Pale Forms Research Articles

Alternative electron transport pathways contribute to tolerance to high light stress in lichenized algae.

The photosynthetic apparatus of lichen photobionts has been well-characterized by chlorophyll fluorescence analysis (e.g., by pulse amplitude modulation [PAM]), which provides a proxy of the activity of photosystem II (PSII) and its antenna. However, such kinetics are unable to directly characterize photosystem I (PSI) activity and the associated alternative electron pathways that may be involved in photoprotection. Instead, PSI can be probed in vivo by near-infrared absorption, measured at the same time as standard chlorophyll fluorescence (e.g., using the WALZ Dual PAM). Here, we used the Dual PAM to investigate cyclic electron flow and photoprotection in a range of mostly temperate lichens sampled from shaded to more open microhabitats. Sun species displayed lower acceptor side limitation of PSI (Y[NA]) early in illumination when compared to shade species, indicative of higher flavodiiron-mediated pseudocyclic electron flow. In response to high irradiance, some lichens accumulate melanin, and Y[NA] was lower and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH-2)-type cyclic flow was higher in melanised than pale forms. Furthermore, non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) was higher and faster relaxing in shade than sun species, while all lichens displayed high rates of photosynthetic cyclic electron flow. In conclusion, our data suggest that (1) low acceptor side limitation of PSI is important for sun-exposed lichens; (2) NPQ helps shade species tolerate brief exposure to high irradiance; and (3) cyclic electron flow is a prominent feature of lichens regardless of habitat, although NDH-2-type flow is associated with high light acclimation.

Five new species of Limacodidae (Lepidoptera: Zygaenoidea) from South-East Asia.

The species Iragoides dudai sp. nov. from China (Sichuan), Euphlyctina butvilai sp. nov. from China (Zhejiang and Yunnan), Sansarea alenae sp. nov. from China (Yunnan), Narosoideus witti sp. nov. from China (Sichuan, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Jiangxi), Griseothosea mousta sp. nov. from China (Yunnan), Thailand (Chiang Mai, Nan and Chiang Dao), and Laos (Luang Namtha and Luang Prabang) are described as new to science. The taxonomical status of dark and pale forms of Iragoides crispa (Swinhoe, 1890) is discussed.

Bombus (Pyrobombus) johanseni Sladen, 1919, a valid North American bumble bee species, with a new synonymy and comparisons to other “red-banded” bumble bee species in North America (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombini)

The bumble bee (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombini, Bombus Latreille) fauna of the Nearctic and Palearctic regions are considered well known, with a few species occurring in both regions (i.e., with a Holarctic distribution), but much of the Arctic, especially in North America, remains undersampled or unsurveyed. Several bumble bee taxa have been described from northern North America, these considered either valid species or placed into synonymy with other taxa. However, some of these synonymies were made under the assumption of variable hair colour only, without detailed examination of other morphological characters (e.g., male genitalia, hidden sterna), and without the aid of molecular data. Recently, Bombus interacti Martinet, Brasero & Rasmont, 2019 was described from Alaska where it is considered endemic; based on both morphological and molecular data, it was considered a taxon distinct from B. lapponicus (Fabricius, 1793). Bombus interacti was also considered distinct from B. gelidus Cresson, 1878, a taxon from Alaska surmised to be a melanistic form of B. lapponicus sylvicola Kirby, 1837, the North American subspecies (Martinet et al. 2019). Unfortunately, Martinet et al. (2019) did not have DNA barcode sequences (COI) for females of B. interacti, but molecular data for a melanistic female specimen matching the DNA barcode sequence of the holotype of B. interacti have been available in the Barcodes of Life Data System (BOLD) since 2011. Since then, additional specimens have been obtained from across northern North America. Also unfortunate was that B. sylvicola var. johanseni Sladen, 1919, another melanistic taxon described from far northern Canada, was not considered.Bombus johanseni is here recognized as a distinct taxon from B. lapponicus sylvicola Kirby, 1837 (sensuMartinet et al. 2019) in the Nearctic region, showing the closest affinity to B. glacialis Friese, 1902 of the Old World. As the holotype male of B. interacti is genetically identical to material identified here as B. johanseni, it is placed into synonymy. Thus, we consider B. johanseni a widespread species occurring across arctic and subarctic North America in which most females are dark, with rarer pale forms (i.e., “interacti”) occurring in and seemingly restricted to Alaska. In addition to B. johanseni showing molecular affinities to B. glacialis of the Old World, both taxa also inhabit similar habitats in the arctic areas of both Nearctic and Palearctic, respectively. It is also likely that many of the specimens identified as B. lapponicus sylvicola from far northern Canada and Alaska might actually be B. johanseni, so that should be considered for future studies of taxonomy, distribution, and conservation assessment of North American bumble bees.

