Taxonomic Review of the Genus Anterhynchium Saussure (Eumeninae, Vespidae, Hymenoptera) from East Asia

ABSTRACT Taxonomic study of the genus Anterhynchium from the Eastern Asia is carried out. A total of 15 forms included in four species were reviewed: A. melanopterum, A. flavopunctatum flavopunctatum, A. flavopuntatum opulentum, A. yunnanensis, A. flavomarginatum flavomarginatum, A. f. koreanum, A. f. tsushimarum, A. f. umenoi, A. f. micado, A. f. procella, A. f. insulicola, A. f. sulphreum, A. f. amamense, A. f. hanedai and A. f. formosicola. However, the A. flavopunctatum opulentum and A. yunnanensis are only cited for future work, due to the lack of available materials. Key to the other species and subspecies are revised, and photos showing diagnostic characters and coloration are presented. The male genitalic characters for accurate identification were separately discussed.     

Genetic differentiation among chum salmon, Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum), from Primorye and Sakhalin

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was examined in six wild populations of chum salmon ( Oncorhynchus keta Walbaum) distributed over the Primorye Region which extends approximately 1000 km along the Sea of Japan coast, and six populations from Sakhalin, using restriction enzyme analysis. By means of two restriction enzymes ( Bam HI and Eco 81I) eight mtDNA clonal lines were revealed in the 346 chum salmon studied. Mitochondrial DNA variants grouped the fish into two major clusters representing the Primorye and Sakhalin regions. Analysis of different chum salmon generations showed stability in the temporal population genetic structure in the three Primorye populations studied, but instability in the Sakhalin population of the Naiba River. We succeeded in detecting four major mtDNA clonal variants in Primorye chum salmon. The geographic distribution of clonal frequencies in Primorye populations has a clinal U-shape associated with the north-south axis of the Primorye region. On the whole, Sakhalin populations are less heterogeneous than Primorye ones. Two hatchery-seeded stocks from south west Sakhalin showed no mtDNA clonal variation.     

Forest fire in the central Himalaya: climate and recovery of trees

 A forest fire event is influenced by climatic conditions and is supported by accumulation of fuel on forest floor. After forest fire, photosynthetically active solar radiation was reduced due to accumulation of ash and dust particles in atmosphere. Post-fire impacts on Quercus leucotrichophora, Rhododendron arboreum and Lyonia ovalifolia in a broadleaf forest were analysed after a wild fire. Bark depth damage was greatest for L. ovalifolia and least for Q. leucotrichophora. Regeneration of saplings was observed for all the tree species through sprouting. Epicormic recovery was observed for the trees of all the species. Young trees of Q. leucotrichophora (<40 cm circumference at breast height) were susceptible to fire as evident by the lack of sprouting. Under-canopy tree species have a high potential for recovery as evident by greater length and diameter of shoots and numbers of buds and leaves per shoot than canopy species. Leaf area, leaf moisture and specific leaf area were greater in the deciduous species, with few exceptions, than in evergreen species. Received: 26 July 1995 / Revised: 1 March 1996 / Accepted: 9 September 1996     

Effect of different East Coast Fever control strategies on fertility, milk production and weight gain of Sanga cattle in the Central Province of Zambia

Five different East Coast Fever (ECF) (Theileria parva infection) control strategies, based on tick control and/or ECF immunization, were tested in groups of traditionally managed Sanga cattle in the Central Province of Zambia over a period of 2.5 years. Two groups were kept under intensive tick control (sprayed weekly), one group immunized and one non-immunized. Two further groups were under no tick control, one group immunized and one non-immunized, while a fifth group was immunized against ECF and maintained under strategic tick control (18 sprays per year). Tick control increased milk production and weight gain but not fertility. Immunization had neither marked detrimental nor beneficial effects on the cattle productivity. The combination of strategic tick control and immunization resulted in the highest level of production and at the same time reduced the potential risk from other tick-borne diseases.     

