Search results for "Systematics"

Host detection and rate of parasitism by Acroricnus seductor (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), a natural enemy of mud-dauber wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecida…

2011

Abstract The behavioural ecology of ichneumonid wasps that attack aculeate Hymenoptera is still largely unknown. Field observations and morphological analyses were devoted to investigate host detection and rate of parasitism by Acroricnus seductor (Scopoli), a natural enemy of the black and yellow mud dauber wasp Sceliphron caementarium (Drury). At the study site, about half of the host nests suffered parasitism by A. seductor. No significant difference was found between the rate of parasitism in sheltered (inside human building) and unsheltered (outside building) nests. Larger nests did not suffer a higher rate of parasitism, and larger brood cells were not more likely to be parasitized. …

Small genomes and the difficulty to define minimal translation and metabolic machineries

2015

The notion of minimal life has sparked the interest of scientists in different fields, ranging from the origin-of-life research to biotechnology-oriented synthetic biology. Whether the interest is focused on the emergence of protocells out of prebiotic systems or the design of a cell chassis ready to incorporate new devices and functions, proposing minimal combinations of genes for life is not a trivial task. Using comparative genomics and biochemistry of endosymbionts (i.e., intracellular mutualistic symbionts) and intracellular parasites, a decade ago we proposed the core of a minimal gene set for a simple heterotrophic cell adapted to a chemically complex environment. In this work, we di…

School fitness tests as predictors of adult health-related fitness.

2006

Relationships between adolescent physical fitness and adult health-related fitness were investigated. Forty-five subjects (20 males, 25 females) participated in physical fitness tests in 1976 and again in 2001. The adolescent physical fitness tests were distance running (2,000 m for boys or 1,500 m for girls), 50 m run, pull-ups (boys) or flexed arm hangs (girls), shuttle run, a 30-sec sit-up test, standing broad jump, hand grip-test, and sit-and-reach test. The adult health-related physical fitness index (APFI), stratified by sex, was formed by summing the z-scores of a bicycle ergometer test, sit-up test, hand-grip test, and sit-and-reach test. Height- and weight-adjusted correlations bet…

Molecular evolution: Evidence for the monophyletic origin of multicellular animals

1995

Two new species ofUlota(Orthotrichaceae, Bryopsida) with multicellular spores, from the Hengduan Mountains, Southwestern China

2011

Two new species, Ulota yunnanensis and Ulota gigantospora, are described from Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, China. Both have multicellular spores, a relatively uncommon character in the genus. Differences between the species include growth form and habit, leaf areolation, capsule shape, peristome structure and ornamentation, operculum shape and colour, as well as vaginula and calyptra hairiness. These characters and those discriminating the new species from other ones with similar spore type are discussed and illustrated.

New Ulota species with multicellular spores from southern South America

2012

Abstract Two new Ulota species with multicellular spores, Ulota billbuckii and U. streptodon, are described from southern Chile. The new species are usually found growing together and sometimes forming mixed cushions or mats on different trees, with a preference for Nothofagus betuloides and N. antarctica. The new Ulotae are easily differentiated from each other as well as from other Ulota species with multicellular spores by a set of sporophytic traits including two very uncommon peristome configurations. In this paper, both species are described, and the differences between them as well as from other Ulotae with similar endosporic germination, and from superficially similar species, is di…

Geographic variation of the Greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula Hermann, 1780 Mammalia, Soricidae)

1996

A multivariate morphometric study of the Greater white-toothed shrew (C. russula) throughout its Palearctic range was carried out to search for patterns of geographic variation within the species boundary. Burnaby's and multiple group principal component analysis allowed the adjustment of raw data with respect to within-sample allometric variation. Multivariate 'size-free' results show a stepped cline with the phenotypical trait reduction and shape change from the eastern to the western Maghreb. Pleistocene fossil mandibles proved to have low phenetic distances with eastern populations (Tunisia, east Algeria) and it is argued that their character set is the primitive condition. The ancestra…

An extended Benthic Quality Index for assessment of lake profundal macroinvertebrates: addition of indicator taxa by multivariate ordination and weig…

2014

AbstractThe chironomid Benthic Quality Index (BQI) is a widely used metric in assessments of lake status. The BQI is based on 7 indicator taxa, which like most profundal fauna, often occur sporadically in low densities. Hence, a major weakness of the index is that it cannot be calculated when indicator taxa are not captured. Thus, an extension of the BQI that incorporates more macroinvertebrate taxa is desirable. We used 2 statistical approaches (Detrended Correspondence Analysis and Weighted Averaging) to estimate new benthic quality indicator scores for profundal macroinvertebrate taxa and to construct modified BQIs called Profundal Invertebrate Community Metrics (PICMs). We calibrated th…

So Many Variables: Joint Modeling in Community Ecology

2015

Technological advances have enabled a new class of multivariate models for ecology, with the potential now to specify a statistical model for abundances jointly across many taxa, to simultaneously explore interactions across taxa and the response of abundance to environmental variables. Joint models can be used for several purposes of interest to ecologists, including estimating patterns of residual correlation across taxa, ordination, multivariate inference about environmental effects and environment-by-trait interactions, accounting for missing predictors, and improving predictions in situations where one can leverage knowledge of some species to predict others. We demonstrate this by exa…

Biology, cultivation, and medicinal functions of the mushroom Hericium erinaceum

2016

<em>Hericium erinaceum</em> (Bull.: Fr.) Pers. is an edible fungus of great significance in medicine. It is rarely found in Europe, in contrast, it is common in Japan and North America. Its fruitbodies have been well-known for hundreds of years in traditional Chinese medicine and cuisine. A cradle of <em>H. erinaceum</em> cultivation is Asia. In Eastern Europe is rare in natural habitats, but can be successfully cultivated. Both fruitbodies and mycelia are rich in active, health promoting substances. Tests of substances extracted from this mushroom carried out on animals and in vitro have given good results. They can be used in the treatment of cancer, hepatic disord…