Resolving the taxonomic status of Frankliniella schultzei (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) colour forms in Kenya – a morphological-, biological-, molecular- and ecological-based approach

AbstractFrankliniella schultzeiTrybom is a polyphagous pest and vector of tospoviruses worldwide. It occurs in dark and pale colour forms that are morphologically similar but differ in vector competency and geographic spread. In Kenya and other tropical regions, mixed populations of both colour forms are observed in similar habitats, so are considered as one species. To ascertain the taxonomic status of the two colour forms, they were characterized using morphological, molecular, biological and ecological approaches. Morphological characterization revealed differences between the colour forms on eight features and they separated into distinct clusters through principal component analysis. Restriction fragment length polymorphism of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS-RFLP) analysis revealed differences between the two colour forms and was confirmed by differences in ITS2 sequences. Virgin pale females had female offspring (thelytoky), while virgin dark females had male offspring (arrhenotoky). Interbreeding of dark males with pale females resulted in pale females, indicating absence of interbreeding between the two colour forms. Laboratory colonies of pale forms lacked males and further analysis ofF. schultzeimales fromIpomoea setosaflowers in the field indicated the presence of dark males and the absence of pale males. Field surveys in Kenya indicated differences in distribution and host plant preferences among the colour forms. Lack of interbreeding, distinct host preferences and distribution, and morphological and molecular differences indicate that the two colour forms ofF. schultzeicould be different species. The results highlight the need for combining morphological, biological, molecular and ecological characteristics for resolving taxonomic status of closely related insects.

Prospective field study of transovarial dengue-virus transmission by two different forms of Aedes aegypti in an urban area of Bangkok, Thailand

A prospective field study was conducted to determine transovarial dengue-virus transmission in two forms of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in an urban district of Bangkok, Thailand. Immature Aedes mosquitoes were collected monthly for one year and reared continuously until adulthood in the laboratory. Mosquitoes assayed for dengue virus were processed in pools and their dengue virus infection status was determined by one-step RT-PCR and nested-PCR methods. Of a total 15,457 newly emerged adult Ae. aegypti, 98.2% were dark and 1.8% of the pale form. The results showed that the minimum infection rate (MIR) by transovarial transmission (TOT) of dengue virus during the one-year study ranged between 0 to 24.4/1,000 mosquitoes. Dengue virus TOT increased gradually during the hot summer months, reaching a peak in April-June, while dengue cases peaked in September, a rainy month near the end of the rainy season. Therefore, mosquito infections due to TOT were prevalent four months before a high incidence of human infections. TOT dengue virus infections occurred in both forms of Ae. aegypti. All four dengue serotypes were detected, with DEN-4 predominant, followed by DEN-3, DEN-1, and DEN-2, respectively.

Change in protective coloration in the striated shieldbug Graphosoma lineatum (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae): predator avoidance and generalization among different life stages

There are two major forms of protective coloration, camouflage and warning coloration, which often entail different colour pattern characteristics. Some species change strategy between or within life stages and one such example is the striated shieldbug, Graphosoma lineatum. The larvae and the pale brownish-and-black striated pre-diapause adults are more cryptic in the late summer environment than is the red-and black striation that the adults change to after diapause in spring. Here we investigate if the more cryptic pre-diapause adult and larval coloration may affect the aposematic function of the coloration as compared to the red adult form. In a series of trials we presented fifth instar larvae, pale or red adults to shieldbug-naive domestic chicks, Gallus gallus domesticus, to investigate the birds’ initial wariness, avoidance learning, and generalization between the three prey types. The naive chicks found the red adults most aversive followed by pale adults, and they found the larvae the least aversive. The birds did not find the larvae unpalatable and did not learn to avoid them, while they learned to avoid the two adult forms and then to a similar degree. Birds generalized asymmetrically between life stages, positively from larvae to adults and negatively from adults to larvae. We conclude that the lower conspicuousness in the pale forms of G. lineatum may entail a reduced aposematic function, namely a reduced initial wariness in inexperienced birds. The maintenance of the colour polymorphism is discussed.

