The male of Mischocyttarus nomurae Richards, with a re-examination of the limits and contents of the M. cerberus species group (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae, Mischocyttarini)

The male of Mischocyttarus nomurae Richards, 1978 is described for the first time, and relationships between this and other similar species are discussed in a context of redefining the limits of the M. cerberus species group.

Influence of male nutritional conditions on the performance and alimentary selection of wild females of Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart)(Diptera, Tephritidae)

Influence of male nutritional conditions on the performance and alimentary selection of wild females of Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (Diptera, Tephritidae). The behavior of A. obliqua females is regulated by endogenous and exogenous factors and among these the presence of males. Experiments were carried out to investigate whether the presence of males and their nutritional condition may affect the behavior of self-selection feeding and the performance of A. obliqua females. Females were sorted in groups containing yeast-deprived females and males, and non-yeast-deprived females and males. The females were maintained apart from the males by a transparent plastic screen. Several yeast and sucrose combinations were offered to the females in a single diet block or in separate blocks. Ingestion, egg production, longevity and diet efficiency were determined. The non-yeast-deprived males positively influenced the females performance when the latter were fed with yeast and sucrose in distinct diet blocks. Performance was better in the groups without males and with yeast-deprived males where the females could not select the nutrient proportions (yeast and sucrose in a single diet block).

Redescription of Oropezella abdominalis Collin from Chile with description of the male and a key to the Neotropical genera of Ocydromiinae (Diptera, Hybotidae)

Oropezella abdominalis Collin, 1933 (Diptera, Hybotidae) is redescribed and the male is described for the first time. An identification key to the Neotropical genera of Ocydromiinae is also provided.

Morphological studies on castes of Protopolybia chartergoides (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Epiponini) observed in colonies during male production stage

Social wasps are important for the study of social behavior evolution because their colonies present different degrees of caste differentiation, from morphologically similar to highly conspicuous, associated with the occasional presence of intermediate females, which bears developed ovaries but no insemination. In the Polistinae, depending on the taxon, such differentiation can be discreet or conspicuous. This work intended to study morphological and physiological differences between castes in Protopolybia chartergoides by using morphometric analyses associated with multivariate statistical analyses and physiological evaluations from females' ovarian development. Results evidence low morphological and physiological differences among the castes in P. chartergoides, indicating three groups of females: queens, workers and intermediates. In this way, it was possible to suggest that Protopolybia chartergoides presents post-imaginal caste differentiation (or a very subtle form of pre-imaginal determination).

Main Street Messenger, Winter 2008

News from the Iowa Downtown Resource Center

Myospila bekilyana (Séguy) (Diptera, Muscidae, Mydaeinae): redescription of male and female and description of terminalia

Myospila bekilyana Séguy (Diptera, Muscidae, Mydaeainae) is an endemic species from Madagascar. Since the original description, the species has been referred in literature only in catalogues. A material recently collected by the Madagascar Arthropod Biodiversity project, mostly deposited at the California Academy of Sciences collection enabled the exam of a large series of this species. Male and female are herein redescribed and the terminalia of both sexes are described and illustrated for the first time. The paper also records Myospila as a new host for Stylogaster Macquart (Diptera, Conopidae).

The small species of Belostoma Latreille (Heteroptera, Belostomatidae). III. A revision of oxyurum group, with a new species from Brazil and description of the male of B. noualhieri Montandon

Species of the oxyurum group (sensu Lauck) consist of five extant Neotropical small species, whose lengths range 15.0 to 20.0 mm. The anterior interocular width about 1.5 times the width of an eye and ventral diverticulum of phallus flattened, circular, and large are, in combination, diagnostic. The small species of the oxyurum group were included in the Lauck´s key to the identification of the species groups, without dealing with the species included in it because many of them are very similar in appearance. Therefore here we redescribe and key the Belostoma species of the oxyurum group. Belostoma oxyurum (Dufour) is newly recorded from Brazil (Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul). Holotype and lectotype are designated for B. oxyurum and B. sanctulum Montandon, respectively. The aspect of the prosternal keel, the ratio between the width of the ventral diverticulum of phallus and its length in ventral view, and the aspect of dorsal arms of ventral diverticulum have proven useful for better species delimitation. Based on specimens from Pará State (N. Brazil), Belostoma carajaensis Ribeiro & Estévez, sp. nov. is described and illustrated. This new species differs from B. sanctulum in having anteoculus shorter than interoculus and the dorsal arms of ventral diverticulum divergent and large. A male specimen of B. noualhieri Montandon was collected in São Paulo State and based mainly on features of male genitalia, this species is here also included under oxyurum group.

