• Open Access close
• CZ close

Aim Temporal dynamics of biodiversity along tropical elevational gradients are unknown. We studied seasonal changes of Lepidoptera biodiversity along the only complete forest elevational gradient in the Afrotropics. We focused on shifts of species richness patterns, seasonal turnover of communities, and seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges, the latter often serving as an indicator of the global change effects on mountain ecosystems. Location Mount Cameroon, Cameroon. Taxon Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) Methods We quantitatively sampled nine groups of Lepidoptera by bait-trapping (16,800 trap-days) and light-catching (126 nights) at seven elevations evenly distributed along the elevational gradient from sea level (30 m asl) to timberline (2,200 m asl). Sampling was repeated in three seasons. Result Altogether, 42,936 specimens of 1,099 species were recorded. A mid-elevation peak of species richness was detected for all groups but Eupterotidae. This peak shifted seasonally for five groups, most of them ascending during the dry season. Seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges were mostly responsible for these diversity pattern shifts along elevation: we found general upward shifts in fruit-feeding butterflies, fruit-feeding moths and Lymantriinae from beginning to end of the dry season. Contrarily, Arctiinae shifted upwards during the wet season. The average seasonal shifts of elevational ranges often exceeded 100 metres and were even several times higher for numerous species. Main conclusion We report seasonal uphill and downhill shifts of several lepidopteran groups. The reported shifts can be driven by both delay in weather seasonality and shifts in resource availability, causing phenological delay of adult hatching and/or adult migrations. Such shifts may lead to misinterpretations of diversity patterns along elevation if seasonality is ignored. More importantly, considering the surprising extent of seasonal elevational shifts of species, we encourage taking account of such natural temporal dynamics while investigating the global climate change impact on communities of Lepidoptera in tropical mountains. The dataset was collected by two methodologies: 1/ bait-trapping and 2/ manual catching of target group at light. See Maicher et al. (2019) for details.

The group Anguimorpha represents one of the most unified squamate clades in terms of body plan, ecomorphology, ecophysiology and evolution. On the other hand, the anguimorphs vary between different habitats and ecological niches. Therefore, we focused on the group Anguimorpha to test a possible correlation between heart morphology and ecological niche with respect to phylogenetic position in Squamata with Sphenodon, Salvator, and Pogona as the outgroups. The chosen lepidosaurian species were investigated by microCT. Generally, all lepidosaurs had two well-developed atria with complete interatrial septum and one ventricle divided by ventricular septa to three different areas. The ventricles of all lepidosaurians had a compact layer and abundant trabeculae. The compact layer and trabeculae were developed in accordance with the particular ecological niche of the species; the trabeculae in nocturnal animals with low metabolism, such as Sphenodon, Heloderma or Lanthanotus, were more massive. On the other hand, athletic animals, such as varanids or Salvator, had ventricle compartmentalization divided by three incomplete septa. A difference between varanids and Salvator was found in compact layer thickness: thicker in monitor lizards and possibly linked to their mammalian-like high blood pressure, and the level of ventricular septation. In summary: heart morphology varied among clades in connection with the ecological niche of particular species and it reflects the phylogenetic position in the model clade Anguimorpha. In the absence of fossil evidence, this is the closest approach to understanding heart evolution and septation in clades with different cardiac compartmentalization levels.

Fig. 8. Immature stages of Lihelophorus. a–d – head and prothorax of first instar larvae: a–b – H. (Lihelophorus) lamicola Zaitzev, 1908 (a – dorsal; b – ventral); c–d – H. (Lihelophorus) yangae sp. nov. (c – dorsal; d – ventral). e–f – egg cases: e – H. (Lihelophorus) lamicola Zaitzev, 1908; f – H. (Lihelophorus) yangae sp. nov.; g–j – abdomen with spiracles containing air bubbles: g–h – H. (Lihelophorus) lamicola Zaitzev, 1908 (g – tracheal gills and its tracheal system; h – detail of tracheal branching around abdominal spiracle); i–j – H. (Lihelophorus) yangae sp. nov. (i – detail of tracheal system around abdominal spiracles; j – tracheal system of abdomen). Abbreviations: sp – spiracle; trg – tracheal gill. Published as part of Angus, Robert B., Jia, Fenglong, Chen, Zhen-ning, Zhang, Ying, Vondráček, Dominik, Fikáček, Martin & Sw, London, 2016, Taxonomy, larval morphology and cytogenetics of Lihelophorus, the Tibetan endemic subgenus of Helophorus (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea), pp. 109-148 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (1) on page 128, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5311784