The Vision of the Other in Mark Twain's 'War-Prayer'

New Perspectives on “The War-Prayer” Essays on “The War-Prayer” The Vision of the Other in Mark Twain’s “War-Prayer” Martin ZEHR Mark Twain’s ofcial biography, published two years after his death, contains his cold assertion, in reference to “The War-Prayer,” that “. . . only dead men can tell the truth in this world” (Paine 1234). This may certainly have been his belief at the time of the assess- ment, but for the reader of Twain’s works it is evident that he was capable of his share of truth-telling throughout his career, or at least providing us with sufciently convincing glimpses of ourselves, through his depiction of real or  ctitious characters, to draw us in and capture our attention. It is indeed, this ability, to see ourselves, through others, and, just as importantly, in others, that renders his work, whether categorized as humor- ous, ironic, satirical, or polemical, easily accessible to the reader who ventures to take the journey. As Twain himself describes the inuence of literal, as well as  gurative, travel, “It liberalizes the Vandal to travel—you never saw a bigoted, opinionated, stubborn, nar- row-minded, self-conceited, almighty mean man in your life but he had stuck in one place since he was born. . .” (Fatout 36). While Twain certainly, from a literal standpoint, was the most-traveled author of his generation, it is critical to observe that his travels, in a more literary sense, include the ability to transform his perspective to that of the Other and, ultimately, to conclude that the distinction between himself and the Other is often a matter of unexamined habit or convenience. In “The War-Prayer,” Twain’s mysterious stranger asks and answers the rhetorical question “Is it one prayer? No, it is two—one uttered, the other not,” as a means of lead- ing the reader to the vision of the other. This is an Other, including the members of the congregation, who stands to experience soldiers torn “to bloody shreds” covering “smiling  elds with the pale forms of their patriot dead,” hearing “shrieks of their wounded, writh- ing in pain,” or seeing “humble homes” wasted “with a hurricane of  re, . . . the hearts of . . . unoffending widows with unavailing grief, . . . the wastes of their desolated land.” In the jingoistic fervor of the turn of the last century, during which the United States brutally suppressed the independence movement led by Aguinaldo in the Philippines in the wake of the Spanish-American War and assisted in the re-establishment of European hegemony over the coastal regions of China following the Boxer rebellion, Twain was not reticent in expressing his revulsion towards his country’s policies. In “The War-Prayer,” a product of this revulsion, he also attempts to unmask the denial of the other, disguised in the “holy

Paleoclimate of Arctic lakes and estuaries: A new NSF initiative

The U.S. Arctic System Science Program of the National Science Foundation has been created “to document and understand the processes of the Arctic system that interact with the total Earth system” (NSF, ARCSS 1990). ARCSS research has three components: Land/Atmosphere/Ice Interactions, Ocean/Atmosphere/Ice Interactions, and Paleoenvironmental Studies, made up of the Greenland Ice Sheet Program and Paleoclimates of Arctic Lakes and Estuaries. PALE forms a link between the first two components as it seeks to document and understand changes in both terrestrial and nearshore marine environments.The need to integrate the community of Arctic paleoclimate researchers was perceived in the middle 1980s and this resulted in a focus on lake and nearshore sediment cores as a basis for proxy records of environmental change across the Arctic. Several workshops, held at the University of Colorado between 1987 and 1990 resulted in a proposal to the National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs to establish a Steering Committee that would outline a science plan and coordinate national efforts toward these goals.

Anterograde and retrograde degenerative reactions in caudate nucleus and putamen after experimental lesion of the pallidum in squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus).

After stereotactic lesions in the pallidum in 4 squirrel monkeys, electron microscopic material from the striatum was examined for anterograde and retrograde degenerative changes. In the experiment with pallidum internum lesion, only degenerated striatal fibers were observed, more than likely thalamostriatal fibers that pass through the site of the lesion. The three experiments with pallidum externum lesion revealed that the two types of striatal aspiny neurons react with a penumbral degeneration to interruption of their axons. Also, the axospinous type IV striatal synapses, which originate in the center median or parafascicular nucleus of the the thalamus, react to interruption of their axons in the pallidum externum with the dark or crystalloid forms of degeneration. The plump axospinous type III synapses, which have previously not been differentiated, were the most frequently altered, showing dark, crystalloid, or pale forms of degeneration. Their degeneration can be attributed directly to the lesions of the pallidum externum nerve cells; thus, an immediate connection between the pallidum externum and the striatum has been demonstrated. A comparison of the retrograde degeneration of striated nerve cells after pallidum externum lesions with that following columnar isolation of striatal tissue revealed two overlapping forms of penumbral degeneration of the aspiny neurons.

