Megaselia opacicornis Schmitz is reported parasitizing the pupae of Melasoma lapponica (L.). The hitherto unknown male of the fly is described and the recognition of the female clarified. Life history data are summarised.
Megaselia leucozona Schmitz (Diptera, Phoridae) is reported from nests of Lasioglossum malachurum Kirby and Halictus scabiosae (Rossi) in Central Italy. The flies patrolled two nesting sites of the hosts and sometimes mated close to their nest entrances before entering. Observations agree with the general behaviour reported for other Megaselia species associated with fossorial bees and wasps. The hitherto unknownmale of M. leucozona is described, and the original description of a female is augmented and modified. This is the first report of a scuttle fly associated with nests of Halictidae in the Palaearctic Region.
In late summer, sometime between cala.d. 340–405, a hoard of tightly packed, stacked copper-alloy vessels was deposited in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire. The corrosion of the vessels allowed for the preservation of delicate plant macrofossils and pollen. Analysis of this material has provided insights into the date, season and context of this act of structured deposition. A second hoard of similar vessels was deposited in the fourth or fifth century only a few miles away at Wilcot. The hoards and their deposition relate to Romano-British lifeways, at a time when the region was on the cusp of a dramatic period of change. The distribution of late Roman coins and belt fittings offers further insights into the social and economic character of Wiltshire at their times of deposition.
The characterization of archaeological metal corrosion has traditionally been limited to the identification of inorganic compounds usually by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thought to result from the interaction between the metal object and the deposition environment. The discovery of a hoard of Late Roman copper-alloy vessels in Wiltshire, UK presented an unique opportunity to adopt a multi-analytical approach to characterize corrosion combining XRD with Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and gas chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry using a thermal separation probe (GC-QTOF-MS with TSP). This approach revealed organic compounds potentially historical preserved within crystalline inorganic matrices. It has been known for some time that ceramics can harbour organic residues, which provide crucial evidence about the use of these vessels in the past. Our results confirms that similar residues appear to survive in metal corrosion thus extending the potential for identification of biomaterials used in the past.
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