Bioluminescent beetles of the superfamily Elateroidea (fireflies, fire beetles, glow-worms) are the most speciose group of terrestrial light-producing animals. The evolution of bioluminescence in elateroids is associated with unusual morphological modifications, such as soft-bodiedness and neoteny, but the fragmentary nature of the fossil record discloses little about the origin of these adaptations. We report the discovery of a new bioluminescent elateroid beetle family from the mid-Cretaceous of northern Myanmar (ca. 99 Ma), Cretophengodidae fam. nov. Cretophengodes azari gen. et sp. nov. belongs to the bioluminescent lampyroid clade, and represents a transitional fossil linking the soft-bodied Phengodidae + Rhagophthalmidae clade and hard-bodied elateroids. The fossil male possesses a light organ on the abdomen which presumably served a defensive function, documenting a Cretaceous radiation of bioluminescent beetles coinciding with the diversification of major insectivore groups such as frogs and stem-group birds. The discovery adds a key branch to the elateroid tree of life and sheds light on the timing of the evolution of soft-bodiedness and historical biogeography of elateroid beetles. The Burmese amber specimen studied here originates from amber mines near the Noije Bum Hill (26°20' N, 96°36' E), Hukawng Valley, Kachin State, northern Myanmar. The specimen is deposited in the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology (NIGP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China. The amber piece was trimmed with a small table saw, ground with emery papers of different grain sizes, and finally polished with polishing powder. Photographs under incident light were taken with a Zeiss Discovery V20 stereo microscope. Widefield fluorescence images were captured with a Zeiss Axio Imager 2 light microscope combined with a fluorescence imaging system. Confocal images were obtained with a Zeiss LSM710 confocal laser scanning microscope. Images under incident light and widefield fluorescence were stacked in Helicon Focus 7.0.2 or Zerene Stacker 1.04. Confocal images were manually stacked in Adobe Photoshop CC. Images were further processed in Adobe Photoshop CC to enhance contrast. 

Predators attack conspicuous prey phenotypes that are present in the environment. Male display behaviour of conspicuous nuptial colouration becomes risky in the presence of a predator, and adult males face higher predation risk. High predation risk in one sex will lead to low survival and sex ratio bias in adult cohorts, unless the increased predation risk is compensated by higher escape rate. Here, we tested the hypothesis that sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) have sex-specific predation risk and escape rate. We expected the differences to manifest in changes in sex ratio with age, differences in frequency of tail autotomy, and in sex-specific survival rate. We developed a statistical model to estimate predation risk and escape rate, combining the observed sex ratio and frequency of tail autotomy with likelihood-based survival rate. Using a Bayesian framework, we estimated the model parameters. We projected the date of the tail autotomy events from growth rates derived from capture-recapture data measurements. We found statistically stable sex ratio in age groups, equal frequency of tail regenerates between sexes, and similar survival rate. Predation risk is similar between sexes, and escape rate increases survival by about 5%. We found low survival rate and a low number of tail autotomy events in females during months when sand lizards mate and lay eggs, indicating high predator pressure throughout reproduction. Our data show that gravid females fail to escape predation. The risks of reproduction season in an ectotherm are a convolution of morphological changes (conspicuous colouration in males, body allometry changes in gravid females), behaviour (nuptial displays), and environmental conditions which challenge lizard thermal performance. Performance of endotherm predators in cold spring months endangers gravid females more than displaying males in bright nuptial colouration.  Capture-recapture data of sand lizards (Lacerta agilis, Lacertidae, Reptilia) from Hustopeče, Czechia (48.93 N, 16.72 E). animal - identification of the animal; prefix indicates the latest possible year of hatching day - day of capture month - month of capture year - year of capture season - phase I started from the arousal from hibernation, and lasted until the first adult male started to lose nuptial colouration; phase II constituted the season after males started to lose nuptial colouration, and lasted until the beginning of hibernation sex - sex of the animal ventralia - number of scales in the second rows from the ventral medial line age - young animals were juveniles and subadults, the remaining animals were considered adult aged.month - approximate age of the animal in months regenerate - presence of tail regenerate predation.attempt - first record of tail regenerate or reduced tail length at recapture Lreg - tail regenerate length in mm; 0 - animal with intact tail, 0.01 - recent tail autotomy, no tail regenerate growth measurable tailL - tail length from cloaca to tail tip corrected for body length from rostrum to cloaca48.93 N, 16.72 E48.93 N, 16.72 E)

