Protective coloration such as aposematism and crypsis occurs in many insects but only a few species alter their defensive strategy during the same instar. We hypothesize the adult shield bug Graphosoma lineatum with an alternating black and non-melanised longitudinal striation exhibit such a change in defensive coloration. In Sweden, the non-melanised stripes of the pre-hibernation G. lineatum are pale brown and cryptic but they change during hibernation to red and aposematic. We have tested the adaptive functions of coloration of the two G. lineatum forms against bird predators. In Paper I we used great tits as predators and measured detection time of the two forms against a background of dry grass and plants, simulating late-summer conditions. We found that the birds took longer time to find the pale than the red form. Thus, the pale form of G. lineatum is more cryptic in a dry environment than the red form. In Paper II and III we used naïve predators and measured attack rate/latency on red and pale adults and fifth-instar larvae (black and brown) to investigate avoidance and generalisation between the stages. In Paper II domestic chicks initially found the red form most intimidating, but both adult forms are more intimidating than the larva. Moreover, there was a broad generalisation among forms. In Paper III naïve great tits did not find the red form significantly more aversive than the pale adult. Neither the chicks nor the tits showed any difference in the speed of avoidance learning between the two adult colour forms. In Paper IV the shieldbugs themselves were the main focus as we compared activity levels in the different colour forms and found that G. lineatum alters behaviour in accordance to their protective strategy. Thus they were significantly less active during the cryptic phase. Taken together, these experiments suggest that the pale brown adult invests in a cryptic strategy at the cost of reduced protection from aposematism, whereas the red adult benefits from aposematism at the cost of reduced camouflage. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Accepted.

Recent studies applying innovative technologies, such as genetic analysis and carbon dating, contradict the palynological based assumption that Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) vanished from Fennoscandia during the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 20.000 yrs BP) and re-colonized after the cold Younger Dryas (c. 12.000 yrs BP). Instead, those studies indicate glacial survival of boreal trees in ‘cryptic’ refugia within Scandinavia, which is still heavily debated. In this report, I try to get a better grip on the discussion if Norway spruce and Scots pine survived Weichselian glacial periods in isolated ‘cryptic’ refugia within Scandinavia, or either re-colonized Fennoscandia by post-glacial migration from eastern areas such as Russia. To this aim, climatic settings are described and an overview is given on what is already known on the distribution of boreal trees during the Weichselian glaciations and the post-glacial landscape. Several records are important to detect ancient boreal trees: pollen, macrofossils and currently DNA. Macrofossils indicate early post-glacial tree growth in the central Scandes just after the Younger Dryas, aDNA indicates the existence of a ‘cryptic’ refugium on Andøya during the Last Glacial Maximum and modern DNA analysis possibly indicates isolation of spruce in western Norway, which are all contradicted by the current interpretation of low pollen percentages. Altogether, alternative hypotheses supporting glacial survival of plants might have been overlooked and pollen interpretations need revision, which could turn the exclusion from the past into supporting evidence for the glacial survival of P. abies and P. sylvestris in Scandinavia.

Orientador: Luciane Alarcão Dias-Melicio / Resumo: A paracoccidioidomicose é uma micose granulomatosa sistêmica, prevalente na América Latina, e que até recentemente acreditava-se ser causada apenas por uma espécie de fungo, o Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (P. brasiliensis). No entanto, em 2006, pesquisadores descreveram três espécies crípticas: S1, PS2, PS3 e, posteriormente o PS4. Em 2009, o Paracoccidioides lutzii (Pb01-like) foi descrito, e ano passado, em 2017, uma nova nomenclatura foi proposta para esses agentes etiológicos distintos: P. brasiliensis (S1), P. Americana (PS2), P. restrepiensis (PS3) e P. venezuelensis (PS4). Todos esses agentes são fungos termodimórficos que crescem como levedura in vivo, no hospedeiro, em tecidos ou em culturas in vitro a 37°C e como micélio à temperatura ambiente (4 a 28°C). As espécies não são uniformemente distribuídas pela América Latina, sendo algumas mais proeminentes em algumas regiões do que em outras. O Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu é polo de estudo da paracoccidioidomicose e situado na região centro-oeste do estado de São Paulo, considerada uma área endêmica. Devido à existência de espécies crípticas de Paracoccidioides, análises mais detalhadas nas amostras de pacientes tornaram-se necessárias para uma melhor compreensão de distribuição e ocorrência das espécies recentemente descritas nessa região, favorecendo uma possível correlação entre os grupos genéticos e características micológicas e clínicas. Os objetivos foram obtenção de dados epidemiol... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Paracoccidioidomycosis is a chronic granulomatous mycosis prevalent in Latin America, that until recently it was believed to be caused only by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (P. brasiliensis). However, in 2006, researchers described cryptic species: S1, PS2, PS3, and PS4. In 2009, Paracoccidioides lutzii (Pb01-like) was described, and now, a new nomenclature was proposed for the other different agents: P. brasiliensis (S1), P. Americana (PS2), P. restrepiensis (PS3), and P. venezuelensis (PS4). All these agents are thermodimorphic fungi that develop as yeast in vivo, in host tissues or in vitro cultures at 37°C in culture media. It also grows as mycelium at room temperature ranging from 4 to 28°C. These species are not uniformly distributed throughout Latin America, some are more prominent in some regions than in others. The Hospital of Medical School of Botucatu - UNESP, which is a paracoccidioidomycosis study pole, is in São Paulo state midwest region, that is classified as an endemic area. Due to the existence of cryptic species of Paracoccidioides, further analyses of patient samples are needed for a better understanding the distribution and occurrence of these recently described species in Botucatu region, that could favor a possible correlation between genetic groups and mycological and clinical characteristics. Given the importance of this disease to the region, the aims of this study were to perform a retrospective epidemiological, geographical and clinical study gathe... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

