Mass treatment with ivermectin for filariasis control in Papua New Guinea: impact on mosquito survival

Field studies were carried out to determine the impact of mass human treatment with ivermectin on the survival of anthropophagic mosquitoes of the Anopheles punctulatus complex (Diptera: Culicidae), the vectors of lymphatic filariasis and malaria in Papua New Guinea. In a village where mass treatment had been given, using 400 microg/kg ivermectin plus 6 mg/kg diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC), we performed pre- and post-treatment collections of freshly blood-engorged mosquitoes from the same nine bedrooms. All blood-fed mosquitoes collected less than 4 days after mass treatment died within 9 days, whereas 67% of those collected before treatment survived for >9 days. Comparison (using the log-rank test) of the survival curves for mosquitoes collected (i) before treatment, (ii)<4 days after treatment, and (iii) 28 days after treatment, showed the survival rate of group (ii) to be significantly lower than the other two (chi2=176, df=2, P<0.0001). Pre- and post-treatment all-night landing catches showed no reduction in human biting rates in the experimental village. In another village, where people were mass treated with ivermectin (400 microg/kg) only, the survival rates of freshly blood-engorged An. punctulatus collected from bedroom resting-sites less than 1 day after treatment, were compared to similar collections carried out at the same time in a nearby village where people were not treated with ivermectin. The 48-h survival rate for the ivermectin-treated village was 31% compared to 94% for the other; this difference was highly significant (chi2=32.42, df=1, P<0.0001). Mosquitoes fed 2 months post-treatment with DEC or collected 38 days post-treatment with ivermectin had normal survival rates. We conclude that the duration of the systemic lethal effect of ivermectin on mosquitoes is insufficient to be of epidemiological significance in filariasis control programmes that are based on biannual and annual single-dose treatments, but might reduce vectorial capacity sufficiently to block epidemics of dengue or even malaria.     

安徽植物区系新增补

报道了安徽植物区系中1属19种8变种和1变型和安徽地理分布新记录,文中引证的标本均存在安徽农业大学森林利用学院树木标本室（AAUF）。     

The identity of Aconitum jiulongense W. T. Wang

An examination of the type specimen of Aconitum jiulongense W. T. Wang has shown that it should be reduced to synonymy of A. carmichaeli Debx.     

中国石斛属一新种

Dendrobium fanjingshanense Z. H. Tsi ex X. H. Jin et Y. W. Zhang, sp. nov. Fig. 1 Habitu D. wilsonii Rolfe simile, a quo tepalis revolutis fulvis, lobo labelli intermedii infra medium macula una flabellata purpurea ornato. Epiphyticum; caulis teres, 20～40 cm altus, 2～3 mm crassus, caespitosus, superne 5～6-foliatus, internodiis 1～1.5 cm longis. Folia oblongo-lanceolata, subcoriacea, 2～5 cm longa, 5～15 mm lata, apice obtusa et plus minusve hamata, basi vaginis tubulatis membranaceis obtecta. Inflorescentiae e lateribus partium superarum caulium annotinorum defoliatorum nascentes, versus apicem caulis laterales, 1～2-florae; pedunculi 2～3 mm longi, ca. 1 mm crassi, basi vaginis 3～4 membranaceis 3～4 mm longis instructi; bracteae ovato-triangulatae, 3～5 mm longae, apice acutae, macula atro-fusca ornatae. Flores patentes; pedicelli cum ovario ca. 2～3 cm longi; tepala revoluta, fulva, apice obtusa; sepalum intermedium oblongum 2 cm longum, medio 6～7 mm latum, apice fere obtusum; sepala lateralia paulo oblique ovato-lanceolata, sepalo intermedio aequilonga sed medio paulo angustiora, apice obtusa, basi cum pede columnae mentum obconoideum ca. 8 mm longum 6 mm latum apice obtusum formantia; petala subelliptica, ca. 2 cm longa, medio 6 mm lata, apice subobtusa; labellum fulvum, basi purpureum et dense velutinum, obscure trilobatum, lobis lateralibus semiorbiculatis erectis, basi (inter lobos laterales) callo uno purpureo praeditis, lobo intermedio ovato, ca. 1 cm longo, 7 mm lato, apice subacuto et recurvo, supra medio carinato, glabro; columna alba, ca. 3 mm longa, basi in pedem ca. 9 mm longum producta, pede medio purpurato, glabro; operculum antherae album, ambitu rhombicum, glabrum; pollinia 4.     