Changes in the neurosecretory granules of the eel pituitary pars nervosa associated with change of background colour

There were marked changes in the appearance of the neurosecretory granules in the pituitary pars nervosa of eels being used in colour change experiments. Large, pale, neurosecretory granules accumulated in the nerve fibres of eels kept on a black background. When eels were returned to white backgrounds, there followed a gradual increase in the numbers of smaller, electron-dense granules among the pale forms, until a more typical ultrastructural appearance of the pars nervosa was reestablished. As one explanation, it is suggested that adaptation to black backgrounds was accompanied by decreased release of secretory products of the pars nervosa and that pale granules are a mature form of neurosecretory granule which accumulated in inactive fibres. Conversely, when eels were kept on white backgrounds, activity of the pars nervosa increased and pale granules were replaced in the fibres by newly arrived, less mature, dense granules.

Apparent elimination of symbiotes in successive generations of Sitophilus (Coleoptera) fumigated with methyl bromide

The microorganisms harbored in the mycetomes of the weevils of the genus Sitophilus are inherited through the female weevil, and there is good evidence that they supply the host insect with some beneficial but not essential metabolite. Weevils lacking these symbiotes have a pale cuticle. A strain (GG) of Sitophilus granarius (Linnaeus) which harbored mycetomal microorganisms was exposed to methyl bromide fumigation for several consecutive generations at two selection pressures. Representative survivors of each generation were examined for the microorganisms. It was found that there was (1) seemingly, a progressive decrease in the proportion of weevils harboring mycetomal microorganisms; (2) a progressive incrase in the proportion of pale forms; and, (3) an increase in the value of the LD 50. At the 11th generation, it appeared that the population exposed to higher selection pressure consisted almost entirely of weevils that had lost mycetomal microorganisms and were approximately 3.5 times as tolerant of methyl bromide as the original nonselected strain. Additional experiments showed that while all tolerant weevils appeared to lack mycetomal microorganisms and have a pale cuticle, all pale aposymbiotic weevils were not methyl-bromide tolerant.

Dark Coloration in the Reptiles of the Tularosa Malpais, New Mexico

IN 1932 Bradt described the mammals of the black lava Malpais of the Tularosa Basin in New Mexico and noted the close approximation between the colors of the animals and of the surrounding rocks. In the same year Benson described several new dark colored rodents from the lava, and Dice and Blossom in 1939 summarized the relationships between soil and pelage colors in the mammals of this and numerous other areas of the desert southwest. The latter authors demonstrated the general rule that dark colored forms were correlated with dark soils, while pale forms were correlated with light soils. In the Malpais, they found five species of mammals that tended toward dark coloration. In the contiguous snow-white gypsum dunes of the White Sands National Monument, they noted three species of mammals with pallid pelage tones. In less distinctively colored areas, mammals tended to approach the reds, yellows, buffs, and browns of their native substratum. Smith (1943) has described the pale lizards of the White Sands (Uta stansburiana stejnegeri Schmidt, Sceloporus undulatus consobrinus Baird and Girard, Holbrookia maculata ruthveni Smith, and Cnemidophorus perplexus Baird). Color notes on the reptiles from adjacent normal colored regions are readily available. The reptiles of the Malpais have not been studied, and in order to examine their colorations, three collecting trips were made across various portions of the lava in 1948. Color notes were made in the field. Comparative studies were made, largely, from preserved material. The Malpais of the Tularosa Basin consists of about 120 square miles of recent vesicular dull black lava extending north and south in a narrow irregular strip about 44 miles in length. It is bordered by arid plains and hills which determined the shape of the flow and which now bear the flora and fauna of the Chihuahuan biotic province. The lava is exceedingly rough and almost impassable. In places it is 50 or more feet in thickness. The surface displays such features as secondary terraces, collapsed bubbles and flow channels, pressure domes, knife-like ridges, extensive crevasses, crumpled and up-thrust extrusions, pahoehoe formations, cinder cones, and at the northern end a low crater. The surface is weathered but little. Enough glassy edges remain to damage even the heaviest boots. The violent winds of this part of the continent have buried the northern toe of the beds in drifted sand and loess. They have also carried into the lava sufficient pockets of soil to support a sparse growth of desert plants. In the northern portions (elevation about 5300 feet) ephydra and small junipers dominate. Farther south the more prominent large plants are mesquite, cholla, prickly pear, sotol, lecheguilla, atriplex, and near Malpais Spring (4150 feet) at the southern end of the beds, large Allenrolfia shrubs.

