Description of a new species of Toumeyella Cockerell (Hemiptera, Coccidae) from Mexico, with a taxonomic key to mexican species

A new species of soft scale insect from Mexico, Toumeyella fontanai Kondo & Pellizzari sp. nov. is des-cribed and illustrated. A taxonomic key to the species of scale insects of the genus Toumeyella Cockerell known in Mexico is provided.

Phylogeography of Mabuya maculilabris (Reptilia) from São Tomé Island (Gulf of Guinea) inferred from mtDNA sequences

The pattern of genetic variation of the lizard Mabuya maculilabris from São Tomé Island (Gulf of Guinea) was investigated using a combination of three mitochondrial DNA gene fragments. Forty-eight haplotypes were recovered among 66 individuals covering the whole island. The genealogy inferred from the most parsimonious network of haplotypes allows us to detect two main and long branches departing from the putative group of oldest haplotypes. The tips of these branches exhibit star-like phylogenies, which may indicate of recently expanded populations, most probably from a small number of founders. A nested clade analysis suggests a complex pattern of past events that gave rise to the extant geographical pattern found in the haplotype distribution: past and allopatric fragmentation, range expansion, restricted gene Xow and long-distance dispersal. These results are consistent with the complex geological history of the island where important volcanic activity with extensive lava Xows has occurred during several periods. Mismatch- distribution analysis and AMOVA also support these conclusions. Substantial genetic structuring among these lizards was detected as well as high levels of diVerentiation between the southern edge populations (particularly those from the Rolas Islet) and the remaining ones. However, variation is low relative to the geological age of the island. Our results indicate that patterns of variation observed in reptiles in other oceanic islands are not indicative of those observed in the islands of the Gulf of Guinea.

A new species of Callistethus from Mexico (Coleoptera, Melolonthidae, Rutelinae)

Callistethus tlapanecus, a new species collected in pine forest located at 2160 meters of altitude in eastern mountains of the state of Guerrero, Mexico is described. The morphological characters that distinguish it from other Mexican and Central American species are discussed. The diagnostic characters are illustrated, and a key to Mexican species of Callistethus is also included.

The role of Mexico in the first oil shortage: 1918-1922, an international perspective

In 1921 Mexico produced a quarter of world s petroleum, making the country the secondlargest producer in the world, but by 1930 it only accounted for 3 per cent of world sproduction. To date the discussion has mostly relied on events taking place in Mexico forexplaining the decline of the industry. Very little attention has been placed todevelopments in petroleum industry elsewhere, except Venezuela. Practically noattention has been paid to the reasons for the rise of oil output in Mexico. This neglectsthe massive changes taking place in the petroleum industry worldwide during the GreatWar years and its aftermath, and overall ignores the shortage of oil that occurred in theworld s markets between 1918-1921. These are crucial events in order to understand theearly rise of the Mexican oil industry and set the basis for a better understanding of thesubsequent sudden decline.

Description of the third instar larvae of five species of Cyclocephala (Coleoptera, Melolonthidae, Dynastinae) from Mexico

Description of the third instar larvae of five species of Cyclocephala (Coleoptera, Melolonthidae, Dynastinae) from Mexico. Larvae of four species of Cyclocephala are described for the first time based on specimens collected in Mexican localities: C. barrerai Martínez, 1969 from Puebla, C. sinaloae Howden & Endrödi, 1966 from Sinaloa, C. fasciolata Bates, 1888 from Veracruz, and C. jalapensis Casey, 1915 from Hidalgo. Larva of C. lunulata Burmeister, 1847, is redescribed based on specimens from the Mexican states of Morelos, Puebla, and Veracruz. Diagnostic structures are illustrated and the differences and similarities of each species with other previously described larvae of the genus are commented.

