Search results for "Systematic"

Castniidae of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Wrocław: new findings from Friedrich Wilhelm Niepelt's collection with comments on K…

2021

Further results of our research into the Giant Butterfly-Moths (Castniidae) of the Museum of Natural History (University of Wrocław) are presented. Castniids of the Niepelt collection had previously been reviewed. However, while curating other sections of the Lepidoptera collection, we discovered 18 misplaced specimens belonging to nine taxa of Castniidae, several of them bearing typical labels by Niepelt. Among them, two are of particular interest, insofar as they are associated with the world-class botanists August Weberbauer (1871–1948) and Karl Adolf Georg Lauterbach (1864–1937).

Deceiving predators: linking distraction behavior with nest survival in a ground-nesting bird

2016

The Function of Stones in Nest Building: The Case of Black Wheatear (Oenanthe Leucura) revisited

2016

Black Wheatears ( Oenanthe leucura) transport to breeding territories, including the nest, a large number of stones. Currently, there is negative evidence that stones serve for nest support, thermoregulation, weather protection or anti-predation, but in males, this behaviour appears to represent a form of post-mating display. This ‘sexual selection’ hypothesis, however, does not explain why females also carry stones, and why many stones are associated with the nest. We examined stone distribution and morphology in 277 abandoned nests of Black Wheatears from an arid area of southeastern Spain. Nests were built on the ground (14.4%), or in cracks (7.2%), cavities (54.6%) and ledges (23.8%) a…

Belnapia mucosa sp. nov. and Belnapia arida sp. nov., isolated from desert biocrust

2021

Two novel Gram-staining-negative, aerobic, cocci-shaped, non-motile, non-spore forming, pink-pigmented bacteria designated strains T6T and T18T, were isolated from a biocrust (biological soil crust) sample from the vicinity of the Tabernas Desert (Spain). Both strains were catalase-positive and oxidase-negative, and grew under mesophilic, neutrophilic and non-halophilic conditions. According to the 16S rRNA gene sequences, strains T6T and T18T showed similarities with Belnapia rosea CGMCC 1.10758T and Belnapia moabensis CP2CT (98.11 and 98.55% gene sequence similarity, respectively). The DNA G+C content was 69.80 and 68.96% for strains T6T and T18T, respectively; the average nucleotide iden…

Solving the Puzzle of Taxonomic Position of the Petroleum Fly by Resurrection of Diasemocera Bezzi from Psilopa Fallén (Diptera: Ephydridae) with Pro…

2018

Diasemocera Bezzi, 1895 (Type species: Psilopa nigrotaeniata Bezzi, 1895 [= Psilopa roederi Girschner, 1889]) is resurrected from synonymy with Psilopa and the following four new synonyms of Diasemocera are proposed: Domina Hutton (Type species: Domina metallica Hutton), Discocerinella Mercier (Type species: Discocerinella omonvillea Mercier, 1927 [= Notiphila pulicaria Haliday, 1839]), Trimerinoides Cresson (Type species: Trimerina adfinis Cresson) and Helaeomyia Cresson, 1941 (Type species: Psilopa petrolei Coquillett). Diasemocera is placed close to the genus Trimerina and it differs from the highly specialized Psilopa and related genera by the number of pseudotracheae (6–7), vestiture o…

Underwater noise from boats: Measurement of its influence on the behaviour and biochemistry of the common prawn (Palaemon serratus, Pennant 1777)

2016

Abstract This study examined the effects of recorded boat noises on the behaviour and biochemistry of the common prawn ( Palaemon serratus ) in laboratory settings. The experiment was carried out in a tank equipped with a video-recording system using six groups (three control and three tested) of eight common prawns (48 animals in total). After habituation for 1 h, the behaviour of the prawns was monitored for 1 h. During the last 30 min, the animals in the test groups were exposed to noise resembling a marine area with high anthropogenic acoustic pollution. The exposure to noise produced significant changes in locomotor patterns, presence inside or outside a shelter, total protein concentr…

DNA polymorphism at the FRIGIDA gene in Arabidopsis thaliana : extensive nonsynonymous variation is consistent with local selection for flowering time

2002

FRIGIDA (FRI) is a major gene involved in the regulation of flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nucleotide variation at this gene was investigated by sequencing 25 field ecotypes collected from western Europe. Genetic diversity at FRI was characterized by a high number of haplotypes and an excess of low-frequency polymorphisms. A large excess of intraspecific nonsynonymous variation associated with low synonymous variation was detected along the first exon in the FRI gene. In contrast, no excess of nonsynonymous divergence was detected between A. thaliana and A. lyrata. The Tajima and McDonald and Kreitman tests, however, suggested that this gene has evolved in a nonneutral fashion. Non…

Nucleotide Variability at the Acetyl Coenzyme A Carboxylase Gene and the Signature of Herbicide Selection in the Grass Weed Alopecurus myosuroides (H…

2004

Acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) is the target of highly effective herbicides. We investigated the nucleotide variability of the ACCase gene in a sample of 18 black-grass (Alopecurus myosuroides [Huds.]) populations to search for the signature of herbicide selection. Sequencing 3,396 bp encompassing ACCase herbicide-binding domain in 86 individuals revealed 92 polymorphisms, which formed 72 haplotypes. The ratio of nonsynonymous versus synonymous substitutions was very low, in agreement with ACCase being a vital metabolic enzyme. Within black grass, most nonsynonymous substitutions were related to resistance to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides. Differentiation between populations was stro…

Can Deliberately Incomplete Gene Sample Augmentation Improve a Phylogeny Estimate for the Advanced Moths and Butterflies (Hexapoda: Lepidoptera)?

2011

Abstract This paper addresses the question of whether one can economically improve the robustness of a molecular phylogeny estimate by increasing gene sampling in only a subset of taxa, without having the analysis invalidated by artifacts arising from large blocks of missing data. Our case study stems from an ongoing effort to resolve poorly understood deeper relationships in the large clade Ditrysia ( > 150,000 species) of the insect order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Seeking to remedy the overall weak support for deeper divergences in an initial study based on five nuclear genes (6.6 kb) in 123 exemplars, we nearly tripled the total gene sample (to 26 genes, 18.4 kb) but only in a…

A new flatworm species of Temnocephala (Rhabdocoela, Temnocephalidae) ectosymbiont on the freshwater crab Valdivia serrata (Decapoda, Trichodactylida…

2020

A new species of temnocephalan is described from the branchial chambers ofValdivia serratain Colombia asTemnocephala ivandarioisp. nov.The most distinctive characters of the new species are in the cirrus and the epidermal ‘excretory’ syncytial plates. In the present study, the terminology to describe the cirrus of species ofTemnocephalais updated. Comparison between the shape of the cirrus of the temnocephalans associated with trichodactylid crabs is also provided.