Summary Eulophidae is a large and biologically varied family of parasitoid wasps, traditionally split into four subfamilies; Elasmidae is a uniform (single genus) and morphologically distinct family of wasps that are thought to be related to Eulophidae. The D2 region of the 28S rDNA gene (≈ 560 bp) of eighty‐seven species of eulophid, three species of elasmid and sixteen outgroup species in five families was sequenced. Cladograms were constructed, and the results compared with conclusions drawn from morphological studies. The gene was most informative at the level of subfamily and tribe. The monophyly of both Eulophinae and Tetrastichinae is supported; that of Entedoninae and Euderinae is less clear. Results indicate that Eulophinae is a derived group within Eulophidae, rather than an ancestral group as previously thought, and that Elasmus, the sole genus of Elasmidae, belongs within this subfamily. The tribes of Eulophinae are reassessed and only three accepted: Eulophini (including Euplectrini and Elachertini), Elasmini and Cirrospilini LaSalle trib.n. for Bouček's Ophelimini with Ophelimus and Australsecodes excluded. Three small Australian tribes, Anselmellini, Ophelimini and Platytetracampini, are removed from Eulophinae and Entedoninae, respectively, but their exact relationships and subfamily status cannot as yet be decided. Another tribe, Keryini, known from a single Australian genus, is excluded from both Eulophinae and Eulophidae.

No abstract

Med B. tabaci is more diverse and structured than reported so far. On a large geographic scale, resistance is affected by population genetic structure, whereas on a local scale, agricultural practices appear to play a major role.

MOC is a safe and efficient technique. It must be applied for patients with anterior compression and straight or kyphotic axis of the spine. No fusion is required regardless of the number of levels, providing there are no soft discs and there is no preoperative instability.

11A new land-surface parameterization scheme, namely the Soil, Vegetation, and Snow 12 (SVS) scheme, has recently been developed at Environment and Climate Change Canada to 13 replace the operationally used ISBA (Interactions between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere) 14 scheme. The new scheme is designed to address a number of weaknesses and limitations of 15 ISBA that have been identified over the last decade. Unlike ISBA, which calculates a single 16 energy budget for the different land-surface components, SVS introduces a new tiling approach 17 that includes separate energy budgets for bare ground, vegetation, and two different snow packs 18 (over bare ground and low vegetation, and under high vegetation). The inclusion of a 19 photosynthesis module as an option to determine the surface stomatal resistance is another 20 significant addition in SVS. The representation of vertical water transport through soil has also 21 been substantially improved in SVS with the introduction of multiple soil layers. Overall, offline 22 simulations conducted in the present study demonstrated clear improvements in warm season 23 Manuscript (non-LaTeX) Click here to download Manuscript (non-LaTeX) Husain_et_al_20160331-TEXT-and-FIGURES.docx 2 meteorological predictions with SVS compared to the ISBA scheme. The results also revealed 1 considerable reduction of standard error in the SVS-predicted L-band brightness temperature. 2This demonstrates the scheme's ability for better hydrological prediction and its potential for 3 providing more accurate soil moisture analysis. The impact of the photosynthesis module within 4 the current implementation of SVS is, however, found to be negligible on near-surface 5 meteorological prediction and slightly negative for brightness temperature. 6 7

No abstract

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a species complex including at least 24 morphologically indistinguishable species among which the Mediterranean (Med) and Middle East-Asia Minor I (MEAMI) species containing the biotypes commonly known as Q and B, respectively. These B and Q biotypes (hereafter referred to as MEAMI and Med species) are the most invasive agricultural pests of the B. tabaci complex worldwide. The spread of MEAMI and more recently of Med species into regions already invaded by other B. tabaci populations has been frequently seen to lead to their displacement by Med species. In Tunisia, in contrast to usual observations in the Mediterranean basin, Med and MEAMI species have been seen to co-occur in the main crop producing regions. Based on fine population genetics and field spatial distribution analyses, we found that the co-existence of these two interacting species was based on habitat partitioning including spatial and hostplant partitioning. Although they co-occurred at larger spatial scales, they excluded one another at sample scale. We observed neither spatial overlapping nor hybridization between MEAMI and Med B. tabaci. Vegetable crops were the main hosts for MEAMI specimens while 99.1% of the B. tabaci collected on the ornamental, Lantana camara, were Med specimens. Different patterns of genetic diversity were observed between the two species, as well as among Med specimens sampled on the ornamental versus vegetables, with the highest genetic diversity found in Med B. tabaci sampled on L. camara. These findings lead us to focus our discussion on the role played by lantana, human pressure, and competition, in the spatial and genetic patterns observed in the whitefly B. tabaci.

In the solitary ectoparasitoid, Dinarmus basalis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae), the occurrence of superparasitism according to the unparasitised host density, and the nature of the host(s) provided was investigated in laboratory studies. In this species superparasitism was observed whatever the experimental conditions used, but the degree of superparasitism depended on the density of its host, Bruchidius atrolineatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae). Superparasitism was due to successive egg‐laying phases on the same host. However, females were able to discriminate between unparasitised hosts and hosts parasitised from 8 h to 72 h beforehand by themselves or by conspecifics. There was no conclusive evidence that superparasitism in the presence of a host parasitised 30 min before was linked to an absence of host discrimination. Host discrimination in this species is achieved by host‐quality markers. These are individual‐specific markers since conspecific superparasitism rates were often higher than self superparasitism rates. One deterrent substance is emitted by the females during oviposition onto the egg or released by the 16 to 24 h‐old egg itself. Another host‐quality marker is associated with the presence of a larva on its host. On the other hand, host discrimination ability did not always imply avoidance of superparasitism. In D. basalis there exists a positive relationship between the survival probability of the second egg and the tendency to superparasitise, and superparasitism could therefore result in a significant fitness gain. Under our experimental conditions, D. basalis females exhibited a wide range of oviposition behavioural plasticity in relation to the parasitoid developmental stage, the type of superparasitism, and the encounter rate with unparasitised hosts.