North American Material Research Articles

ACHLYS CALIFORNICA — (BERBERIDACEAE) — A NEW SPECIES

SummaryAchlys californica, a tetraploid, distinct in morphology and ecogeographical distribution from the diploid A. triphylla is described below as a new species. The distribution of A. californica is mostly in the coastal region from northern California to southernmost British Columbia, while A. triphylla occurs predominantly in the Cascade mountain range.In an account of the biosystematics of Achlys published in 1967 (Fukuda, 1967), cytogenetic, morphological, ecological and distributional evidence was presented that the genus may be divided into three taxa. One of these, a diploid, A. triphylla (Sm.) DC. subsp. japonica (Max.) Fukuda, is restricted to Hokkaido and northern Honshu, in Japan. Disjunct from this, on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean, A. triphylla subsp. triphylla is found from northern California to British Columbia.Until this study, all western North American material of Achlys has been placed in this species. However, it is now apparent that diploid and tetraploid plants occur, each with a distinctive morphology and ecogeographical distribution, as shown in Fig. 1. They merit specific distinction.The first specimen of Achlys was collected by Archibald Menzies, at Tulalip Bay, in the southern part of Puget Sound, now in the state of Washington, on June 4, 1794. J. E. Smith gave it the name Leontice triphylla (Smith, 1812). A. P. de Candolle pointed out that Menzies' plant differed from the members of the Asiatic genus Leontice by not developing valvate flaps when the anthers dehisce. Consequently, he created a new genus Achlys for it in 1821. In fact, the genera differ by many other characters and are sometimes placed in separate subfamilies (Rendle, 1925). The type‐specimen collected by Menzies, which is in the Smith Herbarium at the Linnean Society in London, was recognized as being of the diploid species by morphology and measurement of stomatal sizes in the central leaflet (Fukuda, 1967). For this reason the tetraploid plant, which has not yet received a formal description, is treated here.

HELOPHORUS ORIENTALIS (COLEOPTERA: HYDROPHILIDAE), A PARTHENOGENETIC WATER BEETLE FROM SIBERIA AND NORTH AMERICA, AND A BRITISH PLEISTOCENE FOSSIL

AbstractThe Helophorus species recorded by McCorkle as H. brevipalpis Bedel, and by earlier workers as H. granularis (L.) is found, on examination of the types, to be H. orientalis Motschulsky, a species widespread in eastern Siberia.The types of H. orientalis are described, and a lectotype is designated. The type of H. sahlbergi Kuwert, a species synonymous with H. orienta’is, is also described. Further Siberian and North American material is described with reference to the type, and the means of distinguishing H. orientalis from H. granularis and H. brevipalpis are discussed.Fossil prothoraces from Pleistocene deposits at Brandon, Warwickshire and Great Billing, Northamptonshire, England, are referred to H. orientalis.The life histories of the three species are compared, and differences in the egg cocoons and larvae are illustrated. H. orientalis is shown by laboratory breeding to be parthenogenetic. In the other species no maleless populations are known, and although there is no proof that they cannot breed without males, this is considered very unlikely.The ecologies of the three species are discussed.

In situspore germination inErythrotrichia carnea

The in situ germination of monospores is reported in European and North American material of Erythrotrichia carnea (Dillw.) J.Ag., and its significance discussed in relation to branching in the genus.

Occurrence of petaloid stamens in wild carrot (Daucus carota) from Sweden

Sterile petal-like stamens, reported by others in North American wild carrot, are here reported and illustrated from a wild carrot accession from Sweden. Although the North American material has been utilized already in carrot breeding, a more fundamental study of stamen petaloidy in botanical research dealing with flower differentiation is urged.

CHROMOSOME NUMBERS OF THE FAMILY CRUCIFERAE. II

Chromosome numbers and taxonomic discussions are given for North American material of species in the genera Braya and Cardamine. The following chromosome numbers are reported for the first time: Braya humilis s.l., n = 14 and 2n = 28; Cardamine angulata, n = 20, and 2n = 40; C. cordifolia, 2n = 24; C. microphylla, 2n = 32; C. occidentalis, n = 32 and 2n = 64; C. oligosperma, 2n = 16; C. pensylvanica, 2n = 64; C. umbellata, n = 24 and 2n = 48. It is concluded that the base number of Braya is x = 7 not x = 8 and that North American species of Cardamine have the base numbers x = 6, 8, and 10.