The tropics are host to incredible insect diversity. One of the most charismatic groups that exhibit this diversity are the butterflies. Despite the tropical butterfly fauna being heavily researched, there remains much hidden diversity in the form of undescribed life histories and cryptic species. This is especially true among the species rich Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. Species in the genus Adelpha are known to be “the most trying taxonomically of all nymphalids” DeVries (1987), and as such are fruitful ground for uncovering unknown diversity. About half of the species within Adelpha have undescribed life histories, while A. serpa stands out within the genus in having remarkably wide host breadth, and thus potentially harbors cryptic diversity. Here we describe the life histories of two species of Adelpha from Costa Rica, and use an integrative approach to clarify species level boundaries within the Adelpha serpa-group. We conclude that A. serpa does not show significant evidence of harboring cryptic species, and appears to be a geographically widespread species and a hostplant generalist. Three additional species within the serpa-group show strong evidence of harboring cryptic species, and further research should be done to clarify these species relationships.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第18358号 / 人博第671号 / 新制||人||161(附属図書館) / 25||人博||671(吉田南総合図書館) / 31216 / 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科相関環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 松井 正文, 教授 加藤 眞, 教授 市岡 孝朗 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

No description available.

Recent concerns of declining bee populations have highlighted the importance of monitoring wild bees, but bee community assessments are hampered by species complexes that are difficult to identify. Bees in the genus Melissodes are often considered challenging to identify to species, with two widespread North American species, M. agilis Cresson and M. trinodis Robertson, being particularly difficult due to similar morphology, geographic ranges, and preferred floral hosts. These two species exhibit characteristics of cryptic species complexes, raising the possibility that our current understanding of their taxonomy is incomplete. We conducted a study to clarify the species boundaries within this complex, and to test if geometric morphometrics could be used to differentiate its member taxa. We sequenced fragments of the mitochondrial COI gene from 112 M. agilis/trinodis specimens, and integrated them into a phylogeny based on published reference sequences of over 70 Melissodes species. We additionally landmarked forewing venation for 102 of these specimens, tested if forewing morphometrics was associated with sex and phylogenetic clade, and tested if forewing morphometrics could accurately assign specimens to their proper clade and sex. Phylogenetic reconstructions resulted in nearly all specimens being assigned to three primary clades, with one clade containing reference sequences for M. agilis and M. trinodis, and two clades appearing to be undetermined cryptic taxa. Forewing morphometrics differed between clades and sexes, and was able to assign specimens to their proper clade or sex with over 80% accuracy, although accuracy of classification to clade declined to between 33-93% after cross-validation. Our results suggest the existence of cryptic diversity within M. agilis and M. trinodis, and indicate that forewing morphometrics can characterize some of this diversity. M. agilis and M. trinodis may comprise a complex of 3-5 cryptic species, but whether these are described or undescribed species is unknown. Also unclear is the degree to which the potential cryptic species contribute to the economically important sunflower pollination services currently considered to be conducted by M. agilis and M. trinodis. We encourage additional study of this complex to determine the nature of this cryptic diversity and resolve the taxonomic questions this study has raised.

Yes / Previous research has suggested that older adults who are more cognitively active in later life show an attenuation in cognitive decline in healthy aging. Furthermore, cognitive intervention studies have indicated that ecologically valid cognitive interventions can promote cognitive functioning but only in taskspecific abilities. Since it has been shown that the art of self‐testing can promote metacognitive awareness in older adults, attempting cryptic crosswords may be used as a cognitive intervention for older adults. In Experiments 1 and 2, a questionnaire technique was used and demonstrated that older adults became more aware of their episodic memory deficits after attempting cryptic crossword clues. Based on this, Experiment 3 used an intervention technique over a six‐week period to investigate whether such awareness enabled older adults to improve cognitive functioning in a number of domains. This experiment used a revolutionary within‐subjects technique to control for potential mediating factors. The results supported previous research in that older adults showed an increase in the monitoring pathway of metacognition but were unable to use this enhanced awareness to change their behaviour when undertaking objective tests of cognitive ability. Post‐hoc analysis highlighted subgroups of older adults who showed improvements in certain cognitive abilities, such as episodic memory functioning and judgement of learning abilities. The standard clinical trial technique might be inappropriate when testing either cognitive interventions or pharmacological tests. The within‐subjects approach could be adapted to investigate follow‐up effects of different types of interventions including ecologically valid cognitive interventions. / Harold Hyman Wingate Foundation