Dimorphism in Stercorarius pomarinus (Temminck)

SUMMARY. Records from the literature are collected about the proportions of dark and pale forms of the Pomatorhine Skua. The breeding range falls into two areas, one from Novaya Zemlya to north‐west Alaska, the other from the Mackenzie River to west Greenland. In both these areas dark birds are evenly distributed in the proportion of 1 in 5–20, though there is a slight suggestion that they. are less common in the second than in the first region. This even, distribution contrasts with tile cline in dimorph‐ratio known to exist in the Arctic Skua. Pomatorhine Skuas fluctuate in breeding strength from year to year. This is probably connected with the lemming cycle.

Variations in the Wing Ornamentation of Anopheles funestus, Giles

1. The ornamentation of the wings in Anopheles funestus, Giles, is variable.2. Nine distinct arrangements of the wing scales were observed in a random sample of 1,084 individuals.3. Nearly nine-tenths of the specimens occurred in one group, in which there were dark and pale forms.4. Variations in wing markings are not solely related to sex or to habitat.5. The pale form was more prevalent in the wet season and the dark form in the dry season.6. It is suggested that further study may reveal whether the dark form is the hibernating variety and whether one form is more important as a carrier of malaria than the other, and that these details of wing ornamentation should be recorded in future.

THE GENUS CLASTOPTERA (CERCOPIDAE)

The members of this genus are all small and globose and are easily separated from other Cercopidae, but here the easy part abruptly ends. The varieties are widely variable in size, form and color, ranging in most species from large pale forms through spotted, striped and variously ornamented ones on down through coppery and bronzy shades to small black forms at the other extreme. The representatives of this group are distributed through North and South America where some 68 or 70 different forms have been named. All of the earlier ones and most of those of later date have been founded on size and color markings alone, which vary with the sex, the food plant, the environment and in some cases at least with the season. Under the circumstances it is manifestly impossible to determine the number of species involved or to work out a stable nomenclature until extended collection and careful life history has been done in the areas involved.

Societies and Academies

LONDON. Entomological Society, November 2.—Prof. E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., president, in the chair.—Mr. J. E. Collin exhibited a specimen of Platyphora lubbocki, Verr., a species of Phoridæ parasitic upon ants. No specimen has been recorded since the one originally bred by the present Lord Avebury in 1875, and described for him by Mr. G. H. Verrall in the Journal of the Linnean Society for 1877.—Mr. P. J. Barraud exhibited an aberrant Epinephele jurtina (janira), o, taken by him this year in the New Forest, in which the usual apical spots were absent from the fore-wings, giving the specimen a curious appearance, noticeable even when flying.—Mr. J. Edwards sent for exhibition three specimens of Bagous lutosus, Gyll., one found by himself on Wretham Heath, Norfolk, on August 4, 1900—the first authentic British example—and two taken in the same locality by Mr. Thouless on May 22, 1903; also Bagous glabrirostris, Herbst., from Camber, Sussex, for comparison.—Dr. T. A. Chapman exhibited bred specimens of Hastula (Epagoge, Hb.?) hyerana, Mill., from larvæ taken at Hyères last March, and said the fact that the pale forms only have hitherto been known, whereas of those bred nearly half are dark, suggests either that really very few specimens are in collections—which is the most probable case—or that melanism is now affecting the species.—Mr. W. J. Kaye exhibited specimens of the moths Castnia fonscolombei and Protambulyx ganascus showing protective and warning coloration of the two species.—Mr. H. W. Andrews exhibited specimens of Eristalis cryptarum, F., and Didea alneti, Fin., two species of uncommon Syrphidæ from the New Forest.—Mr. Edward Hariris exhibited a brood of Hemerophila abruptaria reared by him this season, together with the parents, a dark male and a normal female, showing considerable variation.—Mr. Gervase F. Mathew, R.N., exhibited some beautiful and interesting examples of Leucania favicolor, Barrett, including the varieties described by Barrett in the current volume of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (p. 61), and, more recently, by Tutt in the Entomologist's Record for this year. He also exhibited a series of twenty-four Camptogramma fluviata, the descendants of a wild pair captured on September 22, 1903, showing a wide range of colour variation.—The President exhibited a photograph taken by Mr. A. H. Hamm to illustrate the protective flower selection of Pieris rapae. He also exhibited four specimens of Conorrhinus megistus, Burm., the large South American Reduvüd which is well known to attack man; these were brought back by W. J. Burchell in the year 1828, and still have the original labels affixed to them.