Geographic potential of the world’s largest hornet, Vespa mandarinia Smith (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), worldwide and particularly in North America

The Asian giant hornet (AGH, Vespa mandarinia) is the world’s largest hornet, occurring naturally in the Indomalayan region, where it is a voracious predator of pollinating insects including honey bees. In September 2019, a nest of Asian giant hornets was detected outside of Vancouver, British Columbia; multiple individuals were detected in British Columbia and Washington state in 2020; and another nest was found and eradicated in Washington state in November 2020, indicating that the AGH may have successfully wintered in North America. Because hornets tend to spread rapidly and become pests, reliable estimates of the potential invasive range of V. mandarinia in North America are needed to assess likely human and economic impacts, and to guide future eradication attempts. Here, we assess climatic suitability for AGH in North America, and suggest that, without control, this species could establish populations across the Pacific Northwest and much of eastern North America. Predicted suitable areas for AGH in North America overlap broadly with areas where honey production is highest, as well as with species-rich areas for native bumble bees and stingless bees of the genus Melipona in Mexico, highlighting the economic and environmental necessity of controlling this nascent invasion

Isolation barriers and genetic divergence in non-territorial Argia damselflies

Isolation barriers work at different instances during the mating process in odonate insects. In territorial damselflies, heterospecific interactions are mainly precluded by sexual (visual) isolation, while in non-territorial damselflies, heterospecific interactions are mostly precluded by mechanical isolation and sexual (tactile) isolation. In this study we investigated the strength of three premating barriers (visual, mechanical and tactile), genetic divergence and degree of sympatry (on their entire distribution) between four non-territorial Argia damselflies (A. anceps, A. extranea, A. oenea and A. tezpi). Our results are explained in the light of learned mating preferences and Kaneshiro's hypothesis. We detected a strong reproductive isolation between all pairs of species by the joint action of the three studied barriers [visual (90.6%), mechanical (8.7%) and tactile (0.7%)]. Sexual (visual) isolation was the most important barrier, perhaps driven by learning mating preferences. One of the studied species, A. extranea, which is the most derived of the studied species, showed a highly asymmetric isolation in reciprocal crosses, which is consistent with Kaneshiro's hypothesis. Moreover, we detected a negligible ecological niche differentiation between the studied species (70% of shared distribution). Our results suggest that sexual (visual) selection may be an important force driving speciation in non-territorial species

Cambios en la superficie de áreas verdes urbanas en dos alcaldías de la Ciudad de México entre 1990-2015

ABSTRACT: The urban green areas (AVU) have a fundamental role in urban sustainability due to the diverse environmental and social benefits that they provide, that is why every city that pretends to be modern, safe, inclusive and sustainable must guarantee the access and availability of these spaces for its inhabitants (Procuraduria Ambiental y de Ordenamiento Territorial, 2010). Mexico City is promoted as a city in transit to sustainability, which is why it has launched various plans and actions focused on environmental care, including the AVU. Due to this, the main objective of this study was to compare, using geographic information systems (GIS) and population censuses of INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography), the area of AVU existing in two city halls of the city between 1990 and 2015 The INEGI information was used to know the social situation of each mayor's office on the study dates. The results show that, although social gaps have decreased in this period, there are large differences in the surface and quality of AVU between both municipalities, so the goal of being an environmentally sustainable city is not yet met in the CDMX.RESUMEN: Las áreas verdes urbanas (AVU) tienen un papel fundamental en la sostenibilidad urbana debido a los diversos beneficios ambientales y sociales que prestan, es por ello que toda ciudad que pretenda ser moderna, segura, incluyente y sustentable debe garantizar el acceso y disponibilidad de estos espacios para sus habitantes (Procuraduria Ambiental y de Ordenamiento Territorial, 2010). La ciudad de México se promueve como una ciudad en tránsito a la sostenibilidad por lo que ha puesto en marcha distintos planes y acciones enfocados al cuidado ambiental, dentro de los que se encuentran las AVU. Debido a esto, el presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo principal comparar, usando sistemas de información geográfica (SIG) y censos poblacionales de INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía), la superficie de AVU existentes en dos alcaldías de la ciudad entre 1990 y 2015. La información de INEGI se utilizó para conocer la situación social de cada alcaldía en las fechas de estudio. Los resultados muestran que, si bien, las brechas sociales han disminuido en este periodo, existen grandes diferencias en la superficie y calidad de AVU entre ambas alcaldías, por lo que el objetivo de ser una ciudad ambientalmente sustentable aún no se cumple en la CDMX

Sex differences in local adaptation : what can we learn from reciprocal transplant experiments?

Local adaptation is of fundamental interest to evolutionary biologists. Traditionally, local adaptation has been studied using reciprocal transplant experiments to quantify fitness differences between residents and immigrants in pairwise transplants between study populations. Previous studies have detected local adaptation in some cases, but others have shown lack of adaptation or even maladaptation. Recently, the importance of different fitness components, such as survival and fecundity, to local adaptation have been emphasized. Here, we address another neglected aspect in studies of local adaptation: sex differences. Given the ubiquity of sexual dimorphism in life histories and phenotypic traits, this neglect is surprising, but may be partly explained by differences in research traditions and terminology in the fields of local adaptation and sexual selection. Studies that investigate differences in mating success between resident and immigrants across populations tend to be framed in terms of reproductive and behavioural isolation, rather than local adaptation. We briefly review the published literature that bridges these areas and suggest that reciprocal transplant experiments could benefit from quantifying both male and female fitness components. Such a more integrative research approach could clarify the role of sex differences in the evolution of local adaptations.This article is part of the theme issue 'Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences'

A selection of reciprocal transplant experiments involving sex-specific fitness components from Sex differences in local adaptation: what can we learn from reciprocal transplant experiments?

This table contains a subset of reciprocal transplant experiments involving both male and female fitness components, based on an ISI-search as described in our paper. We briefly comment upon the details of each particular study and provide the full reference to the article where the experiment was published

Revista esencia y espacio

Arquitectur

Desigualdades, exclusión y crisis de sustentabilidad en los sistemas previsionales de América Latina y el Caribe

El presente libro es resultado de una iniciativa conjunta entre la Confederación Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Trabajadores Estatales (CLATE) y el Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO), que tuvo su origen en ocasión del año del cincuentenario de ambas organizaciones. En relación a las investigaciones que aquí se publican, creemos que hemos respondido a la necesidad de articular la acción sindical con la investigación social. Para los trabajadores existe una doble demanda al respecto. En primer lugar, la de contar con información de primera mano, que pueda servir de insumo a la acción sindical. En segundo lugar, la de poder relevar y conocer en profundidad distintos aspectos vinculados al mundo del trabajo a través de estudios de alcance regional, que permitan un análisis comparado entre nuestros países. Y esto es así tanto por el carácter regional de nuestra Confederación como por el hecho de que los embates del capital sobre el trabajo se producen a nivel regional y global, lo que exige respuestas por parte de los trabajadores en el mismo sentido. Del Prólogo de Julio Fuentes