A common alga of oligotrophic slightly acidic fresh water habitats, Synura sphagnicola, has never been suspected for a presence of cryptic diversity. The publicly available SSU rDNA sequences showed very slight genetic differences between the S. sphagnicola isolates. However, I suspected that if any cryptic lineages exist, the sequencing of ITS region will show the differences between them. A total of 37 S. sphagnicola sequences (36 from Europe and 1 from Korea) were analyzed in this thesis. The ITS rDNA sequencing clearly recognized the presence of two distinct cryptic species, referred here as lineage SP1 and SP2. The morphological analysis of 14 cultivated strains (6 belonging to the lineage SP1 and 8 to the lineage SP2) validated the genetic distinction. The statistical analyses showed that 4 morphological aspects (length of a scale, width of a scale, length of a spine, length of a rim) were found to have significant differences in length of measured factors between species. The most visible difference is in the length of a spine that is connected to the scale. The analysis of published S. sphagnicola scales showed that the two lineages can be morphologically distinguished also in natural conditions. According to the morphological analyses, the lineage SP2 (species with a longer spine)...

Urbanisation is a key driver in the loss, fragmentation and modification of natural habitats resulting in the global loss of biodiversity. As the human population, and consequently the rate of urbanisation, continues to increase exponentially it is important to understand how to sustain and enhance biodiversity within the built environment. Cities comprise a complex assortment of habitat types yet relatively little is known of how its composition and spatial configuration can influence species presence or foraging activities. It is therefore necessary to examine habitat use and biodiversity patterns at multiple spatial scales to fully understand how species are responding to the urban matrix. There are few other orders of animals that are as strongly associated with people as bats (Chiroptera); for some bat species human habitations provide roosts and adaptations of the environment provide food sources. However bat species richness generally declines with increasing urbanisation indicating that many species are not able to persist in highly urbanised areas. In this thesis, I show that the behaviour, habitat preferences, and distribution of bats are strongly influenced by the built environment at both a local and landscape scale. Although many animal species are known to exhibit sex differences in habitat use, adaptability to the urban landscape is commonly examined at the species level without consideration of potential intraspecific differences. I found that female Pipistrellus pygmaeus show greater selectivity in foraging locations within urban woodland in comparison to males at both a local and landscape scale. There was a lower probability of finding females within woodlands which were poorly connected, highly cluttered, with a high edge: interior ratio and fewer mature trees. The results have important implications for our understanding of how to manage areas for breeding females and highlight the need to supplement acoustic monitoring with trapping data to assess sex differences in habitat use. Determining how morphological or behavioural traits can influence species adaptability to the built environment may enable us to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts. The morphological similarities between P. pygmaeus and P. pipistrellus suggest that both species should respond similarly to the urban matrix, however I found differential habitat use occurring within a variety of urban habitats (e.g. woodland and waterways) and at a landscape scale. In urban woodland there was a higher probability of P. pygmaeus activity relative to P. pipistrellus in woodlands with low clutter and understory cover which were surrounded by low levels of built environment. Many bat species are strongly associated with aquatic or adjacent riparian habitats yet we know little about the utilisation of urban waterways by bats. After surveying urban waterways throughout the UK, I was able to show that the built environment can negatively affect a variety of bat species from the riparian zone up to 3km from a waterway. This indicates that beneficial urban waterway rehabilitation schemes for bats require management at multiple spatial scales, from retaining a vegetated riparian zone at the local scale to highlighting the necessity for conservation funding to be spent on the implementation of landscape scale environmental improvement schemes that encompass the entire urban matrix. Undertaking surveys to confirm species presence or to estimate population sizes can be difficult, particularly for elusive species such as bats. I was able to demonstrate a variety of ways to increase surveying efficiency (e.g. the use of an acoustic lure to increase bat-capture rate) and a significant relationship between bat activity and the relative abundance of certain species of bat which can maximise the knowledge of diversity in an area whilst minimising wildlife disturbances. Urbanisation has also had strong negative effects on many insect groups, such as moths, which are important components of the diets of many bat species. I found that woodland vegetation characteristics were more important than the surrounding landscapes in determining the abundance, species richness, and species diversity of moth assemblages within urban woodland. This indicates that management at a local scale to ensure provision of good quality habitat may be more beneficial for moth populations than improving habitat connectivity across the urban matrix. The findings presented in this thesis have important implications for our understanding of the adaptability of species to the built environment and for the management and monitoring of bat populations. It also highlights that even common bat species are negatively affected by urbanisation and much greater attention should be paid to securing their future within the urban landscape.