On the relative frequencies of hominid maxillary and mandibular teeth and jaws as taphonomic indicators

In southern African samples of early hominid remains, maxillary and mandibular teeth (deciduous-plus-permanent) have a virtually equal chance of accumulating in the dolomitic limestone cave deposits, of being preserved therein and recovered therefrom. Thus, of 1066 fossil teeth ofAustralopithecus spp. plusHomo habilis, 51.9 per cent are maxillary and 48.1 per cent mandibular. On the other hand, the East African sample of 847 early hominid, deciduous-plus-permanent teeth, departs more strikingly from a 1∶1 ratio: it comprises 41.0 per cent maxillary and 59.0 per cent mandibular teeth. It is inferred that mandibular teeth have a somewhat better chance of accumulating and being preserved in, and being recovered from, the open, fluvial, lacustrine and deltaic sedimentary environments of the East African sites. The dental proportions are approximately matched by the proportions of jaws. For example, the maxilla: mandible proportions at Koobi fora in northern Kenya are 33.0∶67.0 for teeth and 21.6∶78.4 for jaws. In other words, the preponderance in favour of mandibular remains is somewhat more marked in the case of jaws than of teeth, this distinction doubtless reflecting the more fragile bony structure of the maxilla and the sturdier construction of the mandible. This first study known to the author of the differential distribution of maxillary and mandibular teeth of the Plio-Pleistocene hominids leads the author to hypothesize that, where environmental conditions at the place and time of the death of the hominids have been non-destructive, non-dispersive, relatively mild and protective, maxillae and mandibles may be expected to have been conserved and recovered in approximately equal proportions—and likewise of maxillary and mandibular teeth. On the other hand, the more brutal and destructive the sedimentary environment and other taphonomic influences have been, at the place and time when the hominid individuals died, the more likely it is that the maxillary and mandibular remains of jaws and teeth will deviate from equality of proportions, generally at the expense of the maxillae and upper teeth. Hence, it is proposed that the upper jaw/low jaw ratio (Mx/Mn jaw ratio) and the maxillary teeth/mandibular teeth ratio (Mx/Mn dental ratio) may serve as two useful new gauges of the rigour of palaeo-ecological and taphonomic conditions.     

UREDINALES FROM EAST HIMALAYA

<正> A list of 209 rust species recorded from East Himalaya, southeastern Xizang during a survey in 1982—1983 is given, Among them 15 species are described as new ones and 28 species are new records for China. All speciments are kept in the Herbarium Mycologicum Instituti Micribiologici Academiae Sinicae, Beijing.     

Phylohydrax (Rubiaceae-Spermacoceae)—a new genus to accommodate the African and Madagascan“Hydrophylax” species

Hydrophylax, a genus of maritime strand or dune plants, was previously thought to comprise three species, one from India, Sri Lanka and Thailand (H. maritima), and two from Africa and Madagascar (H. carnosa and H. madagascariensis respectively). Evidence is presented that the African and Madagascan species are better placed into a separate genus (Phylohydrax). Differential characters betweenH. maritima andP. carnosa—P. madagascariensis, the relationships between the three species, and the affinities ofPhylohydrax andHydrophylax to otherSpermacoceae are discussed in detail.     

A framework for classifying subsistence production types of Nepal

This paper defines a four-tiered, hierarchical system for classifying subsistence production types in Nepal and uses the system to describe the subsistence communities of central Nepal. The system first divides Nepal into a grid of homogenous parts or cells, second, it divides, the cells into ridge-valley slope sequences, third, defines production types for the ridge-valley slope sequences, and, finally, distinguishes local variants of the production types. After describing these tiers, I apply these categories to the northern portions of the central and western development regions where I have done research. I then define how representatives of Nepal as a whole are the production types defined for the central and western development regions. Finally, the paper locates some completed studies within its framework.     

Phenological characteristics of the tree layer of Kumaun Himalayan forests

The phenology of tree components of natural forests occurring between 350 and 2150 m in Kumaun Himalaya is descibed. All forests had more evergreen than deciduous taxa. The degree of evergreenness increased with increasing elevation and decreasing summer dryness. For most species (including all dominants) concentrated leafdrop and simultaneous leafing occurred during the warm-dry period of the year. About half of the species showed multiple leafing.All species had a sharp flowering peak in April. Wet-season flowering was rare. Most of the species flowered synchronously. In the sal- (Shorea robusta) and pine (Pinus roxburghii) forests a single peak of fruit maturation occurred in summer, while in other forests there also was a secondary peak in autumn.Nomenclature generally follows Osmaston (1926), the authority is given where the species is mentioned first.Financial support from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, is grategully acknowledged. We thank Dr. Y. P. S. Pangtey and Dr. J. C. Tewari for their help respectively in plant identification and ordination.