Recent advances in understanding insect communities in tropical forests have contributed little to our knowledge of large-scale patterns of insect diversity, because incomplete taxonomic knowledge of many tropical species hinders the mapping of their distribution records. This impedes an understanding of global biodiversity patterns and explains why tropical insects are under-represented in conservation biology. Our study of approximately 500 species from three herbivorous guilds feeding on foliage (caterpillars, Lepidoptera), wood (ambrosia beetles, Coleoptera) and fruit (fruitflies, Diptera) found a low rate of change in species composition (beta diversity) across 75,000 square kilometres of contiguous lowland rainforest in Papua New Guinea, as most species were widely distributed. For caterpillars feeding on large plant genera, most species fed on multiple host species, so that even locally restricted plant species did not support endemic herbivores. Large plant genera represented a continuously distributed resource easily colonized by moths and butterflies over hundreds of kilometres. Low beta diversity was also documented in groups with differing host specificity (fruitflies and ambrosia beetles), suggesting that dispersal limitation does not have a substantial role in shaping the distribution of insect species in New Guinea lowland rainforests. Similar patterns of low beta diversity can be expected in other tropical lowland rainforests, as they are typically situated in the extensive low basins of major tropical rivers similar to the Sepik-Ramu region of New Guinea studied here.
Abstract. -The dorsal gill-arch musculature (DGM) Mugilomorpha + Atherinomorpha (= Percesoces Cope, 1875), Gasterosteomorpha, and. possibly, Centrisciformes (a pre-percomorph group, comprising only Centriscidae). Gasterosteomorpha includes a monophyletic Hypoptychidae {Hypoptychus + Aulichthys), Elassomatidae, Aulorhynchidae, monophyletic Synbranchiformes (Synbranchidae + Mastacembelidae), and Gasterosteidae, thus corroborating various hypotheses of Johnson and Patterson (1993) and Johnson and Springer (1997)
The jaw, suprahyoid, and extrinsic tongue muscles were studied in 11 genera, belonging to five tribes, of Old World squirrels. Significant variation in most of the adductor muscles is evident. The most primitive state of sciuromorphy is seen in the African tree squirrels Paraxerus and Funisciurus, especially as reflected in the anterior deep masseter. A derived state of sciuromorphy is found in five genera of Old World squirrels and perhaps evolved independently in each. Reduction of the temporalis muscle was observed in three genera, distantly related to one another. A unique arrangement of the superficial masseter is reported in the Asian giant tree squirrels, Ratufa. The arrangement of the masseter in the African pygmy squirrel, Myosciurus, is very similar to that of the South American pygmy squirrel, Sciurillus. We present hypotheses about the functional significance of these differences. In the derived state of sciuromorphy, which is found in three cases in squirrels that feed extensively on hard fruits, the anterior deep masseter is well positioned to increase the strength of the power stroke of the incisor bite. Among the pygmy squirrels, the position of the anterior deep masseter suggests that it plays a more significant role in molar chewing.
Comparative population genetics of ecological guilds can reveal generalities in patterns of differentiation bearing on hypotheses regarding the origin and maintenance of community diversity. Contradictory estimates of host specificity and beta diversity in tropical Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) from New Guinea and the Americas have sparked debate on the role of host-associated divergence and geographic isolation in explaining latitudinal diversity gradients. We sampled haplotypes of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I from 28 Lepidoptera species and 1,359 individuals across four host plant genera and eight sites in New Guinea to estimate population divergence in relation to host specificity and geography. Analyses of molecular variance and haplotype networks indicate varying patterns of genetic structure among ecologically similar sympatric species. One-quarter lacked evidence of isolation by distance or host-associated differentiation, whereas 21% exhibited both. Fourteen percent of the species exhibited host-associated differentiation without geographic isolation, 18% showed the opposite, and 21% were equivocal, insofar as analyses of molecular variance and haplotype networks yielded incongruent patterns. Variation in dietary breadth among community members suggests that speciation by specialization is an important, but not universal, mechanism for diversification of tropical Lepidoptera. Geographically widespread haplotypes challenge predictions of vicariance biogeography. Dispersal is important, and Lepidoptera communities appear to be highly dynamic according to the various phylogeographic histories of component species. Population genetic comparisons among herbivores of major tropical and temperate regions are needed to test predictions of ecological theory and evaluate global patterns of biodiversity. community ecology | DNA barcoding | phylogeography | plant-insect interactions | speciation
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