An Adventive Empoasca Found in North America (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

In 1794, Fabricius described Empoasca flavescens as Cicada flavescens from Germany. The species was later reported by other investigators as occurring throughout Europe, northern Africa, and southeastern Asia. Gillette (1898) referred to flavescens certain color forms of Empoasca found in North America. In his revision of Empoasca , DeLong (1931) introduced a new technique for the study of the male genital capsule. The characters revealed by this technique made it obvious that earlier determinations based on color patterns were unreliable. DeLong (1931) stated that he failed to find flavescens in the large amount of North American material which he examined.

The mites parasitic in the lungs of birds. The variability of Sternostoma tracheacolum Lawrence, 1948, in domestic and wild birds

The mites known to parasitize the lower respiratory tract of birds are discussed and a host list of the various species is given.Sternostoma tracheacolum Lawrence, 1948, is redescribed and the variations in specimens from various hosts and localities are analysed. The synonymy of S. castroae with S. tracheacolum is confirmed and S. meddai and Agapornyssus faini are made new synonyms of S. tracheacolum. The specimens found in canaries vary widely according to the origin of the host. Those from South African and Italian canaries are closely related morphologically and present relatively long chelae, while specimens from Belgian and North American canaries have much smaller chelae. An intermediate form is found in a Brazilian canary. S. tracheacolum is thought to use wild birds as its normal hosts since it has been found repeatedly in birds in North America, as well as in other parts of the world, and because its presence in the trachea and lungs in these birds seems to be much better tolerated than in the canaries. Canaries are thus probably infested secondarily, and it seems that Passer domesticus has served in the transfer of the mites between the two groups. The specimens from wild birds present the same variability as those of the canaries, and one can also distinguish three different groups on the basis of the length of the chela. The origin of these variations is discussed. Geographical or biological isolation of the host probably plays a more important role than the host itself in the production of variation.Hypopi representing probably two species of the genus Falculifer have been found in the air-sacs and lungs of two central African birds. Also Speleognathus poffei, S. striatus and Boydaia sp. have been taken from the lungs or trachea of their hosts in Ruanda-Urundi or U.S.A.Collection of most North American material was carried out under a research grant (G-11035) from the National Science Foundation.The authors wish to thank the following for their co-operation and assistance in this study by making available various collections of Sternostoma tracheacolum: E. W. Baker, U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C.; G. Owen Evans, British Museum (Natural History), London; D. P. Furman, University of California, Berkeley; S. Grétillat, Laboratoire Central de l'Elevage, Dakar; R. F. Lawrence, Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg; and G. Lombardini, Rome.

Cytotaxonomic Studies of Some American Species of Dryopteris

The genus Dryopteris in America is well known for the difficulties which it presents to the systematist; several of its taxa are classified differently by different authors and hybridization between species is common. Spore morphology in Dryopteris has been shown by Crane (1953, 1955, 1956) to be a most useful taxonomic character in helping to separate some of the species. For the past few years I have been engaged in cytological studies and experimental hybridization within the genus, involving both European and American material, in order to study the evolutionary processes and attempt to elucidate some of the taxonomic problems. The knowledge gained from an investigation of the Dryopteris spinulosa complex in Europe has already been published (Walker, 1955) ; stated briefly, this shows that in Europe there are three allotetraploid species, cristata (L.) A. Gray, spinulosa (0. F. Muell) Watt and dilatata (Hoffm.) A. Gray, together with two diploid forms of D. dilatata, one found in Britain and on the continent of Europe, the other in Madeira. These two diploids are very different in their division of the blades and in spore size, but studies of meiosis in experimental hybrids indicate that they are descendants of the same ancestral diploid, that which is common and part parental to both spinulosa and dilatata. A detailed report on the results obtained from a study of North American material of Dryopteris is in preparation for publication elsewhere, but perhaps the following will be of general interest to readers who have met with the taxonomic problems in this genus. Cytological investigation of cristata and spinulosa (typical) from the eastern United States shows that