Long‐term response of temperate canopy trees to removal of browsing from an invasive arboreal herbivore in New Zealand

Defoliation of forest tree canopies by herbivores and other agents, leading to tree mortality and reduced productivity, threatens the ecological stability of forests globally. This study shows that long‐term control of a mammalian arboreal folivore (brushtail possums; Trichosurus vulpecula Phalangeridae) reduces crown dieback and increases foliage cover in browsing‐damaged canopy trees. We monitored indices of possum density, possum browsing, tree foliage cover and crown dieback for 20 years following initiation of possum control in 1994 that repeatedly reduced possum densities to near zero every 5–6 years and kept the population below 35% of pre‐control levels over the entire period. Observable possum browsing was recorded on 20–49% of individuals of three palatable tree species at the time of first control. Those percentages fell to zero after control and never exceeded 2–10% for individual species over the next 19 years. We recorded significant increases in foliage cover attributable to recovery from defoliation by possums for all three species during the first 10 years. Large increases in foliage cover occurred on individuals that were heavily browsed in 1994 (mean increases: 36–89%), but mean population increases were modest (3–19%) because only 10–19% of trees were initially heavily browsed. Twenty‐year mortality rates were similar for plants with, or without, initial possum browsing, indicating no residual impact of pre‐control browsing on tree mortality. Times for full recovery of crown foliage cover varied from 10 years for the youngest trees and faster growing species to more than 20 years for mature individuals of the slowest growing species.     

东方法老蛛雌蛛的描述（蜘蛛目：跳蛛科）

报道采自甘肃文县的东方法老蛛雌蛛,为该种雌蛛的首次记述。     

Le prétendu rhinocéros de Nouvelle Calédonie est un marsupial (Zygomaturus diahotensis nov. sp.): Solution d'une énigmeet conséquences paléogéographiques

The first mammalian remain ever found in NewCaledonia is an upper tooth found by golddiggers in the Plio-Pleistocene terrace from the Diahot river. This tooth, given to the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris) in 1876, was determined as a rhinoceros tooth and then completely forgotten. Its detailed study shows that it belongs to Zygomaturus, a large marsupial diprotodontid genus whose story is rather complicated. The Diahot tooth represents a new species of Zygomaturus, Z. diahotensis nov. sp., close to Z. trilobus from the Australian Pleistocene. That kinship suggests a Plio-Pleistocene land connection between Australia and New Caledonia, whereas till now New Caledonia was supposed to be separated from Australia since the end of the Cretaceous, because of the total absence of indigenous mammals, fossil or recent, in New Caledonia. The latest geological studies in the East Pacific do not contradict our hypothesis.     

中国寄生云杉的顶裂盘菌及其无性阶段

本文报道了寄生在云杉上的中国新记录种顶裂盘菌(Lophophacidium hyperboreumLagerb.);首次发现了这个种的无性型座壳梭孢属(Apostrasseria sp.),证实了融雪前病株针叶上有表生的菌丝和小菌核;查清了它是新疆云杉林中的广布种,引致云杉雪枯病;发现了新分布区,地理分布范围在75°—94°E,37°40′—49°N;发现了新寄主,多土的西伯利亚云杉(Picea obovata Ledeb.)和引进的青海云杉(P.crassifolia Kom.)、川西云杉(P.balfourianaRehd.et Wils.)。     

中国老鹳草属(牻牛儿苗科)归化植物新记录

报道在江苏省发现的中国归化植物新记录刻叶老鹳草(Geranium dissectumL.),对其形态特征进行了描述,并提供了形态照片。     

Phylogeographic structure and cryptic speciation in the trans-Antarctic moss Pyrrhobryum mnioides

Abstract Many bryophyte species have distributions that span multiple continents. The hypotheses historically advanced to explain such distributions rely on either long-distance spore dispersal or slow rates of morphological evolution following ancient continental vicariance events. We use phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence variation at three chloroplast loci ( atpB-rbcL spacer, rps4 gene, and trnL intron and 3'spacer) to examine these two hypotheses in the trans-Antarctic moss Pyrrhobryum mnioides. We find: (1) reciprocal monophyly of Australasian and South American populations, indicating a lack of intercontinental dispersal; (2) shared haplotypes between Australia and New Zealand, suggesting recent or ongoing migration across the Tasman Sea; and (3) reciprocal monophyly among Patagonian and neotropical populations, suggesting no recent migration along the Andes. These results corroborate experimental work suggesting that spore features may be critical determinants of species range. We use the mid-Miocene development of the Atacama Desert, 14 million years ago, to calibrate a molecular clock for the tree. The age of the trans-Antarctic disjunction is estimated to be 80 million years ago, consistent with Gondwanan vicariance, making it among the most ancient documented cases of cryptic speciation. These data are in accord with niche conservatism, but whether the morphological stasis is a product of stabilizing selection or phylogenetic constraint is unknown.