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Sir-Myers et al. 1 , in their new analysis of global biodiversity hotspots, recommend areas where conservation actions should be focused to minimize losses in the imminent extinction crisis. We strongly support initiatives to produce clear, efficient and practical goals for conservation to guide biodiversity planners and decision-makers in governments, agencies, conventions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). However, as things stand there is only limited consensus on global conservation priorities at international level. We believe that the time is now right for scientists and practitioners to work together to develop a commonly adopted blueprint for action. A key first step would be a structured debate to identify common goals; to pool data sets; and to agree on the contributions that non-equivalent measures of priority, such as diversity, endemism, threat, viability and ecological function should make. All this should lead to a powerful and cost-effective product. Most important, however, is correspondence

Phylogenetic relationships of 18 genera of the swallowtail subfamily Papilioninae, four genera of Parnassiinae, and the monobasic Baroniinae are inferred based on 94 morphological characters and 5616 bp DNA from seven genes (16S, COI, COII, ND1, ND5, EF-1 alpha and wingless). Bayesian likelihood analyses show that Baroniinae are the sister of a clade comprising Parnassiinae and Papilioninae. Four Papilioninae tribes are recognized, Leptocircini, Teinopalpini, Papilionini and Troidini, with Leptocircini being the sister of the remaining tribes. Meandrusa and Teinopalpus are sister taxa and comprise the tribe Teinopalpini, which is the sister of a clade comprising Papilionini and Troidini. The tribe Troidini (pipevine swallowtails) comprises two subtribes: Battina (including only Battus) and Troidina. The endemic Madagascan genus Pharmacophagus is consistently placed as the sister to the remaining Troidina. The non-Pharmacophagus Troidina are tentatively divided into a Neotropical lineage and an Australasian lineage. Dispersal-vicariance analyses indicate that past dispersal events are most important for explaining current distribution patterns of Papilionidae. However, the division of the non-Pharmacophagus Troidina into a Neotropical lineage and an Australasian lineage is possibly due to the final break-up of southern Gondwana. A fossil-calibrated relaxed Bayesian molecular clock analysis confirms that the ages of the lineages fit this scenario. The basal lineages leading to the current subfamily-level diversity of Papilionidae probably arose around the K ⁄ T boundary. Analyses of larval host-plant relationships within Papilionidae show very little phylogenetic pattern. However, Aristolochiaceae-feeding apparently evolved independently in non-Parnassiini parnassiines and Troidini.

The eight possible interactions of a tripartite mimicry system (model, mimic and operator) are defined in terms of positive and negative functions. Five possible states of the system are also recognized in terms of specific composition. From this an eight by five classification matrix is developed, which embraces all normally recognized mimetic situations. Each class is examined for general properties and examples. Special consideration is given to situations (Mullerian mimicry) included here, and to other systems (crypsis, deflective marks) not included, which have been treated differently elsewhere. Mimicry is defined in terms of a tripartite system of living organisms, in which a sensitive signal-receiver (the operator) misidentifies the mimic as the model. It is emphasized that the system developed here is a classification of mimetic interactions, not a classification of species. Discussion is given on some implications of the system in relation to natural selection, and the classification of ecological interactions, convergence and genetic diversity.

Protected forest areas of Sulawesi are gradually being replaced by intensively used agroforestry systems and farmland, especially in lowland and sub-montane regions. Studies on the impact of these man-induced changes on biodiversity are of urgent conservation concern. We compared the fruitfeeding butterfly assemblage of a natural hill forest to that of a disturbed hill forest, representing a mosaic of old secondary forest and recently abandoned or active subsistence farms. Overall, species richness seemed highest in the disturbed site, but both abundance and diversity of endemic butterflies were significantly higher in the natural forest. Although the butterfly assemblage showed a clear vertical structure in the natural forest, vertical stratification was no longer pronounced at the disturbed site. Comparative studies based on diversity estimates from ground samples should consider not only the scale at which sampling is carried out and influences from nearby habitat patches in the surrounding landscape mosaic, but also possible behavioural changes in stratified species after forest modification. This study shows that higher overall species richness does not imply higher species distinctiveness, and indicates that the contribution of land-use systems to global biodiversity should be evaluated with caution, even when relatively high species richness estimates are found.

411 operational distinction between crypsis and mimicry is made in terms of the cognitive and perceptual systems of 'signal-receivers'. Cryptic organism specialize i n generating information of the type not attended to or filtered out (reference frame) by the receivers, whereas mimetic organism specialize in producing information (signals) of the type sought out by and of interest to a receiver. Miniici?; is defined in terms of a system of three living organisms, model, mimic and operatoi-(signal-recriver), in which the mimic gains in fitness by the operator identifying it with the modrl. Some advantages and applications of the definition are briefly discussed.