Distribution and Specificity of Helminths in Microtine Rodents: Evolutionary Implications

Among those genera of microtine rodents having holarctic distribution, the parasitic helminths of North American representatives of Dicrostonyx, LLemmus, Clethrionomys, and Microtus are relatively well known. These helminths demonstrate a highly developed phylogenetic specificity, being restricted essentially to the Microtinae, but few show any evidence of host-specificity at the generic level. Both nematodes and cestodes are prevalent endoparasites of these rodents in boreal North America. For the purposes of the present work, emphasis is placed upon the cestodes, most of which are members of the subfamily Anoplocephalinae. Some of the latter are unusually interesting in that they occur in a variety of host-species over extensive geographic ranges. With the exception of Paranoplocephala omphalodes (Hermann, 1783), it has not been determined whether these cestodes are holarctic. It is evident, however, that some described from microtine rodents in Eurasia correspond morphologically to species in North America. It appears in Alaska that significant relationships between the distribution of certain cestodes and the distribution of their hosts may be recognized. Any attempt to evaluate these apparent relationships is contingent upon determining whether or not these cestodes are holarctic. The study of this problem has now been undertaken in light of work published recently by Eurasian helminthologists and the acquisition of additional comparative material. This paper contains a review of the taxonomic status of anoplocephaline cestodes from microtine rodents and a discussion of some of the evolutionary and zoogeographic implications of distribution and host-occurrence of these and other helminths. I. The genus Andrya. Five species of Andrya parasitic in microtine rodents may be considered valid at the present time. 1. Andrya macrocephala Douthitt, 1915, is the most common cestode observed in species of Microtus in North America. Its unusually wide range of normal morphological variation (Rausch and Schiller, 1949a; Rausch, 1952) has led to the description of some of its variants as distinct species. A. macrocephala has been well characterized from North American material. Two species closely resembling A. mwacrocephala have been described in Eurasia; however, their validity is questionable. One of these, A. bialozuizensis Soltys, 1949, has been reported only from Poland. A. caucasica Kirshenblat, 1938, was described fronm Transcaucasia. It was suggested by Rausch and Schiller (1949a) that A. caucasica might be conspecific with A. macrocephala. This possibility was not considered by Spasskii (1951), in his monograph of anoplocephalid cestodes. Later, Spasskii, Romanova, and Naidenova (1951) made a survey of the helminth parasites of mnuskrats (an introduced species) in Russia, and from this host collected specimens of Andrya in the Kurgansk and Archangel'sk Oblasti. They also had cestodes of this genus from voles in Pribaikal'. These workers noted the lack of significant morphological differences between these specimens and the description of A. macrocephala. It was also observed that the cestodes from the voles of Pribaikal' did not differ in any essential way from A. caucasica and A.

A Contribution toward a Monograph of the Scatopsidae (Diptera) Part IV, the Genus Swammerdamella Enderlein

The genus Swammerdamella was erected by Enderlein in 1912. The chief characteristics cited in the original description are as follows: the ends of veins Ri and R3 are very close together in the costal margin; the cell between veins Mi and Mo is very short; the antennae are 12-segmented. The latter is erroneous since only four of the species available to me have as many as 10 antennal segments, and the majority of the species examined have only 9. Neither Duda (1928a) nor Edwards (1930) recognized this as a good genus, and it must be admitted that the characters cited by Enderlein will not always hold. However, on the basis of a fairly adequate collection of North American material and some additional European, Central American and Indian specimens (fourteen species altogether) it seems to be a very sound and distinct group with a wide distribution. The characters that distinguish the genus will be considered in the formal description.