Vitamin E, Vitamin A, and carotenoids in male common lizard tissues

Vitamin E, vitamin A, and carotenoids are essential micronutrients for animals because of their antioxidant and immunostimulant functions and their implications for growth, development, and reproduction. In contrast to mammals and birds, information about their occurrence and distribution is generally lacking in reptiles, constraining our understanding of the use of these micronutrients. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, we determined the concentrations of vitamin E, vitamin A, and carotenoids in plasma, storage sites (liver and abdominal fat bodies), and in the colored ventral skin of male Common Lizards, Lacerta vivipara. All tissues shared a similar micronutrient profile, except the liver, which also showed traces of vitamin A(1). The main vitamin E compound present was a-tocopherol followed by lower concentrations of gamma-(beta-)tocopherol. Vitamin A(2) was the main vitamin A compound and it showed the highest concentration in the liver, where vitamin A(2) esters and traces of vitamin A(1) were found. Lutein was the main carotenoid, and it formed esters in the liver and the ventral skin. Zeaxanthin and low concentrations of beta-carotene were also present. The liver was the main storage site for carotenoid and vitamin A, whereas hepatic vitamin E concentrations resembled those present in abdominal Fat bodies. Compared with abdominal fat bodies, the ventral skin contained lower concentrations of vitamin A and vitamin E, but similar concentrations of carotenoicls. These results suggest that important differences exist in micronutrient presence, concentration, and distribution among tissues of lizards and other taxa such as birds and mammals.

Profile of male adolescents with conduct disorder on intellectual efficacy, cognitive flexibility, cognitive coping, impulsivity and alexithymia: a comparison with high-risk controls

Background and Objectives: To specify which of the documented cognitive and emotional deficits characterize adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) compared with high-risk controls. Methods: High-risk adolescent males with and without CD were compared on intellectual efficiency, cognitive flexibility, impulsivity, alexithymia, and cognitive coping strategies. Substance use was controlled for in analyses. Results: Both groups showed normal intellectual efficiency and cognitive flexibility, as weil as heightened alexithymia and bebavioral impulsivity. Youths with CD evidenced more self-defeating and black-and-white tbinking under stress, and more acting-out under negative affect, than those without CD. Conclusions: Deficits specifie to CD resided in facets of emotional functioning and cognitive coping that might be targeted by a coping skills intervention.

Adult sex ratio effects on male survivorship of Drosophila melanogaster Meigen (Diptera, Drosophilidae)

The behavioral biology has a central role in evolutionary biology mainly because the antagonistic relations that occur in the sexual reproduction. One involves the effect of reproduction on the future life expectation. In this scenario, changes in male operational sex ratio could lead to an increase in mortality due to costs associated with excessive courtship and mating displays. Thus, this work experimentally altered the male sex ratio of Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830, to determine its impact on mortality. The results indicated that mortality increases as the sex ratio changes, including modifications in the survivorship curve type and in the curve concavity, measured by entropy.

The previously unknown pupa and adult male of Neobezzia fittkaui Wirth & Ratanaworabhan (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae)

The previously unknown pupa and adult male of Neobezzia fittkaui Wirth & Ratanaworabhan (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). The pupa of Neobezzia fittkaui Wirth & Ratanaworabhan, 1972, collected from a mat of floating fern (Salvinia auriculata Aubl., Salviniaceae) in Ilha da Marchantaria near Manaus, Brazil and the reared adult male are described, photographed and illustrated for the first time. This is the first detailed pupal description for the genus Neobezzia Wirth & Ratanaworabhan.

Main Street Messenger, Spring 2009

Downtown Revitalization News from the Iowa Downtown Resource Center.

How to recognize opportunities: Heterarchical search in a Wall Street trading room

Our task in this paper is to analyze the organization of trading in the era of quantitativefinance. To do so, we conduct an ethnography of arbitrage, the trading strategy that bestexemplifies finance in the wake of the quantitative revolution. In contrast to value andmomentum investing, we argue, arbitrage involves an art of association - the constructionof equivalence (comparability) of properties across different assets. In place of essentialor relationa l characteristics, the peculiar valuation that takes place in arbitrage is based on an operation that makes something the measure of something else - associating securities to each other. The process of recognizing opportunities and the practices of making novel associations are shaped by the specific socio-spatial and socio-technical configurations of the trading room. Calculation is distributed across persons and instruments as the trading room organizes interaction among diverse principles of valuation.

Description of the male of Lepidodexia (Xylocamptopsis) teffeensis (Townsend) (Diptera, Sarcophagidae)

Description of the male of Lepidodexia (Xylocamptopsis) teffeensis (Townsend) (Diptera, Sarcophagidae). The male of Lepidodexia (Xylocamptopsis) teffeensis (Townsend, 1927) is described and illustrated for the first time based on material housed in the entomological collection of Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ). This monotypic subgenus has been recorded in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest, first in the state of Amazonas and now in the state of Pará. The general structure of the male terminalia is similar that of other Lepidodexia, especially of the subgenus Lepidodexia, by the short distiphallus, juxta with apical projection, and vesica with a membranous spinous lobe.