An unusual food plant for Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Mexico

An unusual food plant for Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) in Mexico. Larvae of Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus, 1758) were discovered on floral cones of Magnolia schiedeana (Schltdl, 1864) near the natural reserve of La Martinica, Veracruz, México. Magnolia represents an unusual host for this moth species, which is known throughout the world as the "codling moth", a serious pest of fruits of Rosaceae, especially apples. The larvae were identified using taxonomic keys, and identification was corroborated using molecular markers. Further sampling resulted in no additional larvae, hence, the observation was probably that of an ovipositional error by the female, and M. schiedeana is not at risk of attack by this important moth pest.

A recent change in size distribution of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) in the western part of the Gulf of Finland

Markus Öst & Mikael Kilpi

Division of Soil Conservation Soil and Water Quality Review, 2009

Special Points of Interest: • The Division of Soil Conservation celebrated its 70th anniversary July 1, 2009. The Iowa Soil Conservation: Laws were enacted in 1939 creating the state soil conservation agency and governing committee and providing for the creation of Iowa’s 100 soil and water conservation districts. • The Mines & Minerals Bureau, through the federal Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Program, worked with various watershed groups to again secure an additional $1 million dollars in funding for the construction on projects in Marion, Mahaska and Monroe Counties. • Iowa hosted the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force tour and meeting in September 2009.

Is the impact of public investment neutral across the regional income distribution?: evidence from Mexico

This paper investigates the contribution of public investment to the reduction of regional inqualities, with a specific application to Mexico. We use quantile regressions to examine the impact of public investment on regional disparities according to the position of each region in the conditional distribution of regional income. Results confirm the hypothesis that regional inequalities can indeed be atrributed to the regional distribution of public investment, where the observed pattern shows that public investment mainly helped to reduce regional inequalities between the richest regions

Flux and composition of settling particles across the continental margin of the Gulf of Lion: the role of dense shelf water cascading

Settling particles were collected using sediment traps deployed along three transects in the Lacaze-Duthiers and Cap de Creus canyons and the adjacent southern open slope from October 2005 to October 2006. The settling material was analyzed to obtain total mass fluxes and main constituent contents (organic matter, opal, calcium carbonate, and siliciclastics). Cascades of dense shelf water from the continental shelf edge to the lower continental slope occurred from January to March 2006. They were traced through strong negative near-bottom temperature anomalies and increased current speeds, and generated two intense pulses of mass fluxes in January and March 2006. This oceanographic phenomenon appeared as the major physical forcing of settling particles at almost all stations, and caused both high seasonal variability in mass fluxes and important qualitative changes in settling material. Fluxes during the dense shelf water cascading (DSWC) event ranged from 90.1 g m(-2) d(-1) at the middle Cap de Creus canyon (1000 m) to 3.2 g m(-2) d(-1) at the canyon mouth (1900 m). Fractions of organic matter, opal and calcium carbonate components increased seaward, thus diminishing the siliciclastic fraction. Temporal variability of the major components was larger in the canyon mouth and open slope sites, due to the mixed impact of dense shelf water cascading processes and the pelagic biological production. Results indicate that the cascading event remobilized and homogenized large amounts of material down canyon and southwardly along the continental slope contributing to a better understanding of the off-shelf particle transport and the internal dynamics of DSWC events.

Computer-assisted cartography using topographic properties: precision and accuracy of local soil maps in central Mexico

Map units directly related to properties of soil-landscape are generated by local soil classes. Therefore to take into consideration the knowledge of farmers is essential to automate the procedure. The aim of this study was to map local soil classes by computer-assisted cartography (CAC), using several combinations of topographic properties produced by GIS (digital elevation model, aspect, slope, and profile curvature). A decision tree was used to find the number of topographic properties required for digital cartography of the local soil classes. The maps produced were evaluated based on the attributes of map quality defined as precision and accuracy of the CAC-based maps. The evaluation was carried out in Central Mexico using three maps of local soil classes with contrasting landscape and climatic conditions (desert, temperate, and tropical). In the three areas the precision (56 %) of the CAC maps based on elevation as topographical feature was higher than when based on slope, aspect and profile curvature. The accuracy of the maps (boundary locations) was however low (33 %), in other words, further research is required to improve this indicator.