The American Species of the Genus Dictya Meigen (Diptera, Sciomyzidae)

Until Curran (1932) published his review of the American species of Dictya, with seven species, the genus had been universally considered to include but one species, umbrarum (Linnaeus), widely distributed in both the palaearctic and nearctic regions. Only Loew in describing Tetanocera pictipes in 1859 had even a suspicion that more than one species existed. Even he stated (as translated in Monogr. No. Amer. Dipt. 1:112, 1862): “A series of specimens enables me to compare this species with the closely allied European Tet. umbrarum Linn. The resemblance of both is so great that I cannot but suspect that they are identical. No difference of structure existing between them, the larger size and browner color of Tet. pictipes alone afford a constant distinguishing character. Future observations will perhaps enable us to decide whether Tet. pictipes is merely a climatic variety of Tet. umbrarum or a different species.” And Osten-Sacken in a footnote to Loew‗s remarks was still puzzled when he examined North American material which agreed in size and color with European specimens. Cresson (1920) stated: “On comparing our material with some specimens from Europe, I cannot detect any differential characters of specific or even varietal importance.”

The North American Species of Bembecinus (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae, Stizini)

The taxonomy of the North American species of Bembecinus Costa has presented some difficult problems for many years. It has been only recently, with Arnold'st recognition of the phenomenon of xanthochroism increasing with the size of the male in certain species, that an explanation has been offered which makes it possible to solve some of the problems. Recently the senior author had occasion to arrange the North American material of this genus in the collection of the U. S. National Museum, while the junior author at Cornell University examined some North American material in connection with his studies of the Neotropical fauna. Finding that we were in substantial agreement on the status of the North American forms, we decided to pool our specimens and present the following results of our investigations. Mr. Robert B. Benson, of the British Museum (Natural History), has very kindly compared specimens and notes sent him with types or type material of the Smith and Cameron species discussed herein. Dr. Franz Maidl, of the Naturhistorisches Museum of Vienna, made available a paratype of Stizus xanthochrous Handlirsch. Mr. Martin H. Muma, of the University of Nebraska, loaned specimens from the University of Nebraska collection determined by Mickel, including paratypes of strenuus (Mickel). Specimens in the collections of the U. S. National Museum, Cornell University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, University of Kansas, University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, California Academy of Sciences, and several private collections have been studied during the course of our investigations.

North American Species of Androsace

The North American representation of the genus-six species and six subspecies-although small, offers problems of speciation and relationship which have not been w'A11 understood. The treatment of the genus given by Knuth (1905) is carefully done but is based on a meagre number of North American collections and the morphological distinctions used are often so arbitrary and unreliable that they apply equally we-ll to a number of species. This is particularly true of corollar morphology for which the genus in North America offers only a stereotyped plan. The only treatment primarily concerned with North America is the revision presented by Harold St. John (1922) which covers certain of the' species belonging to the annual section of the genus. With more abundant North American material St. John was able to correct many of the errors of Knuth and to 'bring together additional and significant characters for the separation of the entities. Most of the entities remain today as he delimited them but the failure to recognize the range of variation from field studies of certain of the Western Cordilleran forms has brought the perpetuation of some errors.

Webera erecta (Lindb.) Limpr. in North America

This rare moss was collected by Dr. John W. Bailey, who found it growing on rocks in snow water, just below McClure's Rock in Paradise Valley, Rainier National Park, Washington, at 7,000 feet altitude, August 5, 1925. The type of this plant was collected by Chr. Kaurin near Opdal, Norway. Dr. Harold Lindberg, son of the author of the specific name, kindly loaned a plant from the type material for comparison and verification, the label of which shows the interesting fact that Geheeb had first determined it as Mielichoferia nitida. Then Lindberg described it as Pohlia (Cacodon) erecta, in Rev. bryol., 1883, p. 7. Later Sanio published it as Mielichoferia defecta in Bot. Centralbl., Bd. XIII, No. 7 (1883). Kindberg sided with Sanio, referring it to Mielichoferia, but recognizing the priority of Lindberg's specific name, writing Mielichoferia erecta Lindb., in Enum., p. 22 (1888). However, the plant is undoubtedly a Webera, as a close study of the perfect North American material shows. There is a more or less perfect outer peristome. But the inner peristome is always rudimentary, and is, indeed, not found at all in a large number of capsules. When present, it consists of a low membrane of 2 or 3 rows of thin plates from which project rudiments of paired cilia and segments, usually not longer than the height of the supporting membrane.