroparous organisms may increase their fitness by matching their reproductive investment to the predicted value of each reproductive attempt. To the extent that the expression of male ornaments is a signal of male quality, we expect females to increase their investment when paired to highly ornamented males. However, female investment may be cryptic and difficult to detect, such as androgen content in the eggs. In this study, we exposed female canaries (Serinus canaria) to attractive and unattractive song repertoires using a crossover design. As predicted, females invested greater concentrations of testosterone in their eggs when exposed to attractive repertoires than when exposed to unattractive repertoires. This implies that song repertoires convey important information about the reproductive value of a given male and suggests that testosterone deposition in egg yolk may be costly.