The respiratory system of the femaleVarroa jacobsoni (Oudemans): its adaptations to a range of environmental conditions

The morphology of the respiratory system of the femaleVarroa jacobsoni (Oudemans, 1904) is described. The mobile, appendage-like, emergent peritreme may be ‘raised’ to lie against the ventral integument or ‘lowered’ between the third and fourth pair of legs. It is ‘raised’ when the mite is submerged in the liquid food of the host's brood chamber, where respiration occurs via an external plastron, formed by an airfilm trapped between the rough cuticle of the ventral integument and the retracted legs. The peritreme is also raised when the mite is outside the hive in sub-saturated air, to reduce water vapour transpiration, and it is ‘lowered’ in the carbon-dioxide-rich and water-saturated hive atmosphere, where it facilitates rapid removal of carbon dioxide. Thus gaseous exchange in the female mites may be adjusted by the position of the peritreme

A synonymic catalogue of the Acari from Antarctica, the sub-Antarctic Islands and the Southern Ocean

The records, taxonomy and geographical distribution of 528 species of Acari collected from the Antarctic, sub-Antarctic islands and the Southern Ocean are collated. Included are free-living and phoretic mites, parasites and nidicoles associated with a variety of birds, seals and other introduced mammals, from terrestrial aquatic, seashore and benthic marine habitats. A number of these Acari have been introduced by humans, to and around research stations and disused whaling stations. A full alphabetical index to all current higher taxa, as well as current/redundant generic and specific names, is provided

A Next-Generation Liquid Xenon Observatory for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics

The nature of dark matter and properties of neutrinos are among the most pressing issues in contemporary particle physics. The dual-phase xenon time-projection chamber is the leading technology to cover the available parameter space for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), while featuring extensive sensitivity to many alternative dark matter candidates. These detectors can also study neutrinos through neutrinoless double-beta decay and through a variety of astrophysical sources. A next-generation xenon-based detector will therefore be a true multi-purpose observatory to significantly advance particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics, solar physics, and cosmology. This review article presents the science cases for such a detector