Published as part of Kment, Petr, 2005, Revision of Mahea Distant, 1909, with a review of the Acanthosomatidae (Insecta: Heteroptera) of Madagascar and Seychelles, pp. 21-50 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (suppl.) 45 on page 32, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4476396 Figs. 17-19. Mahea distanti sp. nov. 17 – pygophore, ventral view; 18 – right paramere, dorsal view; 19 – aedeagus (basal articulatory apparatus omitted). Scale bars 0.5 mm.

Abstract Background Empirical evidence on the epidemiology of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia is limited in many countries in Central and Eastern Europe. We aimed to estimate the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia in the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland and Lithuania, and to identify the risk factors for the three chronic conditions. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from the HAPIEE study, including adults aged 45–69 years in the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland and Lithuania, collected between 2002 and 2008 (total sample N = 30,882). Among prevalent cases, we estimated awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia by gender and country. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify associated risk factors. Results In each country among both men and women, we found high prevalence but low control of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. Awareness rates of hypertension were the lowest in both men (61.40%) and women (69.21%) in the Czech Republic, while awareness rates of hypercholesterolemia were the highest in both men (46.51%) and women (51.20%) in Poland. Polish participants also had the highest rates of awareness (77.37% in men and 79.53% in women), treatment (71.99% in men and 74.87% in women) and control (30.98% in men and 38.08% in women) of diabetes. The common risk factors for the three chronic conditions were age, gender, education, obesity and alcohol consumption. Conclusions Patterns of awareness, treatment and control rates of hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia differed by country. Efforts should be made in all four countries to control these conditions, including implementation of international guidelines in everyday practice to improve detection and effective management of these conditions.

Fig. 14. East Palaearctic and Oriental Cercyon species which may be confused with members of C. unipunctatus group (dorsal and lateral view of pronotum and elytra, thorax and legs omitted). A – C. lateralis (Marsham, 1802); B – C. ustus Sharp, 1874 (paralectotype from Nagasaki); C – C. ovillus Motschulsky, 1860; D – C. sericatus Hebauer, 2002 (paratype from Nepal: Gopte near Tharepati); E – C. alinae Ryndevich, 2004; F – C. berlovi Shatrovskiy, 1999; G – C. hanseni Jia, Fikáček & Ryndevich, 2011. Published as part of Ryndevich, Sergey K., Jia, Fenglong & Fikáček, Martin, 2017, A review of the Asian species of the Cercyon unipunctatus group (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae: Sphaeridiinae), pp. 535-576 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 57 (2) on page 573, DOI: 10.1515/aemnp-2017-0089, http://zenodo.org/record/5318472

FIGURE 1. Amylotheca cleofei Tandang, Galindon & A.S.Rob. A) Twig with young inflorescence. B. Single dichasium (triad). Note the sessile central flower. C) Cupule. D) Corolla tube. E) Expanded corolla) F. Corolla lobes with fused anthers and filaments. G) Pistil. H) Floral bract of sessile flower. I) Floral bract of pedicellate flower J) Seed. K) Fruit in longitudinal section. L) Fruit in cross section. Scale bars: A = 1 cm; B = 5 mm; C, H, I = 1 mm; D, E, G, J, K, L = 5.0 mm; F = 2.0 mm. Illustration: Bing Famoso Tac-an. Published as part of Tandang, Danilo N., Galindon, John Michael M., Lagunday, Noel E., Coritico, Fulgent P., Amoroso, Victor B. & Robinson, Alastair S., 2021, Amylotheca cleofei sp. nov. (Loranthaceae), a new species and genus record for the Philippines, pp. 113-120 in Phytotaxa 507 (1) on page 115, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.507.1.7, http://zenodo.org/record/5425559