Phylogeny and evolution of life-history strategies in the Sycophaginae non-pollinating fig wasps (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-pollinating Sycophaginae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) form small communities within <it>Urostigma </it>and <it>Sycomorus </it>fig trees. The species show differences in galling habits and exhibit apterous, winged or dimorphic males. The large gall inducers oviposit early in syconium development and lay few eggs; the small gall inducers lay more eggs soon after pollination; the ostiolar gall-inducers enter the syconium to oviposit and the cleptoparasites oviposit in galls induced by other fig wasps. The systematics of the group remains unclear and only one phylogeny based on limited sampling has been published to date. Here we present an expanded phylogeny for sycophagine fig wasps including about 1.5 times the number of described species. We sequenced mitochondrial and nuclear markers (4.2 kb) on 73 species and 145 individuals and conducted maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses. We then used this phylogeny to reconstruct the evolution of Sycophaginae life-history strategies and test if the presence of winged males and small brood size may be correlated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The resulting trees are well resolved and strongly supported. With the exception of <it>Apocrytophagus</it>, which is paraphyletic with respect to <it>Sycophaga</it>, all genera are monophyletic. The Sycophaginae are divided into three clades: (i) <it>Eukoebelea</it>; (ii) <it>Pseudidarnes</it>, <it>Anidarnes </it>and <it>Conidarnes </it>and (iii) <it>Apocryptophagus</it>, <it>Sycophaga </it>and <it>Idarnes</it>. The ancestral states for galling habits and male morphology remain ambiguous and our reconstructions show that the two traits are evolutionary labile.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The three main clades could be considered as tribes and we list some morphological characters that define them. The same biologies re-evolved several times independently, which make Sycophaginae an interesting model to test predictions on what factors will canalize the evolution of a particular biology. The ostiolar gall-inducers are the only monophyletic group. In 15 Myr, they evolved several morphological adaptations to enter the syconia that make them strongly divergent from their sister taxa. Sycophaginae appears to be another example where sexual selection on male mating opportunities favored winged males in species with small broods and wingless males in species with large broods. However, some species are exceptional in that they lay few eggs but exhibit apterous males, which we hypothesize could be due to other selective pressures selecting against the re-appearance of winged morphs.</p

Reproductive biology of female Amazonian brocket deer in northeastern Peru

The aim of this study was to provide information on the reproductive biology of brocket deer. Hence, we analyzed female reproductive tracts collected by rural hunters from 1991 to 1998 in the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Communal Reserve, northeastern Peruvian Amazon. We characterized the basic reproductive biology of brocket deer, analyzed whether the distributions of conceptions and births are aseasonal, and compared their reproductive productivity in two different areas subject to heavy and slight hunting pressures, respectively. We found that: (1) red and gray brocket deer did not differ in ovulation, fertilization, and pregnancy rates; (2) average number of fetuses per birth was 1.2 for red brocket deer and one for gray brocket deer; (3) sex of fetuses suggests a male biased sex ratio for both species; (4) neither species shows reproductive seasonality; and (5) gross productivity does not differ between heavily and slightly hunted areas. Our results indicate that brocket deer exhibit reproductive characteristics similar to their conspecifics in other parts of their native distribution range

Maternal hemoglobin level and fetal outcome at low and high altitudes

Both, low (<7 g/dl) and high (>14.5 g/dl), maternal hemoglobin (Hb) levels have been related to poor fetal outcome. Most studies have been done at low altitude (LA). Here, we have sought to determine whether this relationship exists at both high and low altitude, and also whether there is an adverse effect of high altitude (HA) on fetal outcome independent of level of maternal hemoglobin. The study is based on a retrospective multicenter analysis of 35,449 pregnancies at LA and six other cities above 3000 meters. In analyses of all women at both LA and HA, those with Hb <9 g/dl had odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 4.4 (CI: 2.8–6.7), 2.5 (CI: 1.9–3.2), and 1.4 (CI: 1.1–1.9) for stillbirths, preterm, and small for gestational age (SGA) births, respectively, compared with women with 11–12.9 g/dl of Hb, after adjustment for confounders. These risks by hemoglobin level differed little between women at LA and HA, suggesting that no correction of the definition of anemia is necessary for women at HA. Women living at high altitude with hemoglobin >15.5 g/dl had higher risks for stillbirths (OR: 1.3; CI: 1.05–1.3), preterm (OR: 1.5; CI 1.3–1.8), and SGA births (OR: 2.1, CI 1.8–2.3). There was also a significant adverse effect of living at HA, independent of hemoglobin level for all three outcomes (OR: 3.9, 1.7, and 2.3; CI: 2.8–5.2, 1.5–1.9, and 2.1–2.5) for stillbirths, preterms, and SGA respectively, after adjusting for hemoglobin level. Both, high and low maternal hemoglobin levels were related to poor pregnancy outcome, with similar effect of low hemoglobin in both LA and HA. Our data suggest, that maternal hemoglobin above 11 g/dl but below 13 g/dl is the area of minimal risk of poor adverse outcomes. Living at HA had an adverse effect independent of hemoglobin level