The coming to power of Baldomero Espartero: Esparterista regency and the role of progressivism from the Courts

Reseña de: Díaz Marín, Pedro, La monarquía tutelada. El progresismo durante la regencia de Espartero (1840-1843), Alicante, Publicaciones de la Universidad de Alicante, 2015, 413 pp

Synergus brevis (Weld, 1962), una nova sinonímia de S. mexicanus Gillette, 1896 (Hym., Cynipidae: Synergini)

Espècie originalment descrita en el gènere Saphonecrus Dalla Torre & Kieffer, 1910, atès que tenia la cel·la radial oberta (Weld, 1926), ha estat recentment transferida al gènere Synergus Hartig, 1840 per Schwéger et al. (2015)

Identifying seasonal stars in Kaurna astronomical traditions

Early ethnographers and missionaries recorded Aboriginal languages and oral traditions across Australia. Their general lack of astronomical training resulted in misidentifications, transcription errors, and omissions in these records. Additionally, many of these early records are fragmented. In western Victoria and southeast South Australia, many astronomical traditions were recorded, but curiously, some of the brightest stars in the sky were omitted. Scholars claimed these stars did not feature in Aboriginal traditions. This under-representation continues to be repeated in the literature, but current research shows that some of these stars may in fact feature in Aboriginal traditions and could be seasonal calendar markers. This paper uses established techniques in cultural astronomy to identify seasonal stars in the traditions of the Kaurna Aboriginal people of the Adelaide Plains, South Australia.Comment: Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, Vol. 18(1), Preprin

Species traits explain long-term population trends of Finnish cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae)

1. Kleptoparasitic and parasitoid insects are expected to be particularly sensitive to changes in habitat availability due to their high trophic position and small population sizes compared with their hosts, but there are only few quantitative studies on their population changes. 2. Here, we studied the distribution and abundance of 48 kleptoparasitic and parasitoid species of cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae) and eight selected host species recorded in Finland from 1840 to 2015 based on an extensive survey of entomological collections. Population trends were assessed by studying changes in occupancy in 10 9 10 km grid squares between two study periods, 1840-1967 and 1968-2015. 3. Statistically significant decreases in occurrence were found for 11 cuckoo wasp species and one host species, while significant increases were not observed for any species. Trends of cuckoo wasps and their hosts were positively correlated, and changes were generally stronger in cuckoo wasps than in their hosts. 4. In a comparative analysis of species traits, abundance, body size and nesting type of host were related to occurrence changes of cuckoo wasps. Scarce and small species that use above ground-nesting hosts declined more than abundant and large species that use ground-nesting hosts. 5. Cuckoo wasp species dependent on dead wood are more vulnerable to changes in the environment than species associated with open sandy habitats. While both groups of species have probably suffered from habitat loss, the emergence of secondary habitats may have benefitted species living in sandy areas and compensated for the negative impact of habitat destruction.Peer reviewe

Pere Vieta (1779–1856), promoter of free public teaching of physics in Catalonia

Free public teaching of physics in Catalonia started in the early 19th century, even if the interest in experimental physics goes back to the 18th century, where this discipline was discussed at various learned societies. The first chair of Physics in Barcelona was not a university chair but that of the Junta de Comerç de Barcelona (Trade Board of Barcelona), which had several scientific-technical Schools. In fact, at that time, Barcelona had no university, because it had been supressed by King Felipe V after the War of the Spanish Succession (ended in 1714). The promoter of free public teaching of experimental physics was Pere (Pedro) Vieta i Gibert (17791856), who was the first professor of that subject both at the School of the Trade Board and at the University of Barcelona, once it was restored in 1842. Vieta, who was a surgeon in the Army, combined his two professions and his interest in meteorology, he having recorded meteorological observations in Barcelona for many years. Many of his students were influential people in the scientific, intellectual, political and economic history of the 19th century in Catalonia and Spain. [Contrib Sci 11:237-247 (2015)]Postprint (published version

An integrative description of a population of Mesobiotus radiatus (Pilato, Binda & Catanzaro, 1991) from Kenya

In a moss sample collected from Mount Kulal in Kenya, a new population of Mesobiotus radiatus was found. Given that the original description of M. radiatus was based solely on the morphology observed by light microscopy and measurements based mostly on a single individual, here we describe the new population by means of integrative taxonomy and a large sample size. We provide an integrative description comprising a comprehensive set of morphometric and morphological data from light and scanning microscopy as well as nucleotide sequences of three nuclear fragments (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, ITS-2) and one mitochondrial fragment (COI). Mesobiotus radiatus is most similar to M. binieki, M. coronatus, M. patiens, M. perfidus, M. philippinicus, M. pseudocoronatus, M. pseudopatiens, M. rigidus, M. simulans, and M. wuzhishanensis, but differs from them mainly by egg morphology and morphometry, and some characters of adult specimens

An assessment of the genus Columbella Lamarck, 1799 (Gastropoda: Columbellidae) from eastern Atlantic

Three species of the neogastropod genus Columbella Lamarck, 1799 are recognised from the northeastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. One is the common Mediterranean C. rustica (Linnaeus, 1758), with paucispiral protoconch, extending its range in the Atlantic South to Senegal and North to Portugal. Columbella adansoni Menke, 1853, with multispiral protoconch is restricted to the Macaronesian archipelagoes. A third species, also with multispiral protoconch, from West Africa is recognised through molecular methods, and the name C. xiphitella Duclos, 1840 is employed by correcting the original erroneous locality (“Californie”) to Gabon. Except for protoconch features, no major morphological characters are available to separate the three species; however diagnostic species-level differences in specific positions in the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequences are present between all three species

Larval description and chaetotaxic analysis of dineutus sinuosipennis laporte, 1840, with a key for the identification of larvae of the tribe Dineutini (Coleoptera, Gyrinidae)

The larvae of the Malagasy whirligig beetle Dineutus sinuosipennis Laporte, 1840, identified using DNA sequence data, are described and illustrated for the first time, including detailed morphometric and chaetotaxic analyses of selected structures and a description of larval habitat. Larvae of the genus Dineutus Macleay, 1825 are diagnosed, and a key to identify the genera of the tribe Dineutini is presented. Larvae of Dineutus exhibit the characters traditionally recognized as autapomorphies of the Gyrinidae: body less sclerotized, egg bursters located on the parietal, one additional sensorial plate on the third antennomere, cardo and lacinia well developed, prementum completely divided, abdominal tracheal gills, and four terminal hooks on the pygopod. They also share with larvae of the other Dineutini genera these putative synapomorphies: numerous minute pore-like additional structures on the ultimate maxillary and labial palpomeres, coxal primary seta CO12 inserted submedially, and trochanteral primary seta TR2 absent. Larvae of Dineutus can be distinguished from those of other known genera of Dineutini by the posterior margin of the lacinia not dentate, tracheal gills plumose, parietal seta PA5 inserted relatively far from setae PA7–9, mandibular pores MNb and MNc inserted relatively far from each other, and tarsal seta TA1 inserted submedially.Fil: Michat, Mariano Cruz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental y Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Gustafson, Grey T.. University of Kansas; Estados UnidosFil: Bergsten, Johannes. Swedish Museum Of